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I really think the issue is home daycares often don't have the ability to effectively care for the two separate age groups. Toddlers and preschoolers have different toys, different needs, different energy than SA. Give me all SA or all toddler/preschool and would love it, but the problem is, for me, only SA wouldn't pay the bills. If you only SA you can do bigger kid things all of the time and the attitude towards them would be different, but mixing the two age groups can honestly be difficult.
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Currently I have 4 SA'ers. 3 Kindergarteners(2 boys/1girl) and one 2nd grade boy. When they come here right after school they have two options. Outside or inside. I can hear them outside as I have video/audio installed for my playground area. Outside, they build snow forts, slide on the GIGANTIC snow hill, pull each other around on sleds, spray the snow with food colored water, play in the sandbox with the Tonka trucks...which they arre playing in snow not sand but they don't care. They choose to play outside everyday and I allow them to as long as it is above zero outside.
If it is too cold outside, they can either do homework (I offer no assistance but try to help if they ask.) I don't stand over them and make sure it is done. It is not MY responsibility and they are not MY children but I try tohelp with a question or problem if they come to me and ask. If they have no homework, they are required to bring something to keep themselves occupied. A book, a Gameboy or whatever they want.
I do not have any puzzles or games or even toys for that matter that are age appropriate for them since I don't normally take SA'ers at all. the ones I have now all have siblings here and the parents choose to have them here.
Our community has a wonderful program through the local YMCA called Edu-care for all school age kids. My SA'ers come here because:
*1 Kindy boy/2nd grade boy; Older boy is a handful and is not allowed at the YMCA any more because of it so dcm pays me alot to keep him.
*1 Kindy boy; dcm picks up at 3:45 and YMCA charged flat rate of $15 for afterschool care so it is cheaper for him to be here and I have his baby brother.
*1 Kindy girl: This mom also picks up by 4 and I have the younger sibling
All of these kids have been with me since they were babes so I don't mind. They listen well, whine alot, but overall I would not choose to take schoolers for the many reasons listed in pp's. After this group is gone, we shall see but I wouldn't take any new ones....unless tehy came with a few siblings that were full time. LOL!!Comment
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I would like to clarify that I don't hate this age group. I just have a very hard time working with them with my mixed age group and the space I have available. I am trying to figure out how to make it work.
I honestly think that a lot of the issues I have is because there aren't enough engaging activities for them to do. Frankly I am not at a point where I am able or willing to change things drastically to have a functioning infant, toddler, preschooler and school age program.
Bottom line is that SA need different activities then the little kids and if you have the space to do that it's great, but if not, it is very difficult. For me anyway.
It is sad that there are so many providers who don't enjoy the SA group, but I don't think we hate them, it's just a whole different type of care. Those of you who have it figured out have obviously found something the rest of us are missing.
I think i will google after school care programs and see if i can get some ideas from there. Thanks everyone.Comment
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i am not a fan of SA, per se, but when they grow up with me from toddlers, i cant just turn my back on them and kick them out.
so i put up with it.
SA CANbe fun, but it is a challenge to add them in with the little ones.
missnikki, you are right. but like you said, you work soley with the SA. its different when you have to add them to the mix.
mine come home wired from school too, and the looong bus ride.
the girl is OK, she's pretty calm, but the boys...look out!!!
and one of them is mine!!!!
they come in and have a good wholesome snack. and boy, can they eat. i do offer homework help, but they wont do it, and i'm not gonna argue w/ a kid that isnt mine. that the parents job. like i said, one of them is mine, so we do it after everyone leaves.
they have toys that are specifically geared towards them in another room.
if they are too rowdy, their butts go outside. i dont care how cold it is.
. (here SA can go out unsupervised) but when the weather is nice, we are all out there for the rest of the day anyway. sometimes i just send them out to run around the house two times and then come back in. i make them run with their finger on their nose, or their backpack on backwards, or hold hands and do it together, or whatever makes them laugh. silly, but it works.
like someone else said, i'm pretty tough on them too. they are old enough to know the rules. on the other hand, sometimes i cut them a little slack. its got to be hard to be on your A game all day following rules at school, and then have to come to daycare for 2 more hours. its not like they get to go home and unwind in their own space. its a long day for them.
now, we have a no TV/video game rule here during the day. but as a reward for good behavior, we have a "wii party friday" the last friday of every month after school. but the kids have to earn it, and i stick to it. last month the one boy lost his chance, and he didnt get to play. let me tell you what, these last two weeks he's been an angel
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I just read back through all the posts on here and I didn't read anywhere that anyone said they "hate" SA'ers (except one). I think the general consensus is just that most family childcares are just not set up to deal with the mixed age groups. We are all obviousl making our money off the full day children which is not the SA'ers so they are the 'least valuable' in terms of a paycheck. I see it as no different than we all like food...we just have different preferences. Personally, for me, I prefer preschoolers over infants and toddlers but I don't 'hate' any age.
