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May 14, 2012

Doodle Bugs! Standard of the Week: 05/14/12

This week’s SOTW remind teachers to actively supervise outdoor play.

Specifically:

• ‘Arm’s reach supervision’ helps to prevent injuries. This means that teachers place themselves strategically, so that children are literally within arm’s reach — a teacher standing near a slide or other piece of equipment naturally encourages childrent to use the equipment safely.
• ‘Zone supervision’ is required. Teachers must separate to supervise every area of the playground being used.
• Unless engaged in an activity, teachers should stand to supervise. This insures the quickest reaction times in the event of an accident or injury.
• Children must use age-appropriate equipment. Do your teachers know which pieces are safe for each age group?

Adult’s attention and proximity to the children is essential for safe play. Where are the adults? Are they visiting each other or are they interacting with the children? Are they standing by the building or moving from child to child and group to group as children play? Can the adults reach the children quickly, or are they sitting down?

To keep your children safe, all of these questions must be addressed.

The SOTW will be posted for parents to see, in the faculty lounge, and placed in each classroom’s mailslot. As always, thank you for your attention to these important doodle details!

View the current SOTW as a .pdf here: PlaygroundSupervision