Family Style/Preschool Based

[nannyde]

BTW, I will be waiving my Bachelor requirements, based on credit for life experience and begin my Masters program in January at Pacific Oaks College. Then I'll be teaching at the college level.

I hope those guys aren't having any accreditation issues. I would be nervous about putting money into a program that allowed that as a program.

[Crystal]

hahaha! No, they aren't! And, they have been doing this for over 50 years, so I'm pretty sure they are legit.

I don't just get the credit, I have to document ten years of experience working with and for children.

[nannyde]

hahaha! No, they aren't! And, they have been doing this for over 50 years, so I'm pretty sure they are legit.

I don't just get the credit, I have to document ten years of experience working with and for children.

http://www.pacificoaks.edu/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/WASC-Letter-to-Dr-Cindy-Carter.pdf

[Crystal]

I was aware that there had been some issues, that, as noted in the letter you posted, had to do with one of the Administrators not being an effective "leader" or properly doing her job. She has since been removed, and as is stated in the letter, POC has done an excellent job of correcting the issues that were cited, with the biggest issue being removal of that admin. If you notice, the complaints to WASC about the school'saccredidation came from POC faculty members. From my understanding, after talking to faculty there, the faculty members that complained are still there, just the head honcho is gone.....

Another one of their issues was declining enrollment, which is to be expected in a recession.

Thanks for the research though, I hadn't seen the letter! I'll have to read it more thoroughly when I have more time.

[Crystal]

To add, I didn't realize there had been accredidation issues, just thought it was governance issues.

I'm confident with the changes they have made sine the old Pres. left, that things will be fine.

Thanks again for the info, though...very interesting.

[QualiTcare]

Nannyde summed it up! And she is correct that I cannot teach K-12 for the schools. I have all the MT requirements, as well as site supervisor requirements, with a total 0f 90 college units.

And, correct, it is not the same as a mentor teacher. To be a mentor teacher, I was asked by the local mentor program coordinator to apply. I then had to submit a detailed app, and had a FCCERS conducted on my program by the college. Then a selection comitte met and selected me to be a mentor for their practicum students.

BTW, I will be waiving my Bachelor requirements, based on credit for life experience and begin my Masters program in January at Pacific Oaks College. Then I'll be teaching at the college level.

there were a few girls who did practicum instead of student teaching which made noo sense to me bc it took the same amount of time. only difference is if you student teach, you can teach in the schools on top of anything childcare related. i asked one girl why she wasn't student teaching and she said she "just decided she didn't want to teach."

come to find out - they couldn't pass the Praxis exams required to student teach and then work as a teacher. now THAT makes sense. ::

i don't know anything about waiving requirements. i guess that would be possible for the Early Childhood Development degree without a teaching endorsement - that's what the practicum students do is spend time in childcare settings instead of student teaching and taking the final courses. then, i don't see how you would be able to teach at the college level though without ever working under a teacher.........who knows.

[Crystal]

there were a few girls who did practicum instead of student teaching which made noo sense to me bc it took the same amount of time. only difference is if you student teach, you can teach in the schools on top of anything childcare related. i asked one girl why she wasn't student teaching and she said she "just decided she didn't want to teach."

come to find out - they couldn't pass the Praxis exams required to student teach and then work as a teacher. now THAT makes sense. ::

i don't know anything about waiving requirements. i guess that would be possible for the Early Childhood Development degree without a teaching endorsement - that's what the practicum students do is spend time in childcare settings instead of student teaching and taking the final courses. then, i don't see how you would be able to teach at the college level though without ever working under a teacher.........who knows.

Oh, my practicum students are "student teaching" They have to do this in order to recieve their child development permits and they can teach in an ECE classroom. Even though I am childcare, I run as a preschool and that is why the college comes in and conducts assessment and has a committee approve acceptance. They consider me a "lab school" not just a child care program. You also have to have a Master Teacher Permit or higher to be a lab school. If I did not have the components of a preschool program, I wouldn't have been approved.

My degree will be in Human Development with specialization in ECE. According to my local community college, I can teach at the college level with a Master's Degree w/specialization in ECE without workin under a teacher, however I am sure they will consider my experience of working with/teaching adults when I do apply. I have that through the mentoring program and begin teaching through workshops/seminars in the spring.

[QualiTcare]

i had to do a lot of "field experience" in child care centers/head start, etc. but when it was time to student teach, i (and everyone else who was getting a teaching license) did 2+ months in either a pre-K or K classroom and 2+ months in a 1-3 classroom. they just all happened to be within the school system (the pre-k placements). that could also have something to do with being NCATE accredited. they have standards for the professors which i think is that they all have to have doctorates - so they may have different standards for mentors too. so, do you have a student stay for 2 months or so and "take over" while you watch?

really, teacher students should spend a lot more time in pre-k through 3 classrooms, but you're not allowed to teach until you pass your tests...and you can't take your tests until all the coursework is complete. i would've rather spent a full year student teaching instead of 5 months teaching and 3.5years hearing about how to teach!