Realistically, there are problems and difficulties with any age group, just as there are positives and rewards with each.....Comment
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Oh yeah, I can only imagine the chaos with mixed ages. My mix goes from kindy- 8th grade, it's all about having the energy and space for it.i am not a fan of SA, per se, but when they grow up with me from toddlers, i cant just turn my back on them and kick them out. so i put up with it.
SA CANbe fun, but it is a challenge to add them in with the little ones.
missnikki, you are right. but like you said, you work soley with the SA. its different when you have to add them to the mix.
mine come home wired from school too, and the looong bus ride.
the girl is OK, she's pretty calm, but the boys...look out!!! and one of them is mine!!!!
they come in and have a good wholesome snack. and boy, can they eat. i do offer homework help, but they wont do it, and i'm not gonna argue w/ a kid that isnt mine. that the parents job. like i said, one of them is mine, so we do it after everyone leaves.
they have toys that are specifically geared towards them in another room.
if they are too rowdy, their butts go outside. i dont care how cold it is.. (here SA can go out unsupervised) but when the weather is nice, we are all out there for the rest of the day anyway. sometimes i just send them out to run around the house two times and then come back in. i make them run with their finger on their nose, or their backpack on backwards, or hold hands and do it together, or whatever makes them laugh. silly, but it works.
like someone else said, i'm pretty tough on them too. they are old enough to know the rules. on the other hand, sometimes i cut them a little slack. its got to be hard to be on your A game all day following rules at school, and then have to come to daycare for 2 more hours. its not like they get to go home and unwind in their own space. its a long day for them.
now, we have a no TV/video game rule here during the day. but as a reward for good behavior, we have a "wii party friday" the last friday of every month after school. but the kids have to earn it, and i stick to it. last month the one boy lost his chance, and he didnt get to play. let me tell you what, these last two weeks he's been an angel
I remember a prof in college asking the class to put a sticky note over the activity we liked to do when we got home from work. the choices were:
Nap
Yap (talk or chat w/ friends)
Lap (exercise)
Zap (TV or video game)
Work More
No one said Work More. His point was that we cannot expect the SA's to get out of school only to go straight to a desk and get to work, when that is not what WE ourselves do. He suggested that you have to find out which of those things the kids are interested in, and supervise that.Comment
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The key with your post is you work soley with them. It's when they are combined into groups of babies, toddlers, and preK that it get difficult.
I don't like the age group. My own ten year old son drives me batty. The neighborhood kids that are his age are frankly little $hits.Comment
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If I had all SA's it would probably be a different story. I love being able to sit down with them and have a conversation, do mad libs (remember those?), coordinate complex outdoor games etc. BUT....any family I get (and I'm allowed only one non related) always has SA+babies/toddlers. I cannot focus my energies towards both. The babies always come first. When I'm dealing with the littles, the bigs tend to get sneaky, more rambunctious, and whine about being bored. I have so many broken (expensive) toys from my summer of Mixed....Wii controls, an marble race track that was my son's favorite, a cracked ipod because they "took it without permission", a closet in my DD's room that they decided to use as monkey bars....I could go on and on and on. This all happened while I was dealing with 2 littles, because littles come first.
My own kids are all SA. They play well together. They are able to invent games from nothing, work together as a team to accomplish a goal, entertain themselves outside without toys, and they are respectful of what is theirs vs what is mine. If every SA'er sent my way could behave that way, I could do the mixed groups. Until then...no.Comment
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Like I said, I understand the trouble with mixed age groups. Completely understand. Totally agree.
I'm just saying I've read the word 'HATE' on this very thread, so let me revise my original statement:
I am willing to take school agers, and refer little ones to anyone who wants 'em. I know there are others who like it the other way around. But no matter what, little ones grow into bigger ones, and someone needs to hang out with them. If it causes undue stress on you to do so, they are not the right fit for you. It isn't fair to the SA'ers to plop them in front of a TV everyday (not saying you all do, I read some do) or not give them your time to plan and prep to keep them happy.
If they aren't profitable to your business, don't take them and sell them short.Comment
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My dream is actually to have the setup for both littles and SA's.
I've got 2 myself, a third that is with us often, and then my youngest is going into kindy in the fall. I'd LOVE to have our basement finished and then set up with an air hockey table, foosball, arts & crafts, dinky cars, lego ... you know, all of the stuff that SA's love, but that the littles can't play with. That way my 3 or 4 could do their thing, and then I could also have other SA's before and after as well.
Right now, the SA's aren't even allowed into the playroom unless they're on they're BEST behaviour. They just get too rowdy too quickly. So mixed age groups just doesn't work too well for us right now. I really wish it did, though!Comment
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