HEALTH
Health connects to school readiness long before a child enters school. Healthy development continues to support learning throughout childhood and later life. Physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development are all essential ingredients of school readiness.
Comprehensive Early Childhood Health Services and Coordinated Approaches
Services that focus on the "whole child" promote children's learning and development. There are specific health conditions that impact learning, which can be identified and treated early. If they are not addressed, children with these conditions may fall behind. Our program has several tools to support all children's healthy development. Staff identify health conditions early through screening. Managers maintain a system that tracks referrals and monitors services including follow-up plans. Everyone works together to plan, design, and implement services that meet the needs of all children. Together these efforts can respond to these conditions and put children on track for school success.
Early Identification and Intervention: Using screening and ongoing assessment, staff identify issues that may impact a child's readiness for school. Every day, they use what they know about children's health to notice when a child may look or act differently. Staff share concerns with families and respond to children's health needs. Timely referrals and evaluations help programs plan for each child's needs so all children can engage in learning.
Treatment and Follow-up: When children with special health care needs have access to ongoing care, they can make progress in health and learning outcomes. To coordinate treatment and follow-up, health providers share information with each other, with families, and with program staff.
Safe and Secure Environments: Making sure environments are safe reduces the chance that children may be injured. Managers train staff to look for and remove hazards and use active supervision. Everyone creates opportunities for children to explore and learn safely.