You Have To Watch If You Are Or Wish To Have A Play Based Program!

[Thriftylady]

Am I the only one that saw a mess? Seriously my parents would freak out over the clutter and mess. Here when people are looking for childcare, they always post "must be spotless clean". Not that I agree kids need spotless, being a kid is messy, but the parents around here wouldn't go for that, or at least they say they wouldn't, who knows what their houses really look like.

[kendallina]

While I absolutely love what she offers, most of it isn't realistic in my setting because of mixed ages and a couple very sneaky kiddos. And let's face it, she doesn't live in her daycare when the kids aren't there. I cannot let the kids just go at it with paints whenever or wherever(I can see it now, Picasso prints all over my walls) or scissors( I do not want their child to cut their hair at dc, would rather they try that lil trick at home) Plus as much as I love the idea of kids having special lil hidey places, that's where I can see someone getting into trouble. Can anyone say playing doctor? It sounds like she has helpers that work with her and I'm by myself. I can't supervise everybody being all over the place at the same time.
But I'd love to make some changes based on some of her stuff. Like her lending library, love that idea! And I need to add more plant life(and hope I don't kill it). We're going to do veggie plants in pails this summer outside, a bean teepee, some smallish planter boxes with flowers in them. All those things the kids will expected to help care for, I'm going to plant grass in tires and place it near the outdoor road/town we're going to have. I've always been afraid everything will get uprooted and destroyed but the kids can touch, smell, feel, water, and if nothing grows, well it'll be no worse than last summer. No fencing them out of gardens this year.
Was it in this video where it was mentioned that swinging is good for brain development? Loved her swing by the way! I was thinking of doing away with our tire swing but the kids love it so I guess I'll keep it.

The parents' meetings that they were talking about...were they like a parent/teacher conference or was it all the parents getting together with Bev? That would be kinda cool, just to have meetings with everyone together, to discuss changes, ideas, etc.
So, those are some of my thoughts.

I looked on her preschool's website and they have parent meetings once a month from 7pm-10pm at night. From the video it kind of sounded like it was almost a parent education kind of meeting maybe?? I've run these kind of parent meetings, but don't think I have the commitment to do it once a month for three hours...ha!

[Unregistered]

wow!

I have to agree with josiegirl....lovely but would never work for me

yea the unfenced fish pond alone and the boy in underwear made me scratch my head
my licenser would have a field day with the write ups but we are in a different state so I don't know I didn't really watch the whole thing

[mommiebookworm]

I must confess. I did wonder, how would anything be sanitized?

[e.j.]

my licenser would have a field day with the write ups

I was thinking this the whole time I was watching the video!::

I love her philosophy of letting kids learn by play and like many of her ideas and enthusiasm but there was a lot there that wouldn't work for me since I have mixed ages - and lots of safety regulations to follow! I'm not sure if it was in this video or in another of hers that I looked at after viewing this one but she seems to shrug off the possibility of a child getting hurt in that environment - that it's no big deal; just a part of being a kid, exploring and learning. While I know that's true, I also know that many parents - and licensing - wouldn't necessarily shrug it off and I'd be held liable for any serious injury that happened on my watch. As I watched the boy splashing around in the water in the ditch area and listened to her describe the climbing structure made of rope and how some kids fall through it, I was thinking how much fun it would be for a kid but what a potential nightmare it could be for me as a provider.

I also agree with the others who mentioned the mess and clutter. I'm not a neat freak and I could work there if it were a separate building, away from my house but I couldn't live with the old car, broken electronics, crates and buckets filled with "junk", etc laying around my yard and home.

[Josiegirl]

I was thinking this the whole time I was watching the video!::

I love her philosophy of letting kids learn by play and like many of her ideas and enthusiasm but there was a lot there that wouldn't work for me since I have mixed ages - and lots of safety regulations to follow! I'm not sure if it was in this video or in another of hers that I looked at after viewing this one but she seems to shrug off the possibility of a child getting hurt in that environment - that it's no big deal; just a part of being a kid, exploring and learning. While I know that's true, I also know that many parents - and licensing - wouldn't necessarily shrug it off and I'd be held liable for any serious injury that happened on my watch. As I watched the boy splashing around in the water in the ditch area and listened to her describe the climbing structure made of rope and how some kids fall through it, I was thinking how much fun it would be for a kid but what a potential nightmare it could be for me as a provider.

I also agree with the others who mentioned the mess and clutter. I'm not a neat freak and I could work there if it were a separate building, away from my house but I couldn't live with the old car, broken electronics, crates and buckets filled with "junk", etc laying around my yard and home.

