By the end of this section, you should be able to:
Explain what active supervision is and what it might look like.
Introduction
Keeping children safe must be a top priority for all early care and education programs. Active supervision is the most effective strategy for creating a safe environment and preventing injuries in young children. It transforms supervision from a passive approach to an active skill. Staff use this strategy to make sure that children of all ages explore their environments safely. Each program can keep children safe by teaching all staff how to look, listen, and engage.
What is Active Supervision?
Active supervision requires focused attention and intentional observation of children at all times. Staff position themselves so that they can observe all of the children: watching, counting, and listening at all times. During transitions, staff account for all children with name-to-face recognition by visually identifying each child. They also use their knowledge of each child’s development and abilities to anticipate what they will do, then get involved and redirect them when necessary. This constant vigilance helps children learn safely.
Strategies to Put Active Supervision in Place
The following strategies allow children to explore their environments safely. Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers must be directly supervised at all times. This includes daily routines such as sleeping, eating, and diapering or bathroom use. Programs that use active supervision take advantage of all available learning opportunities and never leave children unattended.
Set Up the Environment
Staff set up the environment so that they can supervise children and be accessible at all times. When activities are grouped together and furniture is at waist height or shorter, adults are always able to see and hear the children. Small spaces are kept clutter-free and big spaces are set up so that children have clear play spaces that staff can observe.
Figure 9.1.1 – Open shelving can make supervision easier. Community Playthings (2020).
Position Staff
Staff carefully plan where they will position themselves in the environment to prevent children from harm. They place themselves so that they can see and hear all of the children in their care. They make sure there are always clear paths to where children are playing, sleeping, and eating so they can react quickly when necessary. Staff stay close to children who may need additional support. Their location helps them provide support, if necessary.
Scan and Count
Staff are always able to account for the children in their care. They continuously scan the entire environment to know where everyone is and what they are doing. They count the children frequently. This is especially important during transitions when children are moving from one location to another.
Listen
Specific sounds or the absence of them may signify a reason for concern. Staff who are listening closely to children immediately identify signs of potential danger. Programs that think systematically implement additional strategies to safeguard children. For example, bells added to doors help alert staff when a child leaves or enters the room.
Anticipate Children's Behavior
Staff use what they know about each child’s individual interests and skills to predict what he/she will do. They create challenges that children are ready for and support them in succeeding. But, they also recognize when children might wander, get upset, or take a dangerous risk. Information from the daily health check (e.g., illness, allergies, lack of sleep or food, etc.) informs staff’s observations and helps them anticipate children’s behavior. Staff who know what to expect are better able to protect children from harm.
Engage and Redirect
Staff use what they know about each child’s individual needs and development to offer support. Staff wait until children are unable to problem-solve on their own to get involved. They may offer different levels of assistance or redirection depending on each individual child’s needs (Office of Head Start, 2024).
Figure 9.1.2 – This teacher is nearby and carefully watching the children. California Department of Education.
What Does Active Supervision Look Like?
To understand what active supervision might look like in your program, consider the following example:
Maria and Yasmin have taken their three-year-old classroom out to the playground for outdoor playtime. The 15-foot square playground has a plastic climber, a water/sand table and a swing set. Maria and Yasmin stand at opposite corners of the playground to be able to move quickly to a child who might need assistance. The children scatter through the playground to various areas. Some prefer the climber, while others like the swings. Many of the children play with the sand table because it is new. Maria and Yasmin have agreed on a supervision plan for which children they will observeand are always counting the children in the areas closest to them, occasionally raising their fingers to show each other how many children are close to them. This helps them keep track of where the children are, and to make sure no one is missing. If one child moves to a different area of the playground, they signal each other so that they are both aware of the child’s change in location.
Maria has noticed that Felicity loves to play in the sand table. She hears children scolding each other and notices that Felicity throws the toys without looking. As Maria sees Felicity and Ahmed playing at the sand table, Maria stands behind Felicity and suggests she put the toy back in the basket when she is done with it. By remaining close, she is also able to redirect Ahmed who has never seen a sand table before and throws sand at his classmates. Kellan has been experimenting with some of the climbing equipment and is trying to jump off of the third step onto the ground. While he is able to do this, some of the other children whose motor skills are not as advanced also try to do this. To help them build these skills, Yasmin stands close to the steps on the climbing structure. She offers a hand or suggests a lower step to those who are not developmentally ready.
Maria and Yasmin signal to each other five minutes before playtime is over, then tell the children they have 5 minutes left to play. When the children have one minute left, Maria begins to hand out colors that match the colored squares they have painted on the ground.She asks Beto, a child who has trouble coming inside from playtime, to help her. When the children are handed a colored circle, they move to stand on the colored spot on the playground. As the children move to the line, Maria guides them to the right spot.When all the children are in line, both Maria and Yasmin count the children again. They scan the playground to make sure everyone is in place, then move the children back into the classroom.They also listen to be sure that they do not hear any of the children still on the playground. Yasmin heads the line and Maria takes the back end, holding Beto’s hand. When they return to the classroom, there are spots on the floor with the same colors that were on the playground. The children move to stand on their matching colors in the classroom. Maria and Yasmin take a final count, then collect the circles and begin the next activity.
Both Yasmin and Maria are actively engaged with the children and each other, supporting the children’s learning and growth while ensuring their safety. They use systems and strategies to make sure they know where children are at all times, and that support developmentally appropriate child risk-taking and learning (Office of Head Start, 2024).
Pause to Reflect
Go back through the example and list the active supervision strategies that Yasmin and Maria used.
