CDA Credential Program Practice Test 2

While all food can be a potential choking hazard, many foods are a higher risk. Life savers and other hard candies are easily swallowed whole and can get lodged in a child's throat.

When you have situations where you have a professional concern about a child, it is best to speak with the parents privately, give them the information you can and then be supportive of the decision they make for their child. Be available to answer questions and provide more information, if they need it.

Parents are a wonderful resource and can help make so many things happen, if you just ask them. Some parents will want to come into your classroom and read or do an activity, but others may like the idea of creating costumes or designing props for a play. Never hesitate to ask your parents to help you - if they don't want to or can't, that's ok. Keep asking.

Head lice can be embarrassing and confusing to parents, especially if they have not been exposed to it previously. Explain what you have seen and offer to assist by answering questions or making suggestions where to go to get supplies to clear it up. Let the parents know that this is a relatively common occurrence with preschoolers and assure them you will welcome their daughter back when she is no longer able to spread the nits.

Encourage them to set the table, pass food and clean up after themselves. - It is important to help children begin to develop a sense of independence. Meal times are a great time to help them gain self help skills. They can set the table, serve themselves, pass food to others and help clean up after the meal. You can pick class helpers or have everyone help each day. The children will really enjoy being part of the process and will learn while they are participating.

Program plans are usually coordinated with parents, specialists, and other members of the program team. Program volunteers may offer information but are not usually including in planning meetings. Caregivers should work as members of a team in order to offer the best care for each individual child.

The children will love the books on tape and the stories will have extra meaning to them if their own parents are reading the books to them. Fun voices and accents will keep their interest and help them differentiate between characters.

After a class trip or special event, have the children tell you what happened. This will help them begin to recall and retell information, which will help develop their comprehensive skills.

You can be sensitive to children by addressing their concerns, acknowledging their feelings and helping them to find a way to work through it. Name their feeling for them, for example, "I know you're mad at Henry for taking your toy." Letting them know a way to name or identify their feeling, that it’s ok to feel that way and that there is a safe way to work it out will help them to feel secure in their environment.

The six areas of competency for CDA are:

1. To establish and maintain a safe, healthy learning environment
2. To advance physical and intellectual competence
3. To support social and emotional development and to provide positive guidance
4. To establish positive and productive relationships with families
5. To ensure a well-run, purposeful program responsive to participant needs
6. To maintain a commitment to professionalism

Maintaining a professional portfolio is one of the steps for CDA endorsement.

When creating your curriculum, it’s important to utilize all information at your disposal to include: formal and informal observations and assessments, cultural expectations and differences, language barriers, work sampling and information from parents. The more information you use, the better your curriculum will meet the needs of your students.

Your classroom should be a non-biased environment, showing children there are all kinds of people in this world and helping them see the wonder of that world.

Since it seems to be difficult for Lucy to join with already established groups, it might be wise to invite others to join her in some activity in which she is already engaged. Cameron can sit with Lucy and begin the activity. He can then encourage others to join in and stay with the group until Lucy feels comfortable with the other children. Lucy is not having trouble separating from her parents so keeping them will not encourage her participation.

If a child has a nasty looking injury or bruise that is not explained either by the parents at drop off or the child herself, you can gently ask what happened but allow the child not to tell you if she doesn't want to. You should talk to your director and write an observation for the file. Check the file to see if anyone else has seen unexplained bruises or injuries and continue to monitor the situation. Ask the caregiver at pick up if they know what happened, as children do get bruises. Continue to monitor the situation and be diligent in following up with any injuries that seem suspicious and cannot be legitimately explained. If you feel the child is being hurt by anyone, you must report it to your local reporting agency.

Students will arrive in your classroom with a variety of skill levels. It’s important to keep their development in mind while assuring they do not grow frustrated. If Ben can't cut or has difficulty cutting, you still want him to participate in your activity. He can tear the pieces and you can set up time every week to work with him on developing this skill.

A warm caring child care provider communicates with children at eye level. Reading a book to children while sitting on the floor allows them to look you in the eye while sharing their input on the story. It is easy to have positive interactions during meals if you join them at the table. They will love having your company and you will be able to initiate a lot of wonderful back and forth.

Cleaning supplies must be out of the reach of the children and separated from food and medicine.

It is sometimes difficult to follow parent directions when a child is very tired. A sleepy child can be cranky and unsettle a whole group. It is best to do what you can to follow requests but keep to the regular schedule as well as you can. If the child falls asleep even with your best efforts, inform the parents and suggest some relaxation activities for bedtime.

The first responsibility of all caregivers is to do no harm. Caregivers should not participate in any practices which will physically, mentally, emotionally or socially harm children in their care. They should participate in practices which keep children safe, secure, and respected. The other choices reflect other ethical behaviors for educators.

A statement of your personal philosophy about early childhood education should reflect your feelings, experiences and understanding of children, learning, and families. To prepare your statement, you might use a series of prompts which will help you organize and compose your statement.

By involving the other children, explaining to them Tammy is not seriously injured and engaging them in the process of helping her to feel better, you are helping them learn empathy and compassion.