One can see this video so many different ways. If you look at the aspect of a child's learning and development, it clearly is a terrific place!! IMO topnotch! But yeh, safety issues would make licensing go nutso. And as someone brought up, the boy in his underwear, I can see myself being hauled into court now over suspected abuse. But if we only watched this video(as I did the 1st time) through the eyes of the value of play, this whole place is a goldmine. And for a kid to be let loose with opportunities that they normally wouldn't have at home, they'd be in heaven.
As for the mess, I admit that would be a hard one for me. But perhaps we can take away an idea or 2 from it to use in our own homes.

Last weekend I attended an all-day conference about 'being outdoors'. The trainer discussed risk-taking versus hazards. She said you remove the hazards(broken bottles, nails and all that) and the kids will learn to take risks according to their current abilities(such as climbing that rope structure thingie). I was never very good at letting my owns kids learn by falling and crying and I'm probably worse with others' kids. But it does their self-esteem wonders when they can master something despite the risk. Now if we can only convince dcps and the state of this concept instead of keeping every child in a bubble.

[Unregistered]

I think that the center's success depends on the environment and surrounding culture, as well. These types of places are popular in the artsy college-towns where I grew up. The majority of parents in that area wouldn't blink an eye at the underwear scenario since their children are being raised to explore without limitations. I live in a suburb where the majority of parents prefer sterile environments, school uniforms, and formal education. The children in my area would go to college with backpack leashes if their parents could pull it off, so that much freedom isn't preferred.

[Country Kids]

Wonderful environment for kiddos and someplace I would love to create! I would have loved to have something like that for my own children.

I think she is probably not liscensed, but might run as non-profit as she said they run on very little money.

Liscensing no-no's-the kitchen, the children in underwear, the child running around with a hose, the ditch with water in it, all the ropes, and so many other things.

I think the parents are heavily involved in the program and may have to be there with their children or at least volunter quite a bit. For some reason I'm not sure if there are alot of teachers or outside helpers.

I'm thinking it is very play based with little organized learning. Possibly the only time they come together is at the end for the story? It kind of reminded me of going to a fun place for your kiddos to play but I can't imagine paying for it several times a week. It seems more of a free for all which would be fun but alot of risks with so many children involved.

Now, did I take away ideas-yes! I want to work on getting some of them in place soon. But over all, I can't see it working as a childcare setting that is liscensed with the state.

[Josiegirl]

Now, did I take away ideas-yes! I want to work on getting some of them in place soon. But over all, I can't see it working as a childcare setting that is liscensed with the state.

Not to steer this topic too far off course but can you point out some of the specific things you'd love to incorporate? And the question goes for everyone. I saw so many things......sigh.....1 at a time.
So does anyone have a spare gondola laying around? Lol

[Country Kids]

The lending library-but where to put it?

More plants outside and not just in the summer.

The fish pond

I loved the free art area but definetly an outside thing.

The gondala

I would also like to have a wooden boat outside!

[kendallina]

Not to steer this topic too far off course but can you point out some of the specific things you'd love to incorporate? And the question goes for everyone. I saw so many things......sigh.....1 at a time.
So does anyone have a spare gondola laying around? Lol

I particularly loved the quiet spaces for children. It's something I could create-I have a small group- ages 3 and up. I feel like my current group is craving it as they like sitting under the tables reading books daily. I'd just like something a little cozier for them and my current space is WIDE open.

I've wanted a loft forever and now would LOVE to do it with plexiglass floor, so they children can see underneath them!

All of the outside stuff-loved! I like the milk crates to store loose parts and toys. I liked the real materials vs kid crap that breaks immediately.

I liked that she clearly didn't spend tons of money making it look perfect (even though the amount of 'clutter' did bother me). The kitchen was old and not as functional as they would have liked, etc, but that's what it is. They seem to receive a lot of donations and parent help, which I'm lacking in)

LOVED loved loved the swings!!

I was inspired by her enough to do something (finally) with my screened in porch, which is right off my preschool room. We haven't used it in the 1 1/2 years that I've lived here because it really just needs to be redone--desperately needs powerwashing and screens replaced and we haven't done it yet, which made me reluctant to have the kids use it. BUT, this week my older group and I made it into a nice little gardening center--we have real plants, soil to dig in, weeds, new seeds, water bottles, etc. A huge hit here and really the only inside space that I would want such a mess. We've had it open while we're playing inside the last couple of days and it just feels so nice to be out in the fresh air and playing in dirt, etc, but we also still have access to the inside stuff for when the kids want to play inside.

