What Type Of Childcare Do You Run?

[Country Kids]

Not sure how to set up a poll but curious of how you do your childcare?

I'm taking this weekend till next weekend and revamping my childcare. Not sure what I want to do so even if I experiment with something every month I will till I find one that works great for us.

Right now we are doing preschool, the kids love it but struggle with aspects of it. Can't sit still or be quiet for storytime, fight over where to sit for circle time, fight when there is free play, and I can go on and on but will stop. Making my love for teaching slowly deminish. The two year olds are usually the hardest but if they don't want to do something and I let them go do their own thing then everyone loses interest and wants to get down.

So here are the choices I was thinking about:

Preschool with free play-Do you do part preschool with free play in the morning. Preschool in the morning and free play in the afternoon. Is freeplay inside/outside/both.

Nature School-Where your childcare is all about learning about nature and playing outside. We live in town so we would only have the backyard. I think they would become bored with just playing but I could be wrong. Being outside for 4 hours everyday might not be so much fun, especially in the rain/coldness.

Free range-Children doing whatever they want. I see alot of fighting with this and getting tired of playing with toys all day long. I would be bored because I'm a teacher by nature so just watching kids playing would drive me insane I think.

Home environment-You do a normal day as if your kids were home (mine aren't) and run it like a home. Cooking, cleaning, tv on, laundry, yard work, etc.. I see this as being hard because I can't leave this bunch to make lunch, go to the bathroom because someone is always unhappy about something. I also wouldn't be able to go into other parts of the house because can't hear or see them. So I wouldn't still get much done except in two rooms.

My parents really enjoy the children do preschool. One even said today how they loved the little one getting to have new experiences that they weren't able to do and thanked me for doing this. This was a mom that was very hesitant about child going on field trips and now loves the fact of me doing stuff with the child.

If you can think of another type of childcare or one you do that I didn't post please feel free to tell me. I'm an old dog looking to learn a new trick!::

[Michelle]

Have you thought about doing preschool Mon./wed./fri.?
and do some mixture of home environment / out door care the other two days.
I do preschool also and I think 5 days a week is too much for 2 year olds.
We can usually get in 3 days and the other 2 days , we do field trips and have fun with them.

[Michael]

Not sure how to set up a poll but curious of how you do your childcare?

To start a poll; when you start your thread there are more options at the bottom of your page. Click on the "Start a Poll" option and follow the instructions once you post your thread.

[erinalexmom]

Not sure this is what I am going to stick with but heres what I do now.
1)arrive and breakfast
2)free play and get everyone ready for the day. Some of my parents bring the kid to me in pj's cause they are up so early.
3) circle time. circle time involves something different everyday. One day we'll read a story, one day we'll dance, one day flannel board story,ect. The honestly learn the most at this time of day. Because they love circle time. So I incorporate our "learning" into it. For example we sing the number rock (learning to count to 20). Right now we are also learning the pledge of allegience.
4) then we do eigther outside play or free play or centers.Now, my centers are different in the fact that they arent out any time except that time. So what I do is, I set hoola hoops on my floor and put a big ziplock bag in the hoola hoop. The bags each contain a different activity. For example last month one had orange spiders and black spiders and two bowls and they had to sort them by color. One had orange playdo and pumpkin molds. (we do this at the table)
I will say that most any craft is done during center time or free play time. meaning I have 1 child at a time come to the table to do thier craft while the rest do centers or free play.
Also, I do centers based on thier age level. I always have at least one center for my son who is older than the rest. They get to pick where they go,but they have to stay there till the timer goes off (8min) and then they switch. Sometimes we switch once sometimes twice (depends on attention span of the day)
5)lunch (I can prepare lunch while they do centers) keep in mind the behavior problems are low at this time because they are all seperated
6) nap
7) snack
8)pickups for all but 2 and then my last two free play until pick up.