Active Supervision for Infants and Toddlers
Infant/toddler care is responsive, individualized care and it's important to think about infants and toddlers that are cared for in small groups with a primary-caregiver system of care and also to think about the flow of the day as being responsive to the individualized needs of the children. Staff work very closely with children throughout the day guiding them through individual or small-group routines and experiences. Staff are providing responsive, individualized care, and they will know each child well. That's an important piece of both individualized care and active and responsive supervision. They have a good sense of how each child gets through the day, what their abilities are, and what their temperament is. Even as they grow and change from day to day, they're able to follow each child in their care with an understanding of how it is that they're growing.
Figure 9.1.3 – Knowing children well is the basis of responsive care and active supervision. California Department of Education.
In center-based programs or larger family child care homes, more than one caregiver is working together in a team. Another thing that's important to remember is the kind of communication that develops between the two teachers in a classroom or a family-childcare provider and an assistant -- a communication that supports a child's safe movement throughout the day as well as their ability to explore and grow in a nurturing environment.
Adults provide support to each other, particularly at key times of the day, like transitions. All of those important, individualized routines require both adults to work together, such as individual sleeping times, going indoors and outdoors, changing times, feeding and eating times for infants and toddlers, and other times during the day when there may be a particular child that needs individualized care. It's so important that the staff working with them are working together to support continuity of care.
The environment itself can be a partner in caring for infants and toddlers, particularly when it comes to keeping children safe. We want to create environments that provide places for children to play and be both together and apart but always in full view and within easy reach of a caring and attentive adult (DHHS, n.d.).
Creating an Environment of Yes!
An environment of “yes” means that everything infants and toddlers can get their hands on is safe and acceptable for them to use. One way to ensure this is for adults to do ongoing safety checks in group care spaces and provide families with information about doing safety checks of their own. The teacher, home visitor, and the child’s family play a vital role in making sure everything is safe, then stepping back to allow exploration.
Sometimes infants and toddlers will use materials in creative ways that surprise us! When teachers feel uncomfortable about an activity, they should stop and ask themselves two questions:
Is it dangerous?
What are the children learning from this experience?
If it is decided that the activity is safe with supervision, they should stay nearby. They should be thoughtful and open to what the children might be learning. If the activity is not safe, they need to consider what else might address the infants’ and toddlers’ curiosity in the same way. For example, if young toddlers are delighted to discover that by shaking their sippy cups, liquid comes out; a teacher may be worried that this water on the floor will lead to a slippery accident. Instead, they might provide squeeze bottles outside or at the water table. The adult is responsible for keeping children safe and encouraging learning through curiosity.
Saying “no” to infants and toddlers or asking them to “share” is a strategy that rarely works. One way to prevent conflict is to reflect on, and then set up, the space where children play in ways that promote “yes!”
What areas generate the most “no’s” or require the most adult guidance?
What do the children need and enjoy the most when it comes to playtime?
Do you have multiples of favorite toys?
Do you have enough places where toddlers can play alone or with a few friends?
Do you have adequate space for active play?
Is the room appropriately child-proofed? (Office of Head Start, 2024)
Figure 9.1.4 – How might a teacher respond to this toddler pushing the stroller up here? Is this safe? What might he be curious about? California Department of Education.
Active Supervision for Preschoolers
It’s important not to become complacent with safety practices. Teachers need to keep it fresh, thoughtful, and intentional. This begins with setting up the environment. Classrooms will have unique factors to consider. However, some general considerations include making sure that there is a teacher responsible for every part of the space children are in, which may be referred to as zoning, and for every part of the day (including transitions).
How teachers position their bodies is really important. They should see all of the children in their care from any position in the room. And when in playing areas, their back should not be to the center of the room, but towards the wall. It is also important to move closer to children as needed (rather than staying in one place and potentially missing out on problems that may arise).
Teachers also need to talk to each other, using back-and-forth communication, so that safety information is easily spread through the room. It may seem strange at first, sometimes, for teachers to talk to each other; but, it's incredibly helpful for active supervision – when there are either changes in staff or children's routines, changes in roles, or changes during transitions.
One of the main purposes of zoning was to help all children be engaged and to minimize unnecessary wait times. When all staff know their roles in the classroom with zoning and tasks are getting handled, children are engaged and the unsupervised wait time is really minimized.
During transitions or routine changes, teachers need to have a heightened awareness. Transitions are challenging times for both children and their teachers, so the risk to safety increases. One thing that teachers can think about is how they can minimize the number of changes so that there aren't as many transitions happening in the classroom. There should be plans for what adults will do, before, during, and after transition times (DHHS, n.d.).
References
This page is from 2: Preventing Injury and Protecting Chidlren's Safety. by Paris. in Paris. (2021). Health, safety and nutrition. LibreTexts.
Brussoni, M., Olsen, L. L., Pike, I., & Sleet, D. A. (2012). Risky play and children’s safety: Balancing priorities for optimal child development. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 9(9), 3134–3148. doi:10.3390/ijerph9093134.
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). (September 12, 2018). Creating and enhancing a culture of safety Head Start town hall meeting. Retrieved September 18, 2024: https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/...-of-Safety.pdf
Lang, M., Canadian Pediatric Society, & Community Paediatrics Community. (2009). Health implications of children in child care centres Part B: Injuries and infections. Paediatrics & Child Health, 14(1), p. 40-48. https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/14.1.40
Safety and Injury Prevention by McLain, O'Hara-Leslie, & Wade. In McLain, K.B., O'Hara-Leslie, E.K., & Wade, A.C. (2016). Foundations in Assisting with Home Care. Lumen Learning.
