New Here, Hi! Couple of Questions!

[mamap]

Hi All, I'm new to daycare.com, however I've been doing childcare in my home for almost 3 years (I know, still a newbie!) and as my group is growing I'm running into some problems that I wonder if ya'll have encountered.

First, I'm a stickler for things being in their place, and it's a habit I'm actually trying to break myself of. The more I remind the kids to keep the blocks in the block area the greater challenge it becomes for children to take the blocks elsewhere. I've got 3 rooms in my home devoted to child care, the first is a "staging" area where we play during food prep, eat our meals and nap. I don't have this problem in this room, the problem is in the two other rooms-the playroom and the classroom. These two rooms are in the basement but adjoin each other. So, I'm wondering if there's a better way to set things up to avoid this conflict (that I'm having with myself!). Such as mix up the classroom and play room so that there are play things in both rooms? Or does it even matter? It seems that regardless of rules regarding toys, etc, kids will do as they do. Does it hinder their play/learning to dictate the purpose and place for certain toys?

The deal I made with my husband when I started doing in home child care is that our home is still our home. This is why I have 3 dedicated rooms for child care. I enjoy my home being "adult" in certain areas, I don't want it to be a daycare throughout, I feel like I'd lose my mind if everywhere I turned I was looking at a bin of toys or a string of art work. Maybe I'm not cut out for this, but it seems like the only way I can find my balance. Do other providers devote their entire home or most of it to their business?

Thanks all!

[Michael]

Welcome to the Daycare.com Forum! I upgraded your status. You can post freely now.

[cheerfuldom]

Hi All, I'm new to daycare.com, however I've been doing childcare in my home for almost 3 years (I know, still a newbie!) and as my group is growing I'm running into some problems that I wonder if ya'll have encountered.

First, I'm a stickler for things being in their place, and it's a habit I'm actually trying to break myself of. The more I remind the kids to keep the blocks in the block area the greater challenge it becomes for children to take the blocks elsewhere. I've got 3 rooms in my home devoted to child care, the first is a "staging" area where we play during food prep, eat our meals and nap. I don't have this problem in this room, the problem is in the two other rooms-the playroom and the classroom. These two rooms are in the basement but adjoin each other. So, I'm wondering if there's a better way to set things up to avoid this conflict (that I'm having with myself!). Such as mix up the classroom and play room so that there are play things in both rooms? Or does it even matter? It seems that regardless of rules regarding toys, etc, kids will do as they do. Does it hinder their play/learning to dictate the purpose and place for certain toys?

The deal I made with my husband when I started doing in home child care is that our home is still our home. This is why I have 3 dedicated rooms for child care. I enjoy my home being "adult" in certain areas, I don't want it to be a daycare throughout, I feel like I'd lose my mind if everywhere I turned I was looking at a bin of toys or a string of art work. Maybe I'm not cut out for this, but it seems like the only way I can find my balance. Do other providers devote their entire home or most of it to their business?

Thanks all!

anybody will drive themselves crazy if the whole house was a daycare and there was no space for adults or family. Your setup sounds more than reasonable. One idea would be to post pictures and we could comment and give ideas. As for the toys, just from first impression, I think you are being too controlling by dictating where and how each toy is used. As long as the kids are helping clean up and the place is still functional, its not a big deal if all the blocks end up being used as "food" in the play kitchen or things like that. I strongly prefer open ended toys where kids can play in anyway they want....much more imaginative than having only one way to play with a toy. All our toys do have a place but they only have to be there at the end of the day for cleanup. As long as the kids are playing (and not destroying or dumping toys), then I think you will save some sanity by loosening the rules a bit.

[Soccermom]

I think it is important to allow children to use toys as they see fit (Not including rough play of course). Kids love to use their imaginations and will use a block as a doll bed or a loaf of bread. They will take a purse, fill it with blocks and pretend they are wallets, money, food, etc.
Just today my DCKS took all our chairs and built a cage with them. They then pretended some of the DCKS were zoo animals and used a small empty garbage pail as the water bucket and some legos as the food LOL
This type of play is important for them.
I think it is good for kids to know that each toy has a place and needs to be put away at clean up but don't stress about it. If a block ends up in the playfood..it is not a big deal. Tomorrow that block will be a jug of milk or something until it eventually finds its way back home.
I started out the same way as you. Everything had to have its place, everything had to be perfect, organized and cute. I think I was more concerned with what the DCPS thought of my home and space then I was of my own sanity.
After all these years...I don't care what the DCPS think. I clean and organize when I have an interview. After that...Sorry about the mess but there are kids at play.
If you would prefer for the children to not take toys into the school room, I would put up a gate up and only allow them into that room during preschool time. I would then close the gate behind them.

[LK5kids]

I've always had a separate child care space. I couldn't do it any other way! I keep Toys sorted but they can use them anywhere and pretty much how they want (within reason and safely). I always have just about everything sorted and back where it belongs after each free play. I've done that for many years. The kids do the majority of clean up, but I keep things sorted.

[mamap]

Oh my gosh, thanks all. The kiddos do whatever they want with the toys in that I don't expect blocks to be used only for building, I just get a little frustrated when the area is a total disaster and it feels like nobody is interested in learning because all the toys are in the class-not that they're not learning by playing, but I hope you know what I mean! I'm doing a few improvements and some organizing this weekend maybe after I'll take some pictures to post and see what everyone thinks about my setup. Thanks again, everyone, some days I feel like I'm stressing over the least important things!