Redefining Normal During COVID-19

With a lot of centers preparing to reopening in the coming months, it’s important to redefine what “normal” will look like with COVID-19. In this session, we’ll go over the reopening planning experience of our special guest, Heather Hansen.

🎤 Our Special Guest

Heather Hansen has an Early Childhood program that is turning 25 years old this coming September. She has been in the field of ECE since 1986 and during this tenure, she has worn many hats as a daycare director, a podcaster, a presenter, a consultant, a practicum supervisor, a story writer, a founding board member, a part time faculty member at her local ECE college. She still dabbles in all of this, but running her program does indeed take the majority of her time.

🧪 Key Learning Outcomes

1. Meet up with staff – In her preparations, Heather has transitioned from Zoom to in-person meetings with her team in the parking lot of her center. In the weeks leading up to reopening, it’s a good idea to reconnect with your team in-person to get that team energy up!
   
2. Survey your parents – Have a plan and survey your parents before reopening. This will help you prioritize which families to bring back into the centers with reduced ratios. She also advises to keep lines of communication open and balanced to reassure parents of the measures you’re putting in place at your center.
   
3. Screening kids outside – Health screenings will be a new part of the daily routine at the childcare. Heather has decided to do her health screenings outside and not allowing parents to enter the building.

Key Resources

• HiMama COVID-19 Resource Hub
• American Academy of Pediatrics Guidance On COVID-19
• Madeley Nursery School “Adapting to Change” Video   
• Susan Stacey Blog
• Connect with Heather on Facebook at Dew Resources

✨ Comments from the audience

Lisa Riviera on her reopening experience:
It has been interesting. New drop off and pick up procedures in place. Only allowing essential staff and students into the building. Daily temperature checks, wellness questions, mask wearing and classroom social distancing.

Janeen Wallace on handling materials:
We are going to take away all puppets, dressup clothes…things that cannot be washed easily will be removed.

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The HiMama child care app helps to streamline your digital parent communications. Book a consultation with us today to learn how we can support your child care center during this time.