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It is not a requirement to have bookshelves screwed to the wall where I live. Especially if it was in a hall and would hit a wall before the floor. I would not have screwed it in either.
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I run my daycare like a preschool. I go for the best of both worlds approach. It works for me and for my families. I used to run it out of my basement. Had a great set-up. We ate upstairs in the kitchen.
I asked my husband to fix it up with some paint and carpeting (I was using rugs and had block walls that were painting this pale pinkish color). He agreed. That was two years ago...and I'm still waiting. THe walls are up and painting a base of white. We are just strapped on money at the moment.
So, I was using both my living room and my three season porch made four season for daycare along with my kitchen AND my bedrooms for naptime. Got burned out on that last weeken.
I'm 8.5 months pregnant and needed my house back. Now, I moved all stations/toys into the porch. I left a little space in my living room for reading and toddler play (when I'm cooking or after lunch). The rest of the time we use the porch. I break up free play with activities/clean-up and that helps the mess a lot. My bins I have turned toward the wall and bring out one or two at a time. They have to clean it up before use of another bin.
Otherwise, I had all bins dumped out in about 5 minutes and clean-up was not on the top 5 list of fun things to do--haha. The new set-up works. I explained to the kids the new rules and areas for use of daycare. They are all fine with it. I have my living room back. Still use the back bedrooms for two cribs and the bathroom. I LOVE the sunlight in the porch and although I use more heating energy, I do use less lighting energy. So that balances out.
Glad you found something that works for you, too. Sometimes, all we need is a little change-up to get renewed.Comment
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I can understand how you feel! I'm from a large family daycare (licensed for up to 16 children). On an average day, though, we have around 13. The average age is 2-4 yrs. Does anyone have any ideas for getting them to clean up at clean up time? There's so much noise (You can imagine how loud 13 children can get during free play!), so my voice gets drowned out. If they do just happen to hear me announce clean up, they ignore me and keep on playing. Or run to the next room to get away from me and not have to clean up. This usually gets them a time-out (I have low patience for children who I KNOW heard me, and they run away from me anyway). But with so many children, how do you get everyone to pitch in? We've tried cleanup songs etc to make it fun, but they keep on playing, getting more and more toys out as we're trying to get them to clean up. We end up cleaning up their stuff for them just so we can stay on schedule for lunch time (if the food program people came in and we were off schedule for meals, I think we'd get in trouble. Besides that, while we're actually getting one group to clean, another group has drug out more stuff, and thrown smaller items around the room, just for the fun of it. Then you work on that group to clean up and the original group who already cleaned up have gotten more stuff out to play with. We can't put things out of reach from them because they climb on chairs or tables to get to them (another issue), and as you know, giving them time out for doing it doesn't phase them...Comment
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Fine, I try to point out a simple unobtrusive solution to a dangerous situation that could have resulted in a child's death and you get all butt-hurt over it.Whatever, there was nothing on that shelving unit besides toys and it is ALL GONE NOW. Guess I'll go screw my kitchen chairs to the floor, since those have been flipped over occassionally because they don't know how to sit on them right after being told over and over and removed from them......or make everyone start wearing a helmet during mealtime for that just in case moment. It comes down to not being able to discipline children.
Spouse of a daycare provider....which I guess makes me one too!
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Nope, not butt hurt at all. Just think it is rediculous how some think children should be catered to and not made to behave and not held accountable for their behavior. This is my home, and I don't feel I should have to screw things into the wall that arn't supposed to be screwed into the wall, just because a almost 3 yr old gets away with crap at home and isn't disciplined and is a holy terror. The shelf is long gone, along with 75% of the toys. Some day parents will hopefully start taking responsibility for their offspring.Comment
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Are the parents not paying you to care for their so called "holy terror"? You are in business to care for children and to insure their safety. if you don't like the kids you care for, stop taking their money and find different ones.Comment
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Nice that you think its that simple. Of course its just so easy to replace income like that...And of course there's absolutely no problem leaving a "holy terror" like he is then- just get rid of him instead of trying to help him? I've had my share of those type of kids over the years. Sometimes I get lucky and have parents who arent so defensive about their childs bad behavior - and really want that child to be a success. 4 or 5 years later I look at those same kids and am proud of the difference I made in their life- the success in school and life that child enjoys that wouldn't have been the same had I just shipped them off. Sure, we all get those parents that know everything and rather than admit they maybe could do things differently blame the childs red hair, various ancestry or temperament, or even ADHD, rather than take responsibility. That action alone- making excuses for the childs behavior, is the precurser and example for that child as a teen and adult to not take responsibility for their actions, blame others for their mistakes etc. Mac is right- society lacks RESPECT. Children need to have respect for self, for others, for property, for authority....otherwise we have a whole generation of narcissists. For me, at least, I see my job as a childcare provider as also a responsibilty- my way to change the future and make the world a better place. Unfortunately we missed a generation, so the kids that are difficult are the result of their parents' poor upbringing and lack of skill- so in fact we often are teaching the parents right along with the kids- except for the know it alls with bad attitudes......Comment
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Never once did I make mention that the child should be allowed to run wild like an ape at the zoo.
What I was trying to drive home is that, should a tragic accident occur, and you're dragged before a jury in a civil litigation suit, the fact that you were aware that children in the past had tried climbing this piece of furniture, that it was unstable, and you did nothing to prevent/change the situation, you most likely would have been found "negligent"....which in today's litigation, means two comma's in the judgement.
I do alot of things I don't like in my business, but I do them to limit my liability exposure.Spouse of a daycare provider....which I guess makes me one too!Comment
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I have a closet in my living room with a door lock where all of my toys are stored in bins and on shelves that only I can open. During free-play each child can take out one bin or activity at a time and have to clean up what they took out before they can move on to the next activity. If one child doesn't want to clean up at clean-up time ALL of them can't move onto the next activity that I've planned. This helps the other kids motivate each other to clean up.Comment
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If you look on my website, you can see how I have my space set up, although I have recently rearranged a bit and haven't had time to update pics, you can get a good idea of how I have it arranged for the children.
My children always have access to all of the play materials, even my toddlers. I figure if they do not have the opportunity to work in an environment that allows them to make mistakes, they'll never learn how to work without making those mistakes.Comment
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