REGISTRATION PROCESS

• CHILDREN NEED TO BE SIGNED IN AND OUT TWICE, sign your child in at the Childwatch desk AND in your child's room.
• On both sheets, please use first and last names for you and your child (please print).
• Staff sign-in on the blue sheets. Please indicate the department in which you work.
• Please put a piece of masking tape on your child with his/her first and last name.
• If your child needs special consideration, such as for allerigies, please fill out the Special Information sticker and place it on your child's back.
• Sign-out at the Childwatch desk by writing in the pick up time for your child.
• Sign-out in your child's room by marking through your child's name with a highlighter. It is very important for the staff to always have an accurate count.
• Children are encouraged to leave personal toys at home. It is hard to share with so many children and things do get broken.

PICK UP PROCEDURES

• HAVE YOUR SECURITY CARD READY WHEN YOU PICK UP YOUR CHILD .
• Obtain yellow security cards from the Parent Coordinator at the Childwatch desk.
• Show your card to a staff person in your child's room when you pick up your child. This is a must! Do not put your card in your child's diaper bag, lunch bag, etc. This card is to identify you as the parent/person picking up the child. We cannot release any child without seeing your yellow card.
• Please remember to sign your child out for safety purposes.

N.C. LAW-ABIDING NOTICE

Children may attend a maximum of 2.5 hours per day while parents use the Harris YMCA facility. Activity space is limited by age group (based on state guidelines and safety code regulations) and is available on a first come first served basis; program rotation is subject to change. Children may not participate in the following programs or a combination of the following programs for more than four hours in a 24 hour period in a Charlotte YMCA or a combination of Charlotte YMCA's: Children's Enrichment Programs, Preschool, ChildWatch (drop-in care) and Afterschool. Short-term, drop in care centers are not licensed and regulated by the State Department of Child Development. All YMCA of Greater Charlotte child care programs adhere to YMCA quality standards.

WELLNESS POLICY

The Harris YMCA Childwatch Program is a member-based service designed to care for your children while you, the parent or legal gaurdian, remains on site . For the safety and well-being of all the children we care for, the following health and wellness policy will be strictly enforced. Children with the following symptoms should not use Childwatch: fever, continuous and/or colored nasal drainage*, continuous coughing, sore throat, pink or gooey eyes, skin rash, open sores, diarrhea, or vomiting. *Continuous nasal drainage is classified as having to wipe a child's nose more than three times during a visit. The staff of the Harris YMCA reserves the right to have you remove your child from the Childwatch area if they are exhibiting any of the above mentioned symptoms.

APPROACH TO DISCIPLINE

The staff at the Harris YMCA are committed to helping children solve problems to create a healthy atmosphere for everyone. Some of the tools we utilize include: redirection, encouraging the use of words, helping to wait turns and learn to share, demonstrating appropriate ways to do things, offering natural consequences for their actions.

If a problem is recurring, we employ the following discipline policy:
Minor Offense : not listening, sharing, etc.
Verbal warning
Time out based on their age. Ex.: 2 years, 2 min.
Major Offense : hitting, pushing, kicking, etc.
Time out based on their age. Ex. 2 years, 2 min.
If child continues to show harmful behaviors, the parent will be
found and the child will be removed from the room.
 A Note on Biting:
Biting is a natural developmental stage that many children go through between the ages of thirteen and twenty-four months, and is usually a temporary condition. The staff at Childwatch will encourage children to use their words and help to find other ways of communicating frustration. However, to maintain safe and healthy conditions, the following consequences will be enforced should a child bite another child. 
    Toddlers (ages 13-24 months): will be isolated from the group. After three occurences in one month, they will be required to leave the Children's Center immediately and will not be able to return the following day.
    Children older than 24 months: will be required to leave the Children's Center immediately and will not be able to return the following day.

EVACUATION SAFETY PROCEDURES

What is our plan?
Our job is to keep your child safe! We plan to get your child out of the building quickly and safely in case of a fire or other emergency requiring evacuation.

When the alarm sounds...
Childwatch staff in the Infant Room (6 weeks - 12 months) will count the children and gently place them in cribs. These cribs will be wheeled out by the staff through the deliveries door by the Clubhouse, down the sidewalk, to the grassy hill. These cribs have already been approved and checked to fit through all required exits.

Childwatch staff in the 1, 2 and 3-5 classes will count the children, line them up and lead them through the playground to the grassy hill next to the front parking lot. The Clubhouse will exit through the delivery doors and proceed to the hill. Membership staff associates are assigned to assist us in an evacuation. Quarterly drills are completed for safety assurance.

Team leaders check the number of children present compared to our Registration books. It is imperative that all parents sign their children IN AND OUT of the Center on a per-use basis. This book confirms our count in case of an emergency. If you do not sign your child in or out, we have no record of him or her in case of an evacuation. We cannot rely on our memory alone under such circumstances. Our lobby staff member is assigned to double check all rooms after all children have exited the building with our staff.

What is my role as a parent during an evacuation?
While a parent's first instinct is to get your child if an alarm sounds, the safest and best thing you can do is get yourself out of the building and meet us in the front parking lot. Please feel free to meet us in the front parking lot to assist during an evacuation. Also, please remember to trust us to do our job, which is to keep your child safe.