Self-Assessment: Health, Safety, and Nutrition

Be concise in answering the statements/questions in each box. The NAEYC criteria for National Accreditation is the basis of this
self-assessment to demonstrate alignment with the Standards and to familiarize students with this national accreditation process.
Describe how you supervise children adequately—by positioning self to see as many children as
possible, how you are aware of children’s location always, how you monitor by sound when children
may be out of visual range (as when using the toilet, etc.).
You can easily see as many children as possible when positioned in a place where behind you
there is very little to no traffic and you are facing the middle of the action. For example, if a
room branches into two separate areas, you can position yourself in between to the two areas in
the middle visually while also listening for audible cues.
Describe the child tracking procedures you use when moving from one location to another (as in when
going from classroom to outdoor play area).
Counting is the most important thing to keep in mind in situations like these! Count the children
before leaving the room and double check with the attendance sheet to ensure you’ve got all of
the children who are attending today. It’s easiest to have the children in a line when walking
from place to place with a teacher in front and in back, but that’s not always possible, so
stationing the teacher to the side in the middle works well. Count upon arrival.

Describe your use of proper hand-washing procedures—list the times when you wash your own
hands and when you assist children in washing their hands.
• Before and after restroom visits and diaper changes (gloves should be worn when doing
diaper as well)
• Before and after handling food and beverages
• After encountering bodily fluids (gloves should be worn)
• Upon entering the classroom
Describe a schedule for cleaning and sanitizing and what it means to use universal precautions—
including cleaning and sanitizing of surfaces, use of gloves and barriers to minimize contact with body
fluids, cleaning spills as they occur, cleaning and sanitizing toys that have been mouthed or exposed to
body fluids.
Gloves should be worn during cleaning procedures. Tables should be cleaned after every use.
The cleaning solution used is 1-part bleach and 9-parts water. Changing tables and chairs (after
mealtimes) should also be cleaned after each use. Toys should be cleaned and sanitized on a
weekly basis and/or being in contact with a child’s mouth or any bodily fluids.
Describe your process for being aware of children’s special health care needs, nutrition needs or
allergies, etc. Do you conduct daily health checks as children arrive? If yes, what do you look for? If
no, why not?
Each child should have their own folder full of their important information such as contact
information, allergies, and more. It is also a good idea to have allergies and nutrition needs listed
and hung up on the wall next to the food preparation area. Even if you don’t conduct formal
daily health checks, you should observe the child’s behavior for changes.
Describe the process for administering medication or applying sunscreen or other products. What do
you do to follow licensing requirements for administering and logging?
Before you administer anything, check the child’s file! Make sure that they are able to have said
product. If they are, only then can you administer the appropriate amount to the child. Make
sure to read the labels on the product, not once, not twice, but three times. That way you are
100% sure that you are administer the correct amount to the correct child. Families should
supply their own bottles of sunscreen with their child’s name on it to be used.

Give some examples of how you use care routines such as toileting, meal and nap routines as
opportunities to build relationships, language, concepts (food classification, nutrition, healthy
living, manners, etc.) and to build child’s self-awareness, social interaction and self-help skills.
• While diapering, you can smile and chat with the child through the process. Let them
know what you are doing and verbalize their reactions.
• During meal times, you can chat about the kinds of food that is being served, “Mmmm!
Look friends, we have some orange carrots today! They are so yummy and can help make
our eyes nice and strong!”
Describe what you do during meal/snack times. Do you sit with children and promote children’s
feeding skills and social interactions? If yes, how do you? If no, why not?
A teacher should try to sit with the children during meal and snack times. Not all centers support
it though. Ideally, you would be able to sit and eat with them the same meal as them to encourage
good table manners and the trying of new foods. If you can’t do that, even if you just sit with the
children with no plate and chat with the children as they eat, or even just listen to what they have
to say.

Describe what you do to handle and serve food using proper safety precautions and sanitary
techniques.
A caregiver should wash their hands before handling any food or beverages. It is important to
properly wash hands. When serving food, it’s also nice to allow the children to help pass out.
Ensure that they’ve washed their hands before they help and allow them to help as they please. It
encourages social skills and they learn an important skill that is in our society: dishing up.

Describe the clean-up routine—how do you encourage children to participate in daily clean up and
maintenance of the classroom?
After meals, they can help clean up their own plates by throwing any leftovers away and putting
their dishes where they go (for example a bin to be taken to the kitchen for washing). Once
everyone is done, if some of the children want to help sweep, they can, otherwise the teacher can
clean up the area with the water-bleach spray. When transitioning from playtime to another
activity, encourage the children to put their toys away where they go.

Describe the toileting routine—how do you help children use the toilet following good health and
hygiene practices?
With preschoolers, we all go down as a group to go to the restroom. They take their turns using
the stalls and when they finish their business, they are guided to wash their hands. We use one
drop of soap and use warm water during this process. A good rule of thumb for timing is to sing
the alphabet song while washing to know how long to keep washing for. Then we dry our hands
off using a paper towel before returning to the classroom.
Describe the nap time routine—what do you do to follow licensing regulations and meet children’s
need for rest? What do you do if a child does not sleep at nap time?
We have nap mats the appropriate distance from one another as stated in the licensing handbook
and a little map that says where each of the students’ mats goes. If a child does not sleep at
naptime, we still have them go on their mat, but they can have some books and toys to look at or
play quietly with. If it’s an option, we have a staff member sit in the hallway with the awake child
and play with them out there as to not disturb any of the sleeping children.