Should I Term?

[EchoMom]

Oh my! It does sound like you have done everything you can do - this boy need FRIENDS his age and more his size (maybe an 8 yo:: )
If it makes it easier stop calling it "terminating" And try to see this as a positive. You know he needs more than you can give him, and there is nothing wrong with acknowledging that. So often we try to keep every kid and it's not really fair to anyone. Good luck!

BINGO! That's it, you're right. It's not that I don't have ANY toys for him, and like I said, as a former Kindergarten teacher myself, I do have TONS of Kinder. school activities for him to do. But he's bored even with the STUFF after awhile. And there's nothing really in the playroom for him to do because that's all stuff for littles.

You're right though, that's it, he needs a FRIEND. He doesn't have anyone to play legos WITH. He doesnt' have anyone else to talk to except me. He goes to PM Kinder. for 3 hours, but he's still with me 6-7hours for the rest of the day...

I don't think buying him more STUFF will help, you're right, I think he needs FRIENDS.

But worry and hesitation in terming though, is where will he go? I don't know what else is out there. I don't know if anyone else does home daycare that has older kids around me. Should I just not worry about that? Not my problem?

Also, how much time should I give them? My contract and deposit are just for one week. I can term them with one week notice, they can cancel me with just one week notice. I just feel like actually telling them one week is such short notice. But my mom (business partner) thinks that giving them more time they'll just procrastinate and wait until the last minute anyway. Thoughts?

[Lilbutterflie]

My DS will be 5 soon and won't start kindy until next fall. 3 days/wk he is the only big kid with all the others being 1-2 yrs of age. He gets right down there with them and plays, and they play well! They play with cars together, duplo blocks, trains, animals, etc...

I do think it is possible to mix these ages. I would definitely encourage him to play with the littles, they can both really learn a lot from each other!

If he doesn't want to play with the littles, I would work on him playing independently. Give him a few different age appropriate things to play with or do and let him pick and choose independently. When he tries to engage you, simply say "Go play toys." I do this even with the little ones to encourage them to play. There is no reason you should have to entertain him the entire time he is with you.

[rhymia1]

BINGO! That's it, you're right. It's not that I don't have ANY toys for him, and like I said, as a former Kindergarten teacher myself, I do have TONS of Kinder. school activities for him to do. But he's bored even with the STUFF after awhile. And there's nothing really in the playroom for him to do because that's all stuff for littles.

You're right though, that's it, he needs a FRIEND. He doesn't have anyone to play legos WITH. He doesnt' have anyone else to talk to except me. He goes to PM Kinder. for 3 hours, but he's still with me 6-7hours for the rest of the day...

I don't think buying him more STUFF will help, you're right, I think he needs FRIENDS.

But worry and hesitation in terming though, is where will he go? I don't know what else is out there. I don't know if anyone else does home daycare that has older kids around me. Should I just not worry about that? Not my problem?

Also, how much time should I give them? My contract and deposit are just for one week. I can term them with one week notice, they can cancel me with just one week notice. I just feel like actually telling them one week is such short notice. But my mom (business partner) thinks that giving them more time they'll just procrastinate and wait until the last minute anyway. Thoughts?

Isn't there a program through the school? We have after school care, but K is full day here. I guess I would think that some programs might advertise themselves as "bridge" programs for 1/2 day kinders...Do you have a child care resource and referral agency? They may be able to help the parents out. But I would think 2-3 weeks would be more than enough notice. It is nice of you to think of the family, but I would not knock yourself out. I frequently find in this business that "no good deed goes unpunished."

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

A lot of daycare centers also offer an afterschool program.

[cheerfuldom]

I didnt mean to imply that the OP does not take the kids outside....


but the reality of keeping young ones busy and happy and then having one kid much older and trying to keep him happy IS a struggle. I dont think taking him outside more is the fix all because when he is outside, so are the littles.....he still has no one to play with, has to watch out for little kids, be around age inappropriate toys/activities and the situation is not better because of location.

that was my point.