The licensee and program staff must:

(1) Actively seek out meaningful conversations with children and talk about events of importance to the child;

(2) Be available and responsive to children and interact on the child's level, encouraging them to ask questions, share experiences, ideas and feelings;

(3) Encourage children to evaluate a problem and form a resolution rather than impose an adult solution; help children to develop mediation and negotiation skills to solve problems;

(4) Foster creativity and independence;

(5) Build on children's strengths while allowing for mistakes;

(6) Treat equally all children in care regardless of race, religion, culture, sex, family structure and ability;

(7) Demonstrate positive interactions with children and other adults when children are present;

(8) Be in frequent verbal communication with children in a positive, reinforcing, cheerful and soothing way;

(9) Treat each child with consideration and respect;

(10) Appropriately touch and smile at children;

(11) Speak to the children at their eye level when possible and appropriate;

(12) Respond to and investigate cries or other signs of distress immediately;

(13) Perform age or developmentally appropriate nurturing activities that:

(a) Take into consideration the parent's own nurturing practices;

(b) Promote each child's learning self-help and social skills; and

(14) Provide each child opportunities for vocal expression; adult voices must not always dominate the overall sound of the group.

PDFWAC 110-305-6000

Interactions with children.