Rock of Grace Family Ministries in Kinsman, Ohio

Please expect your child to be hugged, kissed, tickled, and loved by our child certified "Caring Hands".

On Sundays, nursery is provided during the morning worship services. Nursery is also available on Wednesday evenings. (Special services will be announced separately.)

You may bring your child to the nursery 10 minutes prior to the service time and we ask that you please pick up your child within 10 minutes following the service. Please be considerate of our "Caring Hands" in this regard. If you are ministering to someone at the altar - or being ministered to - please send your spouse (or other pre-designated person) to pick up your baby.

Our nurseries are staffed by loving, certified caregivers. To have an effective nursery ministry, we need the investment of our parents. We value your input and need your assistance. It is our desire that you will become child certified and volunteer your time to assist us on a rotating schedule.

The nursery accepts infants 6 weeks of age and crawlers. The Toddlers Class is comprised of babies who are walking through 3 years of age. X-plorers are 3 year olds (who are potty-trained) through Kindergartners.

So that we may be well informed about your child, we request that you complete an information/enrollment card. Please provide any additional information that you feel would help us in caring for your baby. Please update your child's information every three months.

When you bring your child to the nursery, you will be asked to check him or her in at the check-in station in the foyer. We will ask you for the names of those you will allow to pick up your child. Pictures will also be taken. No one will be allowed to pick up your baby without your permission. A computerized system is used for this purpose, as well as a means to summon you from the service, if necessary.

Our nurseries are provided for the families who attend Rock of Grace. For your child's safety, please do not leave the church premises while your child is in our care. Should medical assistance be necessary, parental consent is required. Also, please note: child care is provided only for the age groups that are designated.

Please do not bring your children's toys - with the exception of a security blanket or other comfort item. (Labels will be provided to label your baby's personal belongings if you forget to do so at home.)

A snack of crackers or cookies or juice will be provided for the toddlers and X-plorers. For the infants, nothing will be given apart from what you bring for them. We suggest that your child is properly fed before bringing them to the nursery.

Children often cry when you leave them, although we hope we have eliminated some of their fear by having consistent nursery staff that your child will learn to recognize and trust. We ask that you do not come back to the nursery to check on your baby, as this may start the separation process all over again. A monitor at the check-in desk will display a live feed from the nursery camera. If you child does not stop crying (or cries for other reasons) within a reasonable period of time - we will notify you.

Because we are concerned for the safety and health of all the children, we ask that you do not bring your baby to the nursery if he or she is experienceing any of the following symptoms

Should any of these symptoms (or other signs of illness) be detected in your child, the nursery staff will not be able to receive him or her into the nursery. Our workers are also not permitted to administer any medications. Please do not bring any medications to the nursery in your baby's bag, and do not put any medicine in your baby's bottle or cup.

Occasionally a child is brought to the nursery who has a problem behavior such as kicking, biting, scratching, etc. If you are aware of this potential problem, we ask that you inform the nursery staff when you sign your child in. If the problem arises while they are in the nursery, and the nursery staff feel that the other children are threatened, the following protocol will be followed:

Your child will be separated from the other children.
Your child's number will come up on the screen in the sanctuary to summon you to the nursery.
It will be requested that you do not bring your child back to the nursery until the problem behavior is considered remedied and not to be a threat to the other children.

We understand that children are unpredictable and this may happen unexpectedly, but this precaution is stated for those with a patterned behavior problem. Please be assured this will be kept in confidence and is not meant to embarrass anyone. Our concern is for the safety of all the children.

Cleanliness

For your child's protection, we sanitize all of the toys weekly and the larger items are wiped down with disinfectant wipes after each service. The bedding is changed after each child's use. The carpets are vacuumed weekly and shampooed often.

In the event of an emergency...

If a fire or other emergency situation occurs that requires the evacuation of the building, all children will be escorted out of their classrooms by the class workers. Please do not return to the nursery or classroom to pick up your child. This will minimize confusion and allow us to get all the children out of danger quickly. Please go outside to receive your child from the caregivers.

A special note to nursing mothers:

There is a private area in the infant nursery should your child need to nurse during the service.

Other questions and concerns:

We want to make you aware that although we do have couples occasionally work together in the nursery, we do not permit men to change diapers.

Also, we have several children who are allergic to perfume, please do not wear perfume in the nursery, and do not spray your child with perfume of any kind.