• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.39-51
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• 2016

This pilot study examined programs for early childhood education and care in three Chinese cities. The samples for this study were one university-based kindergarten, one private kindergarten (rural area), and one public kindergarten (urban area). Six types of instruments were used to assess early childhood education and care services regarding quality matters. Most questions asked were open-ended; consequently, the interview answers by kindergarten directors or teachers (as well as observations made by the researcher) formed the basis for collecting the data. Quality components for each program were determined by a comparison method. The comparison allowed the researcher to understand the range of quality education and care available as well as the variability of existing kindergarten programs in China. The findings of the investigation revealed important information on; (a) demographic information (fees, class hours, total weeks of class, vacation, number of children and staff, class size, and teacher-child ratio) (b) teacher characteristics, (c) health practices, (d) safety practices, (e) work environment, (f) physical settings, (g) play materials, (h) parent involvement, (i) nutrition, (j) daily schedule. Implications within the Chinese context for quality practices and issues to further develop and strengthen early childhood education and care systems are discussed.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.32 no.1 s.88
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• pp.36-45
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• 2006

The aim of this study is to examine size-based concentration and genera of airborne fungi distributed in public facilities such as hospital, kindergarten, day-care center and postpartum nurse center and to provide fundamental data in order to prevent respiratory diseases caused by exposure to airborne fungi. Culturable total and respirable concentrations of airborne fungi averaged to $382\;cfu/m^3\;and\;292\;cfu/m^3$ in hospital, $536\;cfu/m^3\;and\;347\;cfu/m^3$ in kindergarten, $334\;cfu/m^3\;and\;266\;cfu/m^3$ in day-care center, and $371\;cfu/m^3\;and\;289\;cfu/m^3$ in postpartum nurse center, respectively. The ratio of respirable to total concentration of airborne fungi in the investigated public facilities was ranged from $55\%\;to\;70\%$ but there was no significant difference among them (p>0.05). The mean I/O ratio of culturable total and respirable concentrations were 0.56 and 0.64 in hospital, 0.72 and 0.91 in kindergarten, 0.33 and 0.45 in day-care center, and 0.63 and 0.73 in postpartum nurse center, respectively. Indoor concentration of airborne fungi did not correlated significantly with indoor temperature and relative humidity (p>0.05) but had a significant positive correlation with $CO_2$ concentration (p<0.01) and surrounding condition (p<0.05). Penicillium spp., Cladosporium spp., and Aspergillus spp. were estimated to over $95\%$ of total airborne fungi identified in the investigated public facilities.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.119-132
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• 2016

Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze the operation and personal information management of public and private kindergarten homepages. Methods: A total of 2,846 kindergartens were selected from the I-Sarang portal service for analyzing operation, and 217 self-operating homepages were selected for evaluating management. Seven evaluation items from three domains (information gathering procedures and scope, information security, and management of file exposure protection) were used. Wireshark and Google were used for analyzing some evaluation items. Results: The operating ratio of kindergarten homepages was low and most of the kindergartens self-operated their homepages. The evaluation of the information gathering procedures and scope showed that the rule of consent process was not rigidly followed but that the rule of legality for information gathering was followed. Items related to information security were followed at very low levels. As for the management of file exposure protection, the evaluation of items related to the prevention of attachment disclosure showed that the rule of protecting personal information included in an attached file was followed but that the notice regarding information protection was not. Across all evaluation items, the level of personal information management was higher in public (vs. private) kindergartens. Conclusion: These results indicate methods to more securely and effectively manage personal information on kindergarten homepages.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2006

Concentration and identification of airborne bacteria in the regulated public facilities were examined with the six-stage cascade impactor. Geometric mean total and respirable concentrations of airborne bacteria were $404cfu/m^3$ and $194cfu/m^3$ in hospital, $931cfu/m^3$ and $358cfu/m^3$ in kindergarten, $294cfu/m^3$ and $134cfu/m^3$ in day-care center, and $586cfu/m^3$ and $254cfu/m^3$ in postpartum nurse center, respectively. As a result, culturable total and respirable concentrations of airborne bacteria were significantly highest in kindergarten and lowest in day-care center (p<0.05). The ratio of respirable to total concentration of airborne bacteria in the investigated public facilities was ranged from 30% to 40% but there was no significant difference among them (p>0.05). The mean I/O ratio of culturable total and respirable concentrations were 0.58 and 0.66 in hospital, 0.71 and 0.83 in kindergarten, 0.28 and 0.41 in day-care center, and 0.63 and 0.78 in postpartum nurse center, respectively. Day-care center showed the lowest I/O ratio of culturable total and respirable concentration of airborne bacteria (p<0.05) but a significant difference was not found among other facilities. Indoor concentration of airborne bacteria did not correlated significantly with indoor temperature and relative humidity (p>0.05) but had a significant positive correlation with $CO_2$ and surrounding condition (p<0.05). Staphylococcus spp., Micrococcus spp., Corynebacterium spp., and Bacillus spp. were dominant genera and amounted to over 95% of total airborne bacteria identified in the investigated public facilities. Size distributions of four dominant genera did not observed inconsistently regardless of type of public facility.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.253-261
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• 2016

