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with your DCK's? For those of you who do NOT do preschool - let's say you have them there from 7:30-5:30, Monday through Friday. How much of your day is spent actively playing with them, on the floor, involved in their games, etc.? Do you do this a lot or do you expect them to entertain themselves for the majority of the day? Is it harder to do with those of you who only have 1 or 2 during the day vs. a large group?
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I would guess 3/4 the time? -
I only have 2 daycare kids (this what what is allowed without a licneses in my state) and my little girl who is a toddler here in the mornings my own 2 boys are in school till 2pm and they always do there own thing after school here is what my day looks like.
7:30am-8:00am- arrivals
8:00am-8:30am breakfest
8:30am-11:00am- free play inside (they play by there self some and I play too some)
11:00am-11:30am- lunch
11:30am-1:30pm- naptime
1:30pm-2:00pm- snack
2:00pm-5:00pm- free play in or outside (they play by there self I watch)
5:00-5:30pm- dismissalComment
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I do a preschool program only a few days a week. The days I don't do it, I spend about 50/50. Kids need to learn to entertain themselves but also need the discipline of sitting still for certain things. IMO.Comment
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I'm gonna be honest here and say maybe 1/4 to 1/2 of the day is spent ACTIVELY playing with them. I have older kids right now (2-4), so they will pretty much play with themselves and I play referee! That is, when it's free play time. breakfast time, lunch time, story time, nap time, outdoor play time, dropping off and taking my daughter to school, and snack time take up pretty much a majority of the day!Comment
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Oh not much. We set up stuff for them in our roational toy system but they play with each other. We also rotate the older kids into the play of the 1-2 year olds on their side of the room.
Kids are designed to play with kids. Been done since the begining of time. This generation isn't any different.
I wish I could go back in time and ask my Grandmother this question. I can just see the look of :confused: WHAT on her face. :
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We try to stay out of their play as much as possible. My day care is almost always full of only children. They really enjoy each other and play wonderfully together. We love giving them the gift of self entertaining and playing with kids who are close in age to them. (meaning from age one to five). This is their one shot to have children who are two years younger... a year older... three years older... three younger to play with daily. Once they start school they will have age mates primarily in their day to day. It's a gift to give them the life experience of each other. We try to stay out of that and let them have that experience.
We do the things for them they can't do for each other like reading. Once our four to five year olds learn to read though we have them do the reading to the kids.Comment
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Nannyde, would it be the same for you if you had just two children in your care? Or only one? I'm not trying to argue or disagree at all, I would really love to have your opinion.Comment
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I do like Nannyde - I allow the children to free-play with each other and very rarely get involved outside of reading stories or the occasional times they WANT me to play with them. I have 2-4 kids on any given day. And even when I have only 2, yes, they play together or independently. Today I only have one (the other scheduled child is sick today) so I imagine I will be doing more playing than usual, but I still encourage independent play (and really, he prefers it).Comment
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Well if I just had two kids the parents would be paying for something completely different. It would be VERY expensive to have a one to two ratio with ME being the one adult. It would be more of a Nanny situation and not group care so I would do as I was told by the parents. Whatever they wanted I would do.Comment
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I don't really "play" with the kids either...I push them on the swing or help them up the climber. I read stories and set up some organized activities, such as sensory activities or science experiements. I also bake with them and do yoga or gymnastics, but mostly I facilitate their play. I think learning to socialize with each other is the main point of daycare at this age, they all know how to play with an adult, they need to learn to play together.Comment
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I don't spend much time at all on the floor playing with them. We spend about an hour on "preschool" activities, and probably about an hour all told with potty times, during which I'm reading to them for most of that time. But indoors or outdoors, I do my best to stay out of their games. Occasionally while we're outside I'll start a game of tag, but besides that I find that if I'm involved in their games, they are less creative in their pretend play. When left to their own devices, they come up with some amazing stuff
. And, as a PP mentioned, most of my kids are only children as well, so they have lots of experience playing with adults. I want to give them the opportunity to be kids, and to learn how to interact appropriately even when they don't think I'm watching them 
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Pretty much none. They have each other to play with. I'm not a playmate, I'm a caregiver. I do talk with them, read to them, engage them in crafts, learning activities, etc.
But during playtime I will supervise, intervene if necessary, sometimes insert an idea into the play (Maybe you could build a tower with the blocks? Are you going shopping at the store?). But no I don't really do any playing myself.Comment
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I have five to six kids a day and they do all their free play together. We do a preschool circle time for 20 mins to 30 mins.Comment
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I have 9 kids - I play with them maybe 30 minutes or less a day..
My kids are all around the same age and usually play well together..I love them to use their OWN imaginations and problem solve with little help from me. I do preschool time and will help with puzzles and of course reading..but general "play" I do not do.Comment
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I must be the oddball.. (that doesnt really surprise me, ) I enjoy playing on the floor with them. I have a big group though and just because Im on the floor with 2 of them,.. there are still 7 who are self entertaining at any given time.
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