At Sitka And Sparrow, we want every child to feel comfortable and well adjusted before they start full days. Because we recognize that every child is different and can take varying times to feel trust with new care providers, we follow a gradual entry program. 

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For preschool aged children, we start with an hour or two, depending if they have been in care before. We assess the child every day and when they are showing signs that they are happy in care, we adjust their days to half days. This could only be one day or it might take a week to get to half days.

 

For infants and toddlers, we start with a couple of 30 minute visits with a parent. The first time the child is left with us, we ask that parents are close and on call for an hour or less while the child adjusts to not having their parents there.  We assess the child every day and when they are showing signs that they are happy for the hours or two, we aim to adjust their days to half days. This could only be one week, but it might take two weeks to get to half days.

 

The next transition is when children wake up from nap. It can be difficult waking up somewhere they are not used to, so we ask parents to pick up after wake up time (around 3 for anywhere from a few days to a week, depending on the signs the child is showing us). 

 

We ask that parents are patient during this process, we know that it is not the most convenient, but we truly believe that to establish trust between provider and child, they must feel safe, and knowing that their adult is coming back, is number one in that process.