The words and terms used in this chapter have the meanings assigned to them under §745.21 of this title (relating to What do the following words and terms mean when used in this chapter?), unless another meaning is assigned in this section or another subchapter or unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In addition, the following words and terms used in this chapter have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
  (1) Activity plan--A written plan that outlines the daily routine and activities in which a group of children will engage while in your care. The plan is designed to meet the children's 'cognitive, social, language, emotional, and physical developmental strengths and needs.
  (2) Activity space--An area or room used for children's activities.
  (3) Administrative and clerical duties--Duties that involve the operation of a child-care home, such as bookkeeping, enrolling children, answering the telephone, and collecting fees.
  (4) Admission--The process of enrolling a child in a child-care home. The date of admission is the first day the child is physically present in the home.
  (5) Adult--A person 18 years old and older.
  (6) After-school hours--Hours before and after school, and days when school is not in session, such as school holidays, summer vacations, and teacher in-service days.
  (7) Age-appropriate--Activities, equipment, materials, curriculum, and environment that are developmentally consistent with the developmental or chronological age of the child being served.
  (8) Attendance--When referring to a child's attendance, the physical presence of a child at the child-care home on any given day or at any given time, as distinct from the child's enrollment in the child-care home.
  (9) Bouncer seat--A stationary seat designed to provide gentle rocking or bouncing motion by an infant's movement, or by battery-operated movement. This type of equipment is designed for an infant's use from birth until the child can sit up unassisted.
  (10) Caregiver--A person who is counted in the child to caregiver ratio, whose duties include the supervision, guidance, and protection of a child. As used in this chapter, a caregiver must meet the minimum education, work experience, and training qualifications required under Subchapter D of this chapter (relating to Personnel).
  (11) Certified Child-Care Professional Credential--A credential given by the National Early Childhood Program Accreditation to a person working directly with children. The credential is based on assessed competency in several areas of child care and child development.
  (12) Certified lifeguard--A person who has been trained in life saving and water safety by a qualified instructor, from a recognized organization that awards a certificate upon successful completion of the training. The certificate is not required to use the term "lifeguard," but you must be able to document that the certificate is current, relevant to the type of water activity in which children will engage, and representative of the type of training described.
  (13) CEUs--Continuing education units. A standard unit of measure for adult education and training activities. One CEU equals 10 clock hours of participation in an organized, continuing-education experience, under responsible, qualified direction and instruction. Although a person may obtain a CEU in many of the same settings as clock hours, the CEU provider must meet the criteria established by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training to be able to offer the CEU.
  (14) Child--An infant, a toddler, a pre-kindergarten age child, or a school-age child.
  (15) Child-care home--A registered or licensed child-care home, as specified in §747.113 of this chapter (relating to What is a registered child-care home?) or §747.115 of this chapter (relating to What is a licensed child-care home?). This term includes the program, home, grounds, furnishings, and equipment.
  (16) Child-care program--The services and activities provided by a child-care home.
  (17) Child Development Associate Credential--A credential given by the Council for Professional Recognition to a person working directly with children. The credential is based on assessed competency in several areas of child care and child development.
  (18) Clock hour--An actual hour of documented:
    (A) Attendance at instructor-led training, such as seminars, workshops, conferences, early childhood classes, and other planned learning opportunities, provided by an individual or individuals as specified in §747.1315(a) of this chapter (relating to Must child-care training meet certain criteria?); or
    (B) Self-instructional training that was created by an individual or individuals, as specified in §747.1315(a) and (b) of this chapter, or self-study training.
  (19) Corporal punishment--The infliction of physical pain on a child as a means of controlling behavior. This includes spanking, hitting with a hand or instrument, slapping, pinching, shaking, biting, or thumping a child.
  (20) Days--Calendar days, unless otherwise stated.
  (21) Employee--An assistant caregiver, substitute caregiver, or any other person a child-care home employs full-time or part-time to work for wages, salary, or other compensation, including kitchen staff, office staff, maintenance staff, or anyone hired to transport a child.
  (22) Enrollment--The list of names or number of children who have been admitted to attend a child-care home for any given period of time; the number of children enrolled in a child-care home may vary from the number of children in attendance on any given day.
  (23) Entrap--A component or group of components on equipment that forms angles or openings that may trap a child's head by being too small to allow the child's body to pass through, or large enough for the child's body to pass through but too small to allow the child's head to pass through.
  (24) Field trips--Activities conducted away from the child-care home.
  (25) Food service--The preparation or serving of meals or snacks.
  (26) Frequent--More than two times in a 30-day period. Note: For the definition of "regularly or frequently present at an operation" (child-care home) as it applies to background checks, see §745.601 of this title (relating to What words must I know to understand this subchapter?).
  (27) Garbage--Waste food or items that when deteriorating cause offensive odors and attract rodents, insects, and other pests.
  (28) Grounds-- Includes any parcel of land where the home of the primary caregiver is located and any building, other structure, body of water, play equipment, street, sidewalk, walkway, driveway, parking garage, or parking lot on the parcel. Also referred to as "premises" in this chapter.
  (29) Group activities--Activities that allow children to interact with other children in large or small groups. Group activities include storytelling, finger plays, show and tell, organized games, and singing.
  (30) Hazardous materials--Any substance or chemical that is a health hazard or physical hazard, as determined by the Environmental Protection Agency. Also referred to as "toxic materials" and "toxic chemicals" in this chapter
  (31) Health-care professional--A licensed physician, a licensed advanced practice registered nurse (APRN), a licensed vocational nurse (LVN), a licensed registered nurse (RN), or other licensed medical personnel providing health care to the child within the scope of the license. This does not include physicians, nurses, or other medical personnel who are not licensed in the United States or in the country in which the person practices.
  (32) Health check--A visual or physical assessment of a child to identify potential concerns about a child's health, including signs or symptoms of illness and injury, in response to changes in the child's behavior since the last date of attendance.
  (33) High school equivalent--
    (A) Documentation of a program recognized by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) or other public educational entity in another state, which offers similar training on reading, writing, and math skills taught at the high school level, such as a General Educational Development (GED) certificate; or
    (B) Confirmation that the person received home-schooling that adequately addressed basic competencies such as basic reading, writing, and math skills, which would otherwise have been documented by a high school diploma.
  (34) Individual activities--Opportunities for the child to work independently or to be away from the group but supervised.
  (35) Infant--A child from birth through 17 months.
Cont'd...