[SandeeAR]

This is tied in a way to AfterSchoolMom's quesiton on playing with your daycare kids. What type of daycare do you consider yourself to be? For the longest time, I have been very down on myself because I wasn't offering a preschool based program. I wanted to, I would make lesson plans, at one point i ordered different preschool programs, however, with 8 to 10 kids in care ranging from infant to 5 I just couldn't make it all work. Over the weekend I thought a lot about it and realized the fact that I have a very family style daycare. They don't sit around and watch tv all day, however, I don't have activities organized for them all day either. We very seldom do crafts as again, the age ranges and needs of all of the children always seem to conflict and when I have tried to do craft activities it seems that is when chaos insues. I have a daycare where the children are cared for, read to, sung to sometimes, and pretty much are just able to be kids and play and have fun. We do playdough, color/draw, and puzzles. My families are all happy, yet I still have a voice in the back of my head that says I should be DOING something with them. Where does your program fall?

You pretty much described me. I treat them like they are my kids. I read books, do play dough, puzzles, etc. Go outside when weather lets us. Everyday no. Mine go from 4 mo to 2.5 y/o. I do some shape and letter pages with the 2.5 y.o, when the kids allow. Teaching the basics like I did with mine. Mom works on them at home too.

I basically provide a smaller, less germy, homey place for the kids. I full well expect mine to head to a larger preschool type facility when they are 4.

[Crystal]

i had to do a lot of "field experience" in child care centers/head start, etc. but when it was time to student teach, i (and everyone else who was getting a teaching license) did 2+ months in either a pre-K or K classroom and 2+ months in a 1-3 classroom. they just all happened to be within the school system (the pre-k placements). that could also have something to do with being NCATE accredited. they have standards for the professors which i think is that they all have to have doctorates - so they may have different standards for mentors too. so, do you have a student stay for 2 months or so and "take over" while you watch?

really, teacher students should spend a lot more time in pre-k through 3 classrooms, but you're not allowed to teach until you pass your tests...and you can't take your tests until all the coursework is complete. i would've rather spent a full year student teaching instead of 5 months teaching and 3.5years hearing about how to teach!

My students are here for a full semester.....almost 4 months. The first month they observe, learn about setting up environments, learn about group gathering/circle time, etc. Then they start taking over little bits at a time. They conduct small group studies, lead teach etc. I have to approve the teaching plans and sign off on everything they do.

[Unregistered]

I've never really thought about it

I create my own lesson plans and I do consider my daycare to be somewhat education based but I it's not really my niche. I focus on getting my kids ready socially for when they go to kindergarten or young kinders. They learn the kindergarten basics but I put a much larger focus on teaching them how to interact with other kids (and adults).

I have a mixed age group and it's often hard to incorporate everyone into the lesson plans that are available to buy so I ended up realizing that it was a waste of money for me because of the age differences. I have a ton of arts & craft supplies and I keep everything as open-ended as possible for the kids. I was finding that the little craft kits were only good for engaging kids for a couple minutes at a time because they were either too simple or too complicated. I also like giving my dcks the opportunity to be totally creative and to not have any pre-concieved notion of what their project is supposed to look like. I like to plant the seed and then see what they come up with

We read a lot of books and we use flash cards sometimes. I teach them sign language and basic Spanish. I have a structured daily schedule with the dcks but what I offer is not really what I would consider kindergarten readiness. I am accredited by NAEYC and I meet their accreditation standards, so I guess that's good. To be honest, I only got accreditation because I felt like it was something that I needed to do to be more appealing to prospective parents.

OP, it sounds like you are doing just fine! In the long run, I think that the most important thing is to find what feels best for you. If your dcparents havent complained, then chances are that they are totally happy with you just the way that you are. Believe me, if they don't like something that you're doing, they'll let you know. I've seen providers burn out really fast because they were trying to so many expectations that they put on themselves based on what pre-school and pre-kindergarten classes were teaching. I think that if those providers had taken the time to consider that the preschools and young kinder classes had all the same aged kids and usually had assistants, too, then they would have understood that they didn't have to meet those same expectations. It's important to find a way to do your job in a way that soars with your strengths and takes into account that as a home daycare provider, the age groups are pretty varied.

Whatever you decide to teach or to not teach, just make sure to be confident in what you offer to your daycare families, and don't sell yourself short because you aren't following a certain curriculum or because your dcks aren't reading by the time that they start kindergarten. To me, it sounds like you have a lot to offer to your dcks, so I wouldn't sweat it.