Confidentiality policies should be communicated and explained to parents when children are placed in the program. Parents may want to observe their child interacting with others and it should be understood that they should not share information about other children. Private issues should not be discussed with parents other than the child's own.

As a mandated reporter, you must, at the very least, advise your director and document the situation. Your director will have input and will decide if it should be reported, however, most states do not consider a spanking that leaves no marks abuse. Documenting the situation and being aware of it going forward will allow you to see a pattern of behavior, if there is one, or give you the chance to show an escalation in behavior if that becomes necessary.

The First Aid Kit should be stored in a visible and prominent place in the room and should be clearly marked. Mounting it on the wall near the main doorway and out of reach of the students will allow adults to easily find and access the kit. Having to leave the room to get it from a remote location or search through a desk can waste valuable time in a true emergency situation.

While at first it may seem counter intuitive, if you devote the time to catching Betty being "good" and verbally acknowledge her for making the correct choices in your classroom, you will see her working hard to get that positive feedback from you, especially once she sees her negative behaviors will not elicit the desired response. Of course, when she truly misbehaves, you must follow your standard practice for misbehavior.

Children at this age are experimenting with their world. If they hear language, they might not always know it’s not acceptable and, if they do, they may test you to see if you think it is. Being kind, fair and consistent is the way to address these kinds of digressions. Don't make idle threats or use humiliation, just remind the student it’s not an acceptable way to talk in school.

Open communication (while maintaining confidentiality standards) with parents and families can improve programs and services. Educators can conference with parents in formal or informal meetings. Information can be communicated by newsletters, emails, or on a website. Networking with other providers helps the educator find professional support and exchange ideas for programs and resources.

At no time should you leave the children unattended. If a parent wants to talk to you in private and you are alone with children, let the parent know what they have to say to you is important but you cannot leave the children. Ask the parent if they can wait a minute until you have back up or schedule a time to talk when you can do so without jeopardizing the safety of the children.

By using classroom furniture and rugs, you can create inviting areas for your students and easily limit the children who can play in each of the centers - larger areas for more students like blocks and manipulatives and smaller areas for quiet centers. You can also have the students 'sign up' to use the center, limiting sign ups to the number of children you want in each.

Each child care center will have its own policies for how to best handle when a classroom is out of compliance, however the best course of action is to always keep your director informed so s/he can make an informed decision for her center.

Many children this age will be fearful of new experiences or new sensations. If you have a student who is fearful of any situation, encourage them to try, but never point out to their peers they are scared, put them on the spot or punish them for not wanting to try.

Developmental language skills include phonemic awareness, fluency and processing. Social and emotional developmental issues include separation anxiety, sexual identity, willfulness, making friends, and dependency.

A teacher who is respectful of her students' individuality will allow them to move freely through centers or specialty areas, exploring, playing and experimenting on their own terms. Children can stay longer at centers that interest them and move on from the ones that do not hold their interest that day.

The goals of the program are important for each employee to know and adhere to when planning for their classroom. Parents and potential parents may be interested in knowing these goals and each employee should be able to share them with confidence.

Children need opportunities to develop their senses. Painting can help them develop their sense of sight but seeing bright colors, the differences in colors and how the colors look when mixed together.

Developmentally, a child of preschool age (3-5 years) is ready to start to learn their name, address and telephone number. This helps them develop a sense of self and allows them to begin to develop measures to keep themselves safe.

Sorting and classifying objects help children develop cognitively by learning concepts that will assure they are ready for Kindergarten and beyond.

While all are good practice, the one that should be done at least weekly is washing the toys in your schools preferred cleaning solution and more often when you have children with cold or flu symptoms. Rugs, blankets, curtains should receive regular cleaning as needed and your tissue boxes should be filled whenever they are empty.

From time to time, preschoolers will hit each other. It is important, when conveying the incident to parents, to project confidence that the situation was handled appropriately.

Let them know you sympathize with their frustration but are not allowed to make exceptions. - Whether or not you agree with the farm's rule, as visitors to this venue, you must be respectful and adhere to their guidelines and requests. It may seem like an easy out to allow parents to break the rules, but you must remember, you are the professional and must be a good role model. Explain the farm's rules to your parents, listen to their concerns and allow them to make the best decision for their family based on the information you share.

Three year olds can vary greatly on skill level, however typically developing 3s can identify at least a few letters, especially those in their names, identify a few numbers and are capable of pretending while playing, though the level of fantasy will vary by child and experience.

To have a language rich environment for your students, evidence of the language should be apparent in all areas of your classroom. Label objects on shelves, read to the children daily, have meaningful and purposeful conversations with them, and engage them in activities where they can experiment with the written and spoken word.

All of the above activities have the potential to expose the students to the written language, but actually using it and writing down orders will allow them to experiment with the written word. Some will write scribbles, some will have beginning letters and some will have a few more correct words or letters, but each of them is learning about the written language

Since Karl is acting differently than he usually does, it would be best practice to take him aside to discuss what might be troubling him. He may be feeling ill or have some problem with another student. If he indicates that the problem is at home, follow agency policies for reporting. Karl should not be punished for being unsettled, troubled, or ill.