This study discusses the effective management of mixed-ages classes in kindergarten. For the study, 300 kindergarten teachers in charge of mixed classes for regular courses completed a self-reported questionnaire through a web survey. The data were analyzed by chi-square test and presented by frequency and percentage. Mixed-ages classes had relatively fewer children than one-age classes and they were prevalent in public kindergartens and rural areas. The results were as follows. First, mixed-ages classes were induced by the small number of young children. Second, teachers managed their classes with difficulty due to the lack of supporting staff and few chances for additional teaching training. Third, teachers needed supporting human resources for their teaching and administration assistances. About 23.0% of kindergartens received assistance such as additional training, financial assistance, and consulting supervision from related institutions. The study results suggested the challenges in regulations of age ratio in mixed-ages class, additional teaching training for teachers in mixed-ages classes and replacement of mixed-ages class to same age class as the long-term plan.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.45 no.10
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• pp.97-111
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• 2007

This study examined the actual conditions of outdoor facilities and evaluated safety evaluations levels in playgrounds based on types of kindergartens. The samples for the survey were 100 kindergartens in Seongnam city Gyeonggi-Do province. Most outdoor facilities consisted of playgrounds with sand area and complex playing equipments, while wood-working area, sensory playing area, and mud playing area were less equipped than other facilities. In the case of outdoor playing facilities there were meaningful environmental differences within kindergartens. The public has less diversity in play areas and equipments and providing safety guidelines in playgrounds than privates. The score for the safety evaluations in the outdoor play environment was higher than average. As the range outdoor playing facilities increased, safety was dually considered, while kindergartens with a higher ratio of child-teacher numbers exhibited less consideration to playground safety.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.205-216
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• 2016

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to determine the association between musculoskeletal workload and job stress in early childcare teachers. Methods : This study was based on The Korean Working Condition Survey conducted on wage workers. The total number of individuals included in the analysis was 395 (286 childcare teachers and 109 kindergarten teachers) early childcare teachers in 2011. The collected data were analyzed by frequency statistic, cross-tabulation analysis and logistic regression. Results : The adjusted odds ratio showed a statistically effective association for job stress exposure. The results were as follows: education level, service environment, emotional labor, fatigue or posture led to pain for a high level of job stress. Additionally, for childcare teachers, the results showed that fatigue or posture led to pain when moving a heavy object frequently. Conclusions : When childcare teachers are assigned a task to lift heavy or awkward or objects, care should be taken on who is assigned the task, and it should be done safely. An intervention program should be developed to train childcare teachers to safely and efficiency do heavy labor in early childcare education classes.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.201-206
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• 2010

Purpose: This study was to know the correlation among the dimensions of ocular components and refractive error on kindergarten children. Methods: The subjects were 80 preschool students who had no eye diseases. The refraction, corneal diopter, corneal radius, inter-pupillary distance, axial length, anterior chamber depth and dominant eye were measured and analysed. Results: It was shown that the highest correlation was between the axial length and the corneal diopter (r=-0.674, p=0.000). The ratio of height, weight and axial length (AL) to Corneal radius (CR) ratio were positively correlated with the axial length (r=0.351, r=0.408, r=0.488). The spherical equivalent of the refractive error and the corneal diopter were negatively correlated with the axial length (r=-0.302, r=-0.674). The anterior chamber depth and the corneal diopter were positively correlated with the AL/CR ratio (r=0.422, r=0.280). The spherical equivalent of the refractive error and the corneal radius were negatively correlated with the AL/CR ratio. Conclusions: It was shown that the AL/CR ratio was a very important indicator for diagnosing the refractive error of the preschoolers.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.21 no.2 s.24
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• pp.224-237
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• 1988

To determine the causes of and related factors to childhood injuries, the emergency room records and inpatient medical records were reviewed for 4,849 injured children out of 15,790 pediatric patients(<15 years old) who visited the emergency rooms of 3 university hospitals and 2 general hospitals in Taegu from 1 January to 31 December 1987. Out of total injured children, 54.675 were 3-8 years old and the male to female ratio of the total injured children was about 2:1. The leading causes of injury were falls and slips (29.1%) and traffic accident(28.2%). The frequency of injury was higher in May-October than the rest of months and 51.6% of the injuries occurred between 15 and 20 o'clock. Falls and slips took place most frequently at the stairway(25.7%). The most common interpersonal violence was inflicted injuries(85.6%) and there were 11 child rapes. Dog bites accounted for 67.6% of all biting injuries and it occured 2.9 times more in male than in female. CO intoxication was the most common cause of poisoning (45.3%) and scalding accounted for 85.2% of all burns. Common places of drownings were river (32.2%), swimming pool (22.6%) and construction site(19.3%). To prevent childhood injuries, it is recommended to eliminate the hazardous environmental factors, to provide safe playgrounds, to educate the children for safety from kindergarten and the general public through mass communication, to establish a strict safety standard for houses, public buildings and facilities, and playgrounds.