PARENT INVOLVEMENT - TEAMWORK

Two important aspects of team work at SCC are the Parent Workshops and parent volunteer opportunities.

Parent Workshops are offered to help create consistent methods of care at home and in the childcare environment. Children gain a sense of predictability and security when they experience consistent methods of care from all of their caregivers. However, it takes team work to create this type of consistency so Parent Workshops are provided each quarter on a Saturday morning from 9 until 11:30. Parents are required to attend at least 50% of these workshops. During this time there is a presentation of current childcare techniques and/or a professional presentation about the health or well being of children. But most importantly, this is a time when parents can share what is working for them at home with their particular child as well as hear some of the methods and techniques we use at SCC. Together we can create consistent responses to a child both at home and in their childcare setting.

These workshops are not only a time for those who are looking for answers, but also for those who have discovered the secrets of happy parenting and are willing to share some of their successes with the rest of the community. At workshops we can address specific parent/child situations or recurring situations that participants would like to explore.

Another opportunity for team work at SCC is when we have an outing. Though the majority of our program takes place within the security of our campus area, we do have two traditional outings that we take. During an off-campus outing we require adequate volunteers to assure the safety of all the children, from the babies up through the preschoolers.

Our first outing of the school year is a Halloween parade up and around the block. Children bring their costumes to school and at parade time we dress them up. With younger children in a stroller and preschoolers securely holding the hand of an adult, we parade up the street and call out "Happy Halloween" to passing cars. After briefly stopping at another home to visit other children in costume, we return to our own campus.

Our second traditional outing is at the end of the school year for the preschool children. As part of our Character Development Program, at the beginning of each school year the preschool children choose a charity to donate to. Each day at circle time the purpose of the donation is discussed and the children count out one to five coins they brought from home to place in our sharing bank. At the end of the school year the preschool children help sort the coins and then roll them in coin wrappers. On our outing day the children place all of the rolled coins in a wagon and we walk to the bank to cash them in for a cashiers check to mail to the organization. As with the Halloween parade, all the preschool children are either riding in a stroller or holding the hand of an adult, so parent volunteers are definitely needed. Parent volunteers are not required to have a background check, so they are never required to manage the children by themselves. A regular staff member is always present when volunteers are helping with the children.