[kendallina]

Here's a photo of our new Gardening Center. It's not perfect, it's on a nasty old porch using 1/2 broken tables, but it's here and I'm glad I didn't wait until the porch was all fixed up and pretty to do this. I wouldnt have done it if I hadn't seen the Bev Bos video.

[KiddieCahoots]

I love Bev's program and hate it at the same time!

Love it cause I want one.

Hate it cause it's unrealistic for day care.....dirt play in the pillow section?! ::

[daycarediva]

I've been thinking about this video all night... I'm so torn between two things...

It's so inspiring to hear Bev speak and just to think of how simple it is to allow children to have independence and control over their day and what materials they use and how they use them. At one point, she was showing a cute little hidden space and said that a child could choose to have a little snack in that space by herself. This sounds so lovely and ideal and what I think it shoud be like, HOWEVER, I am tasked with preparing children for kindergarten. I run a preschool in a college town (lots of professors kids). Most of my children go on to public school.

So, I am responsible to make sure that children are able to follow directions, participate in a group, recognize and can write upper and lower case letters, know their letter sounds, etc etc etc. I help them learn table manners, passing items, pouring milk. I DO run a play-based program and make sure that we're learning all of these things through play, we don't do worksheets or anything, but it's still not as 'ideal' as what she does.

Everyday, I run a small group activity that is teacher led and yes, pretty much the kids have to join me. I make them come to morning meeting and circle time at the end of the program (they all want to come to these things anyways, but when they first start, I sometimes have one that is reluctant and I pretty much just tell them they have to...ha, so they do). I feel like if I didn't plan art activities I have some children that would NEVER do art. They wouldn't learn cutting or gluing skills.

There are all of these things that I feel like I'm responsible for 'teaching' them or at least giving them experiences with because I feel like they should be prepared and confident when going to kindergarten. I would LOVE to just let them make their own choices all the time and encourage such freedom, but I just don't see how it's realistic. I wouldn't have clients if they didn't leave here ready for kindy.

Sorry for my ramble, does anyone else feel this way??

I could have typed this. I have the same expectations, college town, half my clients are professors (one is the dean of a 4 year school). I would not be able to maintain enrollment if I DIDN'T do the things I do. I also feel like with kindergarten being the new 1st grade, there is no leeway in that catch up time. If a child isn't fully prepared entering K, they just fall further and further behind. I have a hard enough time getting parents past the 'play based' portion, and I have had clients look over lesson plans and photos and I have to use wolf language (ooey gooey lady) and point out the learning. Most of the professors get it, thankfully.

yea the unfenced fish pond alone and the boy in underwear made me scratch my head
my licenser would have a field day with the write ups but we are in a different state so I don't know I didn't really watch the whole thing

Seeing as how I had to get rid of my bird bath, in the front of my yard, that children should not have access to at ALL, EVER. AND the fact that she made sure that I was aware my sand/water table had to be covered between children using it. Yup, pretty sure that I would be dumping that out in her presence.

I must confess. I did wonder, how would anything be sanitized?

I'm guessing not. Which is probably FANTASTIC for their immune systems, in all honesty.

I have a LOT of her same science items, and agree with the philosophy, it's the putting it into practice I see soooo many issues with.

I am steering to more child led- and by that I drop plop after plop (another ooey gooey lady) until something sparks an interest by the majority and I design our curriculum for the next couple of weeks/until interest fades around that interest.

[childcaremom]

I could have typed this. I have the same expectations, college town, half my clients are professors (one is the dean of a 4 year school). I would not be able to maintain enrollment if I DIDN'T do the things I do. I also feel like with kindergarten being the new 1st grade, there is no leeway in that catch up time. If a child isn't fully prepared entering K, they just fall further and further behind. I have a hard enough time getting parents past the 'play based' portion, and I have had clients look over lesson plans and photos and I have to use wolf language (ooey gooey lady) and point out the learning. Most of the professors get it, thankfully.

I think this is a really interesting area of discussion.

How 'prepared' are children from a play-based school versus traditional preschool setting? Or perhaps this questions is better framed as how does a play-based program help to prepare a child for the school system? I'm intrigued enough to look into this a bit more.

I do a combo of both right now but the pressure comes from me and needing to let go of my expectations of what a preschool looks like. My parents are pretty easy going and like the 'others' I do with the kids which gives me some freedom to experiment.