What is a policy for preschool when a child uses the restroom?

My daughter is 4 and she wants to know why the little boys in her class stand to pee. I think it is completely unacceptable that she is even able to see this. I understand she needs to know why girls sit and boys stand but I don't want her seeing everyones privates. She even said some little girls do not wipe. Why is she seeing this at all. Do they have to keep the bathroom do open at school or should all the kids watch each other go.

I think there is a difference between "watching" and "seeing". I am sure all of the children do not stand around and "watch" others using the bathroom, they just happen to "see" it......do you know what I mean?? A teacher may be in the room alone with many children, or even 2 teachers with 20 children is common. It would be hard to have a door on the bathroom and still keep an eye on things. Also, children this age often times still need help going potty, so an open restroom is best for all/ the teacher can't be in the bathroom helping someone and still watch the rest of the room if the door is closed. See what I mean? I taught preschool for 5 years so I understand why this happens sometimes. We try to keep the one child at a time rule, but it can't always work. One may be washing hands and another one "really really has to go"....what choice do you have?? I never would allow the children to "watch" each other, that would be unacceptable, however they might "see" in passing/. If you have concerns about the supervision in the restroom I would definatley talk to the teacher to see if you can compromise together to come up with a solution. I know this is a hard topic with young ones, but start by telling your daughter the very basic simple facts, girls sit, boys stand...the end.....good luck!!!

I work in a daycare center in the 3-5 year old Montessori room. We have one toilet in it's own room. A lot of our kids don't close the door because they are either afraid of getting stuck, need help, or have not yet developed modesty. If a teacher needs to go in to help a child, the door must stay open per centery policy. It is largely to protect the teacher.

Umm, yeah, that sounds wierd. The only preschool I've ever visited had a single private restroom in each classroom, and the teacher helped out if the child couldn't go by themselves.

Personally I would rather field these questions then to have my child behind closed doors by themselves or with one person away from supervision and accountability.

It is possible that with all the craziness now, they do not want them to close the door, around here, no teachers are allowed in the restrooms with children anymore, even if the kid doesnt do the best at using it, they cannot even help AT ALL, if the child didnt wipe their poop, oh, well, they cant call for the teacher to help,there is nothing the teachers can do except call their parents. When i was a child, hey no big deal, but now all this pedophilia has come to the surface(always there, now its just in the open). so lose lose deal here. you should really call the school and ask them what THEIR specific policy is, and then see if there is something you can do to change it, maybe a rule that they just cant shut the door all the way or something, i dont know.

Here is the problem with daycares and preschools, if you have the door closed then a teacher needs to be with them at all times and this takes from the teachers in the rooms. Also a child could lock the door and not be able to get it back open. I think a bathroom with privacy doors would be a better suggestion.

Talk with your preschool director and see what the policy is at your school. If you are uncomfortable with it maybe you should check out other sites.

Good luck

I think you should talk to whoever is in charge at your daughter's school. I did substitute teaching for a little while. Certain times during the day we took all the children to the restroom (a bunch of stalls ... and there were seperate restrooms for boys and girls). The children entered the restroom by themselves. We had to stand outside the restroom. So what went on while the kids were in there ... I have no clue. But yes I would absolutely be concerned if my child was watching other children use the restroom. So again I suggest you speak to someone in charge at your daughter's preschool.

discuss this with the preschool owner...i too would be concerned. if this person does not do something about the matter, i would contact child abuse hot line or the local children's advocacy .
good luck!

I personally would want to know what is going on. I would be on the phone with the preschool teacher right away. The kids should not be watching each other go to the bathroom. They should have privacy, and there should be enough teachers that one can be in the bathroom if need be while one stays with the other children. I would be furious if my son told me this.

From what I can remember there only needs to be a divider between toilets and not separate rooms or stalls before a certain age.

In the daycare I used to work at there used to be two toilets per bathroom, with a divider in between them. There was a half door to the bathroom that could be closed for privacy, but two children could be in the bathroom since there were two toilets.

In the 4 year old room we used to not allow a boy in if a girl was already using one of the toilets, but if another girl had to go then they could use the other toilet.

You may be able to speak with the director(the teacher may not know the exact regulation). Licensed daycares are regulated and inspected by the state, so if there are two or more toilets in one bathroom this means that it is allowable and has been aproved by the state inspectors.

Sounds to me as if they don't have enough caregivers per ratio of children and they either take boys and girls to potty together or the door is kept open so that the classroom caregiver can keep an eye on things. I suggest you find out what the ratio of caregiver to children is and then find out what your state requires. I worked in day care for two years and NEVER were boys and girls allowed to see one another and however our stalls did not have doors (the bathroom had an outer door into the classroom that was shut) so that the caregiver could keep an eye on things if more than one child had to potty at the same time, but again boys and girls were kept sepearate.

at four years off age don't worry about it just give them honest and simple answers,Teach them to be comfortable with the different in people.There will be enough confusing ahead in there lives.

When I worked in daycare there was one bathroom for the pre-schoolers with two toilets in it. We would send the kids two at a time to the bathroom, 2 girls at time or 2 boys at time, never 1 girl and 1 boy. When you have a classroom full of 25 kids and you're on a schedule it's easier sending them 2 at a time. If you have a problem with that then you should talk to the child's teacher and let her know I'm sure she'll be happy to work with you and make sure that your child goes by herself when it's her turn to use the restroom. = )

I'm an assistant teacher in a preschool room at my daycare. Some kids choose to leave the doors open for fear they'll get locked in. They don't necessarily have to keep them open, it's not a rule here. I would talk to her teacher and the director of the center if you have concerns about it.