Textbooks are least likely to be current. The caregiver should keep current by visiting reliable web sources, such as digital media resources and online websites. State bulletins can be accessed in hard copy or digital formats. These are issued periodically. Textbooks are generally not updated as frequently.

There are a lot of strategies you can use when you have students in your class that don't speak the same language. One of the ways to keep the parents involved is to send home materials in their home language so they can be involved and support their child in school.

A professional caregiver working with dual or multi-language children will seek to increase her knowledge by reading journals, attending workshops, and consulting professionals in the field. She might also work to increase her fluency in a second language which will help her communicate with parents and children. Children whose parents speak a different primary language at home can learn to be fluent in both their primary language and the language used in the care center.

In most cases, it is appropriate to administer medicine to your preschoolers, however, you must assure all medicines are correctly marked to avoid accidently giving medicine to the wrong child, giving an incorrect dose or giving the child too little or too much medicine during the school day. Best practice is to require the medicine be housed in the container the pharmacist provided.

When a child does not have proper clothing, it can be tough to talk to his parents because there can be a variety of factors involved. Be respectful and gently describe what you're seeing and explain why it is important for him to have shoes that fit. The parent may still be upset, but if you are respectful and caring, you have done the right thing.

Since only some of her charges bring home possessions, Carson should find a safe place for these to be kept until they are needed at naptime. The stuffed animals and blankets comfort these children and help them relax. Keeping them separate will help keep them clean and properly used. Parents should be made aware that other children may handle these items and that any items which they do not want even briefly shared should be kept at home. Carson should follow all sanitation rules for any items in her care practice.

Each choice has merit, however, you first concern must be safety. The bookshelves are not suitable for your classroom if they are splintering or have sharp edges. Both can cause injury to your preschoolers.

When working with children, a common concern is their inability to share. This is a learned skill and a good teacher will be patient and understanding with her students, working with them regularly on how to share and why we need to share.

Teachers must become lifelong learners in order to keep abreast of the latest educational trends, laws and best practices. Teachers are not done learning once they earn their degree and must continue to grow and learn to be the best educators possible.

Unfortunately, two year olds bite each other from time to time. When it happens in your classroom, it is important to treat the situation with respect when relaying information to the parents. If their child has a bite mark from another student, let the parents know you have taken care of the affected area and their child is fine. Do not share information on the other child or allow your personal feelings to enter into your conversation with them.

Children learn best when they are actively engaged. Listening to a story or coloring a picture have their place, however, the more opportunities children have to explore their environment and try different things the more meaningful their learning experience will be.

While it might seem acceptable to share the stories of the children in your care, you are, in fact, breaking their confidentiality. Their stories are private and should only be shared with appropriate educators and staff in your center, as needed for the welfare of the student.

If your center / program mandates hand washing prior to meals - and it should - and you inform the parents of that policy, you must follow through every day, every meal. Small children can take longer to do even basic tasks than older children, however the task must still be performed. Plan your schedule so you are not up against a time crunch right after meals, for example, have center time after breakfast so that children can eat at their own pace and go to a center when they have finished eating as opposed to having an organized activity that would cause children to rush or feel left out.

You can provide a great gross motor experience for the children by giving them scarves and having them dance in place to the music. They can hop, jump, turn around and balance on one foot great physical activity without needing a lot of space.

Field trips can be both exciting and stressful for small children. In a supportive environment, changes in routine are discussed with children in advance and caregivers share as much information as possible to help the children feel more comfortable. Reading books on the venue, showing photographs, visiting a school bus and talking opening with the students by addressing their questions and concerns will help the students enjoy this exciting day.

Sean is only three years old and his mother is understandably concerned for his welfare even though she's being told he will be fine. While you may think she's being unreasonable, Sean is her child and it’s her job to protect him as she sees fit. Speaking with her to address her concerns will help you develop a trusting relationship with her and allow Sean to interact more reasonably while he is in his cast.

First, follow all policies of your care center. Since the children are still being adequately supervised under your care, the first step would be to discuss the issue with your co-worker. If her behavior does not immediately change, her supervisor should be notified. The safety of the children is paramount. All policies and practices of the care center should be followed by all employees at all times.

The
teacher should address the situation directly, at the very least explaining to the boys that
hitting is not ok and ask Michael to apologize. She should enforce her belief that the
children cannot hurt each other through her daily classroom routines, such as posted class
rules and regular interactions with students when they do strike out.

Sending home a weekly newsletter is an easy way for you to let your parents know what is going on in the classroom, advise them of special activities, let them know of volunteer opportunities and remind them of important information.

From time to time, parents will approach you with questions regarding what you're teaching. In most cases, while it’s easy to feel like you must defend what you're doing in your class, it’s really just a matter of finding out what the concern is and addressing it directly with the parent.

Having strategies for transitions can keep children engaged during longer transitions, reinforce concepts and provide predictable outcomes for your students. Sing songs, recite rhymes or poems, count steps or follow short directives to help students move from one activity to another.