FA Parents: Letter to send home to parents

[MSWR0319]

Would anyone be willing to share a letter or give me ideas on what to put in a letter to send home with the students in DS's preschool class? I am trying to type up a letter for the teacher to send home explaining what safety procedures need to take place in order to keep him safe. I was just wondering how others worded their letters so the parents didn't get too offended.

[BabbyO]

What kind of allergy/response does your son have? Is he affected by contact or just consumption? This would affect the wording of the letter. My son's reactions are only triggered by consumption so it is a different situation than someone who had contact reactions.

Can the preschool help out in this situation? IMHO it is the preschool that should be sending out the letter, not the parent. I understand if they are asking for your assistance with the letter because you know the specifics...but perhaps they have samples that they've sent out before?

Due to the type of allergy my son has, I only sent a letter to his teachers and the office staff.

[dogmom]

Yes, I think you need to notify the school of the precautions, then they need to send a letter/put practices in place. Unless you have some unusually allergy that no one has encountered. I don't think it is your place to be doing it. They should be doing it because it is their liability issue. We have standard practices and they never name a student. If there is a student with a life threatening food allergy a letter is sent home at the beginning of the year reminding the parents of the standards (absolutely no food sharing, strict hand washing after snacks, no nuts in classroom, and have your child wash their hands after breakfast before leaving for school). The letter is just a reminder and a "we really mean it" flare. Because honestly, there are some people who are going to get offended no matter what you say.

[justlearning]

The school nurse sends the letter to parents at our school. She has always made my son classrooms nut-free. What that means is that kids can only bring in snacks that do not contain nuts as an ingredient. It's OK if they've been manufactured in a plant with nuts. The reason is that my son only eats food that I provide for him. Under no circumstances can he eat food brought in by parents or the teacher. That's the only way to be safe, I've found.

[MSWR0319]

I guess I'll wait then till after my meeting with the teacher in the morning. I was just trying to get things ready for her ahead of time, since the open house is Thurs. DS has a peanut allergy and does react to contact. This will be his first year in preschool. All of the previous food allergies in the school haven't really asked the school do anything special except not have nuts in the room and some didn't even ask that. Ive found most food allergy families in our area dont take the proper precaution and everyone seems to think im going overboard. Per our allergist, students are to wash hands after breakfast, no nuts in class, snacks only from safe list, no food sharing, and no homemade snacks in the room (for birthdays,etc). DS is allowed snack as long as i check the item in the morning and it comes from the safe list i provide. Should we not be doing this? Its what the allergist suggested to reduce food sharing since they are 3 or 4. There will also be wipes in the room in case someone needs to wipe their hands. These things all seem pretty normal to me, but no one has ever asked them to do it and the teacher wasn't sure what to write, so I offered to help her. Maybe I should just tell her to do it herself? I was just trying to be helpful so she doesn't get overwhelmed with food issues.

[BabbyO]

I guess I'll wait then till after my meeting with the teacher in the morning. I was just trying to get things ready for her ahead of time, since the open house is Thurs. DS has a peanut allergy and does react to contact. This will be his first year in preschool. All of the previous food allergies in the school haven't really asked the school do anything special except not have nuts in the room and some didn't even ask that. Ive found most food allergy families in our area dont take the proper precaution and everyone seems to think im going overboard. Per our allergist, students are to wash hands after breakfast, no nuts in class, snacks only from safe list, no food sharing, and no homemade snacks in the room (for birthdays,etc). DS is allowed snack as long as i check the item in the morning and it comes from the safe list i provide. Should we not be doing this? Its what the allergist suggested to reduce food sharing since they are 3 or 4. There will also be wipes in the room in case someone needs to wipe their hands. These things all seem pretty normal to me, but no one has ever asked them to do it and the teacher wasn't sure what to write, so I offered to help her. Maybe I should just tell her to do it herself? I was just trying to be helpful so she doesn't get overwhelmed with food issues.

I think you can provide the teacher with the statement that you have here from your allergist and maybe some bulleted items that should be included in her letter.