So in my opinion we learn alot in a day. (my success story is a 3yr old who came in june who could do nothing who can now dress himself,potty trained,count to 20, knows all his shapes and all his colors)

But I dont like "sit down at the table" preschool. It might work for others but its just not the way I was taught so it would be uncomfortable for me KWIM?
The parents are happy though because we still have "papers" to take home soemtimes (done 1child at a time during free play or centers) and I am happy because I do it my way.
Hope that helps in some way

[erinalexmom]

Keep in mind, you are facilitator for the childs "self exploration" meaning that you are there to offer materials and ideas.
I am big on "incidental learning" though. Like I said its just the way I was taught. So I could be totally off base as the fact is that was about 15 years ago since I was in school. Man, I'm old!::

[melskids]

I am play based.

I, personally, could never sit in a circle and teach "at" kids. It's just not me. everything we do is hands-on type of learning. We're learning as we go.

I can't over plan anything. I pretty much fly by the seat of my pants depending on what the kiddos are into that week, or day....

I am all about "teachable moments".

People think child led or free range means the kids are in control and run a muck in your house, but thats not true. My kids still have structure and rules to follow.

They simply "choose" what area to play in, and what topics we are learning about.

Some days we have big projects going, some days are too beautiful outside to do anything but be out there, some days we just play, some days are just like being home and they see me / help me around the house (weeding gardens, folding socks, etc) and some days we say heck with it all and snuggle on the couch.

Then there are some days when full bellies, clean bottoms, and the fact that no one lost a limb or any hair is considered a GOOD day.

At their ages, I'm also more teaching self help skills and social skills first. IMO, that is more important then if they can read in Chinese or do algebra. If they can zip their own coat and say excuse me, the rest is all gravy.

[WImom]

Childcare with Preschool Focus. I enroll ages 2-5.

Our schedule is:
7-8:30 - Free Play, arrival, breakfast
8:30-9:00 - we go outside or we do some sort of group activity - play board games, work on sorting, playdoh, etc. and some days it's still free play. If they are all playing nicely I will usually wait until 9am to do cleanup.
9:00-9:15-Snack
9:15-9:30-Circle Time/Story
9:30-9:45/10:00-Art
10:00-10:45-Free Play, offer scissor cutting, playdoh, etc if kids want, potty break time
10:45-11:30-Outside (Or indoor music and movement if raining/too cold, etc)
11:30-4:30 - Then lunch, naps,pm snack, free play - parent pickup

[mismatchedsocks]

Hm, Since I have kids anywhere from newborn to age5, then before and after schoolagers, I dont have a "preschool". I call it a semi structured learning environment.

We eat when they get here, then they have free time until about 9.

We then do "circle time" where we learn about feelings, weather, days of week, read a book, do a sign language, talk about spanish, talk about our night. This is a very laid back time.
We then go to the "tables" to have seat work as I call it. They do art project, do something that has to do with the spanish word, signed word or letter that we learned in "circle" time.
After that is snack time. They have all their stuff on low shelf and set their own tables, and I serve them, the messy stuff, and they self serve if they can.
Then we do outside time, and go for a walk to end outside time. Come in and have free time until lunch.
Lunch is served, same way as snack, then they lay down, I read them all a book, and they go to sleep for a few hours.
When they get up, they can read, puzzle, blocks, or lacing activities. Once everyone is up and ready we have a small snack. ( water and some sort of cracker) We play until the school agers get here.
We then work on small group projects with the school agers matched up with a younger child. This is some wort of free play TOGETHER, but lately have made a list of "ideas". This goes on until pick ups happen or light dinner is served about 430 if they are to eat here.

So we learn through out the day, we do worksheets, but mostly free art, or an art project that can be made however the child sees fit with same materials, and we talk about things throughout the day and I try to get them to tie it together. Sometimes we will talk about the same thing for a couple weeks! Lately we have been discussing the potty. So we learned it in spanish, sign language, read books, watched a video, and made up silly songs.

[Cat Herder]

We start with jumping jacks, running in place, sit ups, stretching and tumbling. This is followed by breakfast, art/storytime/circle time (whatever group activity I have planned for the day). We then go outside and run, climb, jump and have a nice picnic styled snack, then play some more.

