As the flu and cold season (and apparently croup, too) will slowly creep up on us, let's be proactive in remembering that there are many things we can all strive to do that will help us keep a healthy school environment for the children, their families, and even our staff family.

First and foremost, monitor the health status of your own child. Our school policy states, which aligns with most educational settings, that we will adhere to a "24 hour: fever free, diarrhea free and vomit free" protocol when preventing a child from being at school or returning to school until this period has passes. If your kiddo is not feeling well before school, please keep them home to recover where they are certainly most comfortable. If they do become ill at school, however, we will remove them from the classroom and the other children as soon as detected to minimize the increased spread of germs and then immediately contact you. (Remember, we WILL track you down at the gym or closest coffee shop:-) Until then, your child will receive TLC in the preschool office and remain there until picked up.

Secondly, proper and diligent hand washing is a huge deterrent when it comes to prevention. We have a variety of cute jingles we sing with the children to encourage them to wash long enough to be nice and clean! Besides "Happy birthday", another favorite, sung to the tune "Frere Jacques", is: "Tops and bottoms, tops and bottoms, in between, in between, all around in circles, all around in circles, nice and clean, nice and clean." Their hands will clean enough for surgery prep!!

Also, reinforce to your children what we teach them at school: to use their "sneeze or cough catcher: - aka elbow or inside their shirt to catch the flying germs! This really helps!

Thank you for understanding these small steps can have huge results!

From the book, "Parent on Purpose", by Amy Carney....As parents, we must purposely strengthen our family identity, culture, and relationships. Love on purpose. Prioritize play. Our "job" is to step away from the organized activities and more frequently create room for authentic life giving moments of play for our children and ourselves.

Weekly Prayer: Dear Jesus, when I pray to You I feel comforted. When I am sad, afraid, lonely or even angry, all I have to do is say, Jesus help me every day. I know You are always listening. Amen