Potty Training
Learning to Use the Potty at Signal Pine Playschool
Each year in April, Signal Pine Playschool offers a course hosted by parent coach, sex educator, and in-home preschool teacher Ashley Robertson. This course is free and we encourage parents to enroll and then prepare with us to have any two year olds potty train with us at school sometime in mid-late April. This transition out of daytime diapers has been widely beloved by parents, teachers and children. Signal Pine Playschool is aware of & loves to support children in potty training during the magical 18 month-30 month window when most childrens' bodies naturally gain an awareness of what their pee and their poop feels like when it comes out. We find that the two year olds are ready and excited to learn how to use the potty each year. The official course is titled: Signal Pine Playschool Potty Training and Early Sex Ed virtual workshop with Ashley Robertson. Topics that get covered in the course are respectful potty learning, Signal Pine’s specific plan for the children who are potty training at school, attachment types, use of accurate body parts and how this relates to reducing the risks of sexual abuse, potty training resource library both books and virtual options as well as helpful tips on physical potties and what helps kids have the most success when learning to use the potty.
Ashley Robertson’s Course Description
Respectful Potty Training & Early Consent Practices
Join parent educator and sexuality educator Ashley Robertson as she sheds light on this developmental milestone and ways to create foundational trust and respect during this transition. What does readiness mean? How can I be respectful of my child and hold consistent expectations? How can I teach consent and require my child to sit on the potty? How do I avoid shame for accidents? What are the actual skills I need to teach?
Through this workshop, participants will be able to:
List signs of readiness for potty training
List ways their individual style of parenting/child-rearing could affect potty training
Be ready to use anatomically correct body part names aloud with children
Know the parts of consent
Internalize the rationale that a caregiver’s job is to keep kids healthy and safe as the only reasons why one would disregard a child’s consent
Explain the roles of consistency and using simple language during this milestone Feel empowered to guide children through potty training as the expert
Supplemental Materials: (for parents to reference)
Childhood attachment: https://momentousinstitute.org/blog/how-our-own-attachment-style- impacts-our-relationships
What to buy suggestions: https://www.babysavers.com/training-pants-vs-pull-ups/
How to teach your child about consent from birth: https://www.parents.com/parenting/better- parenting/advice/how-to-teach-your-child-about-consent-from-birth/
At Home Montessori potty training video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL_vvFAH8AY
A bit more information about why our kid's gender is just a guess based on external genitalia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cdsGFnNp6Q
My curated best books list:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WaZGbek31WYEbHcdPB3NJd4CKj5dIUhmjmmOL3zhe AM/edit?usp=sharing
Ms. Ashley’s website: https://www.msashleyrobertson.com/
Summarized Interpretation of the Child Care Regulations:
Childcare facilities must receive parental consent to work on potty training/learning with their children. It is your right as parents who are sending to any licensed childcare program in the State of Vermont to refuse to allow your child to potty train at school. It is also your right to require schools to toilet your child on the potty if they are already using the toilet, even if they are younger than two years old. Childcare programs are required to respect parents' wishes when it comes to how they have been nurtured at home. See the following specific regulations for further information: (5.2.4.1, 5.2.4.2, 5.2.4.3, 5.2.4.4 & 6.2.5.8, 6.2.5.9)
Regulations:
5.2.4 Toileting and Toilet Learning/Training
5.2.4.1 Children shall be accommodated in a timely manner when they need to use the toilet.
5.2.4.2 The FCCP and staff shall provide positive guidance on safe and sanitary toileting. Children shall be supported in developing toileting skills appropriate to their age and ability.
5.2.4.3 The FCCP shall ensure that all toilet learning/training is carried out with the parent's knowledge and consent. Toilet training methods shall be consistent with the parent's toilet training methods when these are developmentally appropriate and do not constitute a violation of these regulations. The child's progress and success in toileting shall be communicated regularly to the child's parent(s).
5.2.4.4 Safe and cleanable equipment for toilet learning/training such as child-sized toilets, step aids, modified child-sized toilet seats or inserts that fit directly over the toilet shall be provided for children who are learning to use the toilet.
6.2.5 Quality of Interactions
6.2.5.8 Nurturing activities performed by staff, including diapering, toileting, feeding, dressing, and resting; shall be performed in a relaxed, reassuring and individualized manner that is developmentally appropriate and promotes the child's learning, self-help, and social skills.
6.2.5.9 Nurturing activities performed by staff shall be performed with consideration of the parents' expressed preferences and nurturing practices when these are developmentally appropriate and do not consitute a violation of these regulations.