Lunch is after clean-up then free play before nap. Afternoon varies based on weather and moodswings... Some days we go back outside because they are climbing the walls, some days we break out the tent village, tunnels, hop scotch mats, bean bag toss, ball pit or tumble mats and hoppers.

The last hour is a planned movie or dance video to go with our weekly theme, clean up/change clothes/brush hair for going home and parent arrivals. There is a FULL hour gap between my first departure and my last, now.

We are a VERY physically active group. The walls vibrate.

Toss in some individual PT, medication administration when necessary, paperwork, diaper changes, food prep/serving/cleanup, floor mopping, toy soaking, toy rotating, forum posting, cuddling, toddler dog piling, baby snuggling, parent email/text answering and redirecting behaviors and you have my day in a nutshell.

Rinse repeat. Then I go comatose on Friday evening at 6pm and my family waits on me hand and foot. Yeah, I wish on that last part.....::::

[blueclouds29]

I am play based.

I, personally, could never sit in a circle and teach "at" kids. It's just not me. everything we do is hands-on type of learning. We're learning as we go.

I can't over plan anything. I pretty much fly by the seat of my pants depending on what the kiddos are into that week, or day....

I am all about "teachable moments".

People think child led or free range means the kids are in control and run a muck in your house, but thats not true. My kids still have structure and rules to follow.

They simply "choose" what area to play in, and what topics we are learning about.

Some days we have big projects going, some days are too beautiful outside to do anything but be out there, some days we just play, some days are just like being home and they see me / help me around the house (weeding gardens, folding socks, etc) and some days we say heck with it all and snuggle on the couch.

Then there are some days when full bellies, clean bottoms, and the fact that no one lost a limb or any hair is considered a GOOD day.

At their ages, I'm also more teaching self help skills and social skills first. IMO, that is more important then if they can read in Chinese or do algebra. If they can zip their own coat and say excuse me, the rest is all gravy.

This is me. I only have 4 kids under 2. Really laid back days. We have 'circle time', outside time, dance time, naptime and lots of free play.

[Lianne]

When I first started I wanted to be the preschool teaching daycare provider. I had wonderful ideas and activities, meals were going to be warm, filling and nutritous, we'd play outside for hours everyday, I'd love every minute of my life because this was my childhood dream and I was finally fulfilling it.

Then I started and reality set in.

It took me a good two years or more to deal with the guilt that I felt over not having every minute of our day filled with fantastic activities. I'd read daycare forums or talk to other providers and they had these awesome themes, lessons and circle times planned, activities and crafts ready to go. They had 18mos olds toilet training and 2yr olds who could write their names, 3yr olds reading and 4yr olds that could spout off random impressive facts.

My group of kids just wanted to...play. They wanted to play with their friends and the toys without me getting involved. In fact, when I tried to play with them, things just got complicated and bickering happened but little problem solving occurred without my help. One week I decided to sit back and, amazingly, there were no disagreements and the kids played uninterrupted for hours. They did not want to stop playing to come to circle time or paint on some random shape with a stupid q-tip.

I also found that I was a lot less stressed out, had time to sit with a cup of coffee and I was highly amused listening in on the conversations of the kids while they played.

I felt really guilty for a long time that I wasn't doing these great activities that always stressed me out and cost me money for 30 seconds of the children's attention. I finally had to realize that I'm just not like those providers who run a preschool type program. I highly respect Crystal and love the idea of the program she runs. I think she knows more about children and teaching children than I will ever know and part of me wishes I could be like her and run the kind of program she runs. However, reality is, I'm just not. And, that's okay. I'm a different kind of provider and that's okay. It took me a long time to be okay with the type of provider I am and somedays I'm still not okay with it. Somedays I do want to be the 'sunshine and roses' type provider (as I call it) and try to do so. But, after a few days the kids are itching to just play and I'm stressed out and anxious.

