COVID19: If You're Staying Open, What are You Doing to Keep You & Your Group Healthy?

[delferka]

The schools & school daycares are closed for 2 weeks here instead of usual 1 for spring break. Child care providers outside of the schools have received instruction from licensing encouraging us to stay open, which I plan on doing, unless we have a confirmed case of Coronavirus, then we close, disinfect, contact the health department, etc....

This has me thinking about social distancing in a childcare setting what that might look like? I myself am trying to keep my distance (although 6 feet is not possible) and still assist the children with what they need. Thankfully I do not have any that are in diapers right now.
At the same time I don't think that it's a reasonable expectation for any child to practice social distancing (I would equate it to torture).

We are washing our hands like usual since we follow standard precautions.

I have a kids Henry the Hand germ video & germ book that we read and talk washing hands about not touching our faces (but they still do-another unreasonable expectation). I've been reviewing these about 1x week since this circus started.

I encourage them to cover their sneezes with her elbows and turn away from their friends if they have a sneeze.

I've removed the cloth/porous toys from the play area and am only keeping toys that can easily be disinfected 2-3x a week. I am cleaning often touched hard surfaces twice as offen.

Besides all this I feel like there is not much else to do and I especially don't want to scare them. I imagine they are concerned since the grown ups are acting strange.

I'm just curious to know what steps everyone else is taking that might be helpful for our kiddos?

I'm in Mass and open, but most of the parents of my kids are in the school system. They are home and getting paid. I'm not sure what they expect from me. Whether I'll be charging them or not

[Meadow]

I know many of you have a "nothing back and forth" policy already in place, but I have not implemented that in my home. I was wondering if I should be excluding diaper bags, infant carriers, and blankets from home with what is happening right now. Would it be better to have less coming into my home, or should I just be disinfecting what I can?

[CeriBear]

My center is checking each child’s temperature as they come to the door. Anything over 99.5 and they are sent home before entering the building. So far we have not had to turn anyone away.
Staff members are also required to have a temperature check.
In my classroom the kids are having to wash hands a lot more often than usual.
I have also put away toys like stuffed animals and dress up clothes. If a toy is not easy to dunk in sanitizer it’s on “ vacation” for a while. Even our classroom buddy Sam the Sloth has been put away.
It’s surprising that a few kids know exactly why I am being a lot more strict about cleanliness and germs. One child asked me why I was making him go wash his hands after he touched his cheek and another child said “you don’t want to get Coronavirus. You need to get the germs off.”
I’m also discouraging the children from hugging each other or climbing on me and my assistant.
I’m setting cots further apart and having kids lie head to feet instead of head to head.
Weather permitting I try to spend a lot of time outside. It’s even nice to have circle time outside where the kids have more room to spread out as well as breathe fresh air.

[injaymama]

I'm offering a free webinar on "Dealing with the Financial Side of the Coronavirus" on Monday, March 23rd starting at 8pm Eastern Time.
To register: https://register.gotowebinar.com/reg...15680744315403

This webinar will help you cope with the financial impact of the virus crisis
• Can you get covered by insurance for loss of business income?
• Are you eligible for unemployment benefits if you shut down?
• Can you exclude children if you think they are too sick to attend?
• How to change your contract/policies to cover you when parents temporarily keep their children home
• What can you do financially if you shut down temporarily?

The webinar is sponsored by the National Association for Family Child Care.

Will this be recorded and available since the webinar is full?