Educating Young Children Volume 1 - Summer 2025 | Page 73

to the sink. After she finishes changing Asim, she lifts him from the changing table. He’ s wiggling, and she struggles with her balance.

In addition to the movements required to use the changing table, Elena helps children wash their hands at the child-height sink. Elena bends down as she helps each child clean their hands. She feels a pinch in her lower back and presses her fist into the area to release some tension.

Elena’ s story is familiar to many early childhood educators. They often engage in physically demanding tasks while caring for young children, which can be intense at times. Without sufficient support and resources, many qualified and dedicated educators have to seek medical care to relieve pain caused at work and may even need to resign from their jobs.

NAEYC’ s program standards, which include guidance on early learning physical environments, state that“ a well-organized, maintained, and equipped environment fosters learning, engagement, comfort, health, and safety for children, families, and staff.” However, many early childhood workplaces do not have policies ensuring access to adult-sized furniture or training related to lifting, twisting, and bending to prevent injury. Educators can benefit from professional learning about avoiding physical injury. Early learning programs can foster educators’ physical well-being by establishing policies and supports to create accessible workplaces.

Despite the challenges and impacts that came to the foreground because of the COVID-19 pandemic, educators’ basic access to affordable health care has not improved. When educators experience illness and injury, they should have affordable health care options and paid time off. Program leaders can work to offer group health insurance plans or contribute to employees’ premium costs whenever feasible. Smaller programs can create a larger pool of employees to negotiate more affordable insurance options. In addition, programs can provide paid leave for illness and preventive care visits. One step early childhood educators can take is to