After any disaster, children are most afraid that the event will recur, that they or someone they love will be hurt or killed, that they may be separated from those they love and be left alone. Here are strategies to help caregivers help affected children.

Spending time in the landscape with children, especially young ones, requires adults to pay careful attention. Just as you would childproof an indoor room, it’s important to take safety precautions in the yard to keep young ones safe.

Quality child care involves a variety of factors that should be considered when parents are searching for child care for their children. While cost and convenience are important considerations, parents should also consider their children’s ages, abilities, interests and personalities. Beliefs and attitudes about education, training, child guidance, nutrition and health are also major considerations.

Typically, providers require that children be kept from care for a minimum of 24 hours or until symptoms disappear.

A variety of factors should be considered when parents are attempting to find quality child care for their offspring.

A quality caregiver makes all the difference during the early years of a child’s development, so parents need to look for indications of quality when entrusting their children to others, says LSU AgCenter specialist Dr. Becky White.

A child-care center director's work is critically important as well as exhausting, not to mention complicated, so it is paramount that a dedicated, knowledgeable person oversees these operations. This article will explore some of the many qualifications needed to be an effective child-care center director.

Quality Child Care. Parents should make sure their child is receiving quality child care. One way to check on the quality of care your child is receiving is to plan a surprise visit to your child’s child-care center to observe the conditions. Listerd are a few things to consider looking for and inquiring about on such a visit.

Infants and toddlers need child care environments that are welcoming and responsive.

Some of the most stressful times children experience come when they move from one classroom to another. There are many things parents and caregivers can do to facilitate a smooth move from one classroom to another.

Outdoor playground areas for children are important to consider when choosing a child-care facility. It is just as important to visit the outside spaces as it is to tour the classrooms. Playing outdoors provides the opportunity for young children to use and develop their large muscles and cognitive abilities.

One of the most important roles parents and caregivers serve is to ensure that the children entrusted to them thrive in healthy and safe environments.

Child-care environments play an important role in the healthy growth and development of infant and toddlers. Since infants and toddlers spend a large portion of their day in routines such as saying hello or good-bye, getting dressed, diapering, toileting and mealtime, the child-care environment should reflect these important shared learning times. The environment provided for infants and toddlers should be welcoming and responsive to both children and their families.

By following a routine and providing a predictable einvironment, children can feel secure in their child care environment and learn that they can trust their caregivers to meet their needs.

Child care and preventing sickness. Parents who depend on child-care centers need to know the policies of their center and to keep in mind that those policies are designed to keep disease outbreaks from spreading to all children.

A supportive, nurturing, inviting environment for preschool age children is extremely important in encouraging them to explore and learn. Children learn through their own experiences of trial and error, repetition and imitation. Adults may encourage learning by ensuring that the classroom or day-care environment is appropriate and supports an array of experiences and choices.

Most injuries to young children in school or child-care environments occur outdoors, so playground safety definitely should be a concern in a child-care setting. Approximately 40 percent of the outdoor injuries to children are due to poor adult supervision," says LSU AgCenter child-care associate Cheri Gioe. "That means supervision is an essential component of playground safety."

Temper tantrums aren’t uncommon in young children. The key for adults is learning how to deal with them, says LSU AgCenter child-care associate Cheri Gioe.

Parents and grandparents often face the challenge of deciding what toys are appropriate for their children or grandchildren. The same thing is true of child-care providers seeking new toys for their child-care centers.

Temper tantrums aren’t uncommon in young children. The key for adults is learning how to deal with them, says LSU AgCenter child-care associate Cheri Gioe.

Shopping for quality child care? There are things you can do to become a better consumer of quality child care and at the same time help your children by providing the very best in caregiving.

With more and more parents working and the need for child care increasing, parents need to plan carefully for quality child care for their children. You can do many things to become a better consumer of quality child care, according to LSU AgCenter specialist Becky White.

Hurricanes have brought crisis into the living rooms of all Americans. Once again, the trauma of such events has struck at the heart of America. Dealing with natural disasters is difficult enough for all to comprehend. The lives of all will be changed forever. It is incredibly more difficult when young people and children are involved and are the victims.

(Distributed 09/07/08) A child may continue to be fearful following a hurricane because of the uncertainty of the future. “A child can mix up real fear and make-believe fear. This is OK, and a parent or other care-giver can help in many ways,” says LSU AgCenter family and consumer sciences specialist Becky White.