Now, for the most part, the kids just play freely at my house. I make sure to have lots of toys out that adress various types of learning and occasionally I sit on the floor and the kids play around me. I do crafts when I feel like it or have an impromptu singing circle when the kids seem bored or need redirection. We don't get outside everyday but I do my best and try again the next day. When I start to feel like we aren't doing enough, I take it as a sign that we need to do more/better and plan an activity (just not six activities, ).

Five years after I opened my home daycare I still love what I do. I'm happy with my imperfect program and my imperfect self. I have fantastic clients, great kids and I'm full. I can't ask for much more than that.

[Crystal]

Lianne...thank you, you brought tears to me eyes. Ya know, I have always highly respected you as well. I think you are a FABULOUS provider and a really cool person as well

Sorry for going off topic, OP.

[abigailrw5]

erinalexmom,
what is sing number rock? ((to count to 20)

[Blackcat31]

When I first started I wanted to be the preschool teaching daycare provider. I had wonderful ideas and activities, meals were going to be warm, filling and nutritous, we'd play outside for hours everyday, I'd love every minute of my life because this was my childhood dream and I was finally fulfilling it.

Then I started and reality set in.

It took me a good two years or more to deal with the guilt that I felt over not having every minute of our day filled with fantastic activities. I'd read daycare forums or talk to other providers and they had these awesome themes, lessons and circle times planned, activities and crafts ready to go. They had 18mos olds toilet training and 2yr olds who could write their names, 3yr olds reading and 4yr olds that could spout off random impressive facts.

My group of kids just wanted to...play. They wanted to play with their friends and the toys without me getting involved. In fact, when I tried to play with them, things just got complicated and bickering happened but little problem solving occurred without my help. One week I decided to sit back and, amazingly, there were no disagreements and the kids played uninterrupted for hours. They did not want to stop playing to come to circle time or paint on some random shape with a stupid q-tip.

I also found that I was a lot less stressed out, had time to sit with a cup of coffee and I was highly amused listening in on the conversations of the kids while they played.

I felt really guilty for a long time that I wasn't doing these great activities that always stressed me out and cost me money for 30 seconds of the children's attention. I finally had to realize that I'm just not like those providers who run a preschool type program. I highly respect Crystal and love the idea of the program she runs. I think she knows more about children and teaching children than I will ever know and part of me wishes I could be like her and run the kind of program she runs. However, reality is, I'm just not. And, that's okay. I'm a different kind of provider and that's okay. It took me a long time to be okay with the type of provider I am and somedays I'm still not okay with it. Somedays I do want to be the 'sunshine and roses' type provider (as I call it) and try to do so. But, after a few days the kids are itching to just play and I'm stressed out and anxious.

Now, for the most part, the kids just play freely at my house. I make sure to have lots of toys out that adress various types of learning and occasionally I sit on the floor and the kids play around me. I do crafts when I feel like it or have an impromptu singing circle when the kids seem bored or need redirection. We don't get outside everyday but I do my best and try again the next day. When I start to feel like we aren't doing enough, I take it as a sign that we need to do more/better and plan an activity (just not six activities, ).

Five years after I opened my home daycare I still love what I do. I'm happy with my imperfect program and my imperfect self. I have fantastic clients, great kids and I'm full. I can't ask for much more than that.

This is the exact same process I went through too! It took me longer than you to finally "get it" though...

Nice job!! Lianne

[KBCsMommy]

I started out exactly like Lianne too!!

I got all the preschool stuff ... I was going to teach alphabets, numbers, teach them how to read....and on and on. Then I got my first few toddlers.... and very quickly realized I did not like them .

But I realized that I was really great with infants and they responded to me really well. So Im glad I got that figured out.

We have a great schedule. Breakfast, nap, snack, play outside, clean up, lunch, nap, snack, play inside, maybe a walk, pickup!!!!!!!

The kids learn real quick what our schedule is and everyone is happy (when they are not screaming babies :!!!!!!!!!!

So in a nutshell...we are definately a play based daycare!!!