It's been a month since our child started kindergarten, and they've mostly adjusted to life there. No one wants their child to get sick now. How can we ensure their health while at kindergarten? Let's hear advice from kindergarten teachers and the school nurse.
1. Information Sharing
Only when kindergarten teachers and the school nurse understand your child's health status can they provide care as attentive as at home. Make sure to share the following essential information with the kindergarten.
2. Provide Contact Information
Ensure the kindergarten has your home, office, and mobile phone numbers for immediate contact. Additionally, provide the name and number of a second responsible contact person—such as a grandparent—in case you cannot be reached.
3. Disclose Your Child's Medical History
Children undergo health screenings and complete medical history forms upon enrollment. However, due to limited examination scope and parental discretion, kindergartens often lack complete and accurate health information. In emergencies, this leaves school nurses and teachers unprepared, potentially jeopardizing the child's well-being.Some parents worry that disclosing their child's medical history might lead to special treatment and isolation, so they intentionally conceal conditions like ADHD, seizures, or asthma. This concern is unnecessary—every child receives equal care at kindergarten.
4. Keep teachers informed about your child's emotional changes.
Sometimes headaches or stomachaches stem from emotional stress rather than illness. If a family member, pet, or close person passes away, be sure to inform the kindergarten teacher. Understanding the situation allows teachers to help the child process their feelings through conversation.
5. Share information with the kindergarten.
If your child frequently falls ill at kindergarten, it's best to share the doctor's diagnosis with the teacher or school nurse—including the cause of the illness, symptoms, and care instructions. This ensures your child receives proper care while also alerting the kindergarten: Could other children be at risk for this condition? Are there gaps in the kindergarten's protocols? Teachers also welcome suggestions for better child care practices.
Recognizing Signs of Illness When your child is sick, you want to prevent spreading illness while ensuring they don't miss out on kindergarten learning. Here's how to determine if they need home rest or can attend:
6. Check their temperature first. If your child has a fever (37.5°C/99.5°F or higher), they should rest at home.After the fever completely subsides, observe them for another 24 hours before returning to kindergarten.
7. Check their throat.
If your child complains of a sore throat, examine whether their throat is inflamed (you can use a flashlight to shine light into their throat). If no abnormalities are found, they can continue attending kindergarten.If the throat appears red or has white spots, and the child is in significant pain, keep them home to rest.
8. Rule out anxiety factors.
Some children may suddenly experience stomachaches or even vomiting the day before a kindergarten performance or after being bullied by peers, often due to excessive anxiety. In such cases, observe carefully. If vomiting is severe, it's best to keep them home.If they only complain of stomach pain without other symptoms, they can attend kindergarten. However, gently discuss their kindergarten experiences to identify the source of anxiety and offer appropriate encouragement. For example: "I think you danced just as well as the other children." After arriving at kindergarten, honestly share the cause and symptoms of their anxiety with the teacher, working together to help them overcome it. 9. Avoid making promises lightly.
After dropping your child off, avoid saying, "If you feel unwell, tell the teacher and I'll come pick you up right away." This effectively gives them an excuse to leave early. If you're concerned about their health, share your worries with the teacher and ask them to keep a close eye on your child.
10. Medication Management
When your child needs medication due to illness, kindergarten teachers require precise information about the medication. Learn how to concisely convey the doctor's lengthy instructions to the teacher and understand the scope of responsibilities of the kindergarten nurse. Most kindergartens will not administer medication to children without a doctor's prescription, even for something like cough syrup.Most school clinics only stock emergency supplies like bandages and antiseptic solutions. However, some kindergarten nurses hold medical licenses and can prescribe medications or provide further treatment. Therefore, you should first understand the scope of your child's kindergarten nurse's responsibilities and clarify what preparations you need to make when your child requires medication.
11. Bring the doctor's prescription and the medication bottle to kindergarten.Teachers and school nurses need to know the exact name and dosage of the medication, which is typically printed on the bottle or written on the prescription. If your child has asthma, it's best to send two inhalers to kindergarten. Hand them directly to the teacher yourself—don't have your child deliver them, as they may forget. At home, you'll need to cooperate with the teachers on certain matters.
While kindergarten routines are structured, these patterns often break down at home—a key factor disrupting children's health. Kindergarten teachers therefore encourage parental cooperation at home.
12. Ensure your child drinks plenty of water.
Dehydration is a common cause of headaches in children.Adequate hydration supports your child's metabolism and increases nasal mucus, which can help reduce allergic reactions to some extent.
Although teachers provide water at regular intervals in kindergarten, children may sometimes be uncooperative. Therefore, encourage your child to drink more water at home, especially before leaving for kindergarten each morning and upon returning home. Also, encourage them to drink water while at kindergarten.
If cough medicine isn't available, offer your child some throat lozenges.
When your child has a sore throat, giving them a few throat lozenges can alleviate discomfort (in fact, throat lozenges and cough medicine contain sugar that works similarly—both aim to increase mucus secretion to soothe the throat). This non-medicinal approach is sometimes used in kindergartens as well.
13. Monitor your child's sleep schedule.
Kindergarten teachers observe that many newly enrolled children struggle to adapt to kindergarten life, leading to significantly reduced sleep quality at night. Arriving at kindergarten the next morning in poor condition, their health suffers over time. Parents are encouraged to prioritize their child's nighttime sleep. Typically, a kindergarten-aged child requires 11 to 13 hours of sleep daily.Before bedtime, teachers advise parents to avoid discussing kindergarten matters excessively, allowing children to settle into sleep with a positive mindset. 14. Help children develop good hygiene habits. Handwashing is the simplest way to eliminate germs and maintain health. At kindergarten, teachers instruct children on proper soap-and-water handwashing before meals and after using the restroom. At home, parents should reinforce this habit to ensure consistency.
15. Kindergarten school nurses advise parents to fill out children's health records as thoroughly as possible.
1. For children with allergies, such as asthma, inform teachers of primary allergens. Note the date of the most recent episode and its trigger.