Nursery (Birth – 2-year-olds)
Our goal in the nursery is simple. We identify a set of essential truths and encourage our teachers to teach and reinforce these principles every week. The children are taught by loving volunteers who care about them and understand how important it is to begin early spiritual training. Our classes combine children’s interest in music and their curiosity about the world around them with songs about God, His creation, and His love for us. As these songs are lovingly sung to and with the children, they handle manipulatives like toy frogs, ducks, cars, and boats. This introduction to God as our Creator provides the Biblical foundation for our infants and toddlers, which they build upon as they graduate to the preschool department and begin to learn the great stories of the Bible.
Time
Class begins at 9:00 and ends at 9:45. If your child is staying for Attended Nursery during worship, please indicate so when you check your child in at the Children's Ministry Check-in kiosk prior to class. As a courtesy to our volunteers, please pick your child up promptly upon the conclusion of the worship service.
What To Bring
When packing a diaper bag for your child, please include the following items:
- Two or three disposable diapers.
- Wipes
- Pacifier or other item that your child might need for security.
- A complete change of clothes in case of an accident.
- A bottle of milk, formula, juice or water. (If your child nurses exclusively, please notify the Team Leader if/when they should page you for a feeding).
- A favorite security item (lovey, blanket, doll, etc.)
Please label the diaper bag, your child’s coat, and all of the above mentioned items with your child's first and last name before arriving at your child's class. This helps us keep track of your child's items.
Your Child's Health
We operate a well-baby program. For the protection of all the children in our ministry, we cannot accept a child with a runny nose, fresh cold (four days or less), fever, rash, persistent cough, diarrhea or any other signs of illness. We request that you not place your child in the program while they are at risk of exposing other children. Thank you in advance for helping us to maintain our nursery as a healthy place for all. It is important to note that even with these precautions children are exposed to illnesses. To reduce the risks, the changing tables, cribs, teaching areas, toys and manipulatives are sanitized after each class.
What to Expect:
A Warm Welcome
Your child must be checked in at the Children’s Ministry Check-in kiosk located in the atrium area to the right of entrance G (chapel entrance) in order to enter the nursery. If you enter the building through one of the children’s wing entrances, it will be necessary to walk to the opposite end of the children’s wing to the atrium area in front of the elevator and main staircase to check in your child.
As you and your child approach the Children’s Ministry Check-in kiosk you will be greeted and assisted in the check-in process. Once you become familiar with this process, you may choose to utilize the self check-in.
You will be given a security tag for your child to wear, with a corresponding tag for yourself. For the safety of your child, your tag must be presented at the time of pick up. A child cannot be released without presentation of the parent’s corresponding tag. As you walk your child to the nursery, you will be greeted at the counter by a Team Leader, who will receive your child and any other necessary items. Please provide any information that will help in caring for your child such as feeding times, sleeping times, allergies and special needs.
You will be given a pager to take with you to class; the number of the pager will be noted on your child’s security tag.
Saying Good-bye
As you drop your child off in the nursery, simply wave a quick good-bye and leave. As you know, it is normal for little ones to cry when leaving a parent. This does not last long, and separation becomes easier over time. Our Team Leaders will immediately try to create interest in a toy or activity and give assurance that you will return soon. Your child will quickly enter into a positive experience of learning and fun planned just for him. If your child is inconsolable after 10 minutes, we will page you.
Checking On Your Child
Feel free to check on your little one at any time. However, we ask that you do so discreetly, trying not to let your child see you. Simply stop by the nursery counter and ask the Team Leader of your child’s status.
Snacks
Snacks are provided for the children once they graduate to the Crawler classroom. The food items consist of water and Cheerios or Goldfish for our new walkers and toddlers. If your child has an allergy, please inform the Team Leader when you drop your child off. Allergy Alert stickers are also available for your baby to wear.
Meet Your Child’s Teachers
For the safety of our children, only scheduled volunteers are allowed behind the counter and in the classrooms. You are encouraged to participate in “Meet the Teacher” dates, and to volunteer to work a quarter of the year at a time in the nursery so that you can partner with us to share the love of God with your children, and so that you can become more equipped to apply similar teaching strategies at home to reinforce what your child is learning in class.
Curriculum
It is exciting to watch our tiniest ones learn! Age-appropriate learning experiences are planned and reinforced with songs, play, and supervised activities designed with the ability of the children in mind.
Pick-up Procedures
The Team Leader will expect the same person to drop off and pick up each child unless special instructions are given at drop off. Please make sure that all your child's personal items have been returned to you before you leave the premises. Lost and found items will be retained for a short time. Items not claimed after one month are donated to a charitable organization.
Nursery Options During Worship
If your child, two and under, needs special care during worship, you have several options:
- Upon check-in, schedule him to stay in the Attended Nursery through class and worship
- Drop him off in the Attended Nursery as needed during worship
- Sit with him in the Family Room across the hall from the Attended Nursery and watch the service via monitor
- Nurse him in the Nursing Mother’s Room across the hall from the Attended Nursery and watch the service via monitor
These rooms are equipped with comfortable seating, a changing table, rocking chairs, and refrigerated water bottles for nursing mothers. Both the Family Room and Nursing Mother’s Room have monitors so that parents can participate in the worship service. Communion for both rooms is located in the Nursing Mother’s room. Although both parents are welcome to utilize the Family Room, the door to the adjacent Nursing Mother’s Room remains closed for the privacy of those nursing.
Volunteer Opportunities
For the safety of our children, all potential volunteers must first fill out the Volunteer Form, which includes permission to conduct a criminal background check. This is followed by an interview by one of our Children’s Ministers to ensure that volunteers are placed in an area of service appropriate to their gifts and abilities. The volunteer and Education Minister sign the Volunteer Covenant and review the ministry description that explains the expectations for service in the nursery. The volunteer is then scheduled to observe for a minimum of two weeks prior to assuming volunteer responsibilities.
If you are interested in making a difference in the life of a child, there are several ways to serve in the nursery. Each Sunday, two Team Leaders (often a husband/wife team) supervise the nursery from check-in to check-out. Each class (babies, one-year-old's, two-year-old's) has a teacher and at least one helper (based on class size). Each teacher/helper is scheduled to work one quarter of the year at a time, and then scheduled to take a quarter off to attend class or serve in another area of their choosing. A nursery volunteer schedule is posted in the nursery so that parents and other volunteers can choose when to serve. The Sunday prior to beginning their quarter of service, volunteers are encouraged to observe in the nursery to become familiar with the babies and what they are learning.
For more information, contact Becky Burroughs, Education Minister at bburroughs@hocc.org
This page maintained by Becky Burroughs.
