Need Help in Creating a More Structured Day for My Very Small in Home Childcare

hi
my son really enjoys starfall.com it can be used as either an online resource or, i believe, it has downloadable pages for you to print out and share. oh- it is geared towards the learning how to read. from learning the alphabet up through reading stories. i also got a friend the book "unplugged play". it is not going to plan your day, but it could give you some ideas of activities to do through out your day. good luck!

I am kind of in the same boat. We are just getting settled in with this new place and my new at homeness... So I am looking too .. I am a new full time SAHM (did work as a RN, 3-12s) We plan to homeschool our kids, they are now ages 3 1/2 and 22 mos. My mom is a preschool teacher (she is WV though) and she is so helpful with little ideas and crafts -- she just recently sent me this link http://www.drjean.org/ Also I have the book supernanny and she has some great ideas -- love that book, but she highly suggests a schedule. I am working on a schedule that will be with pics and words and on velcro so we can change things around.. Hopefully we will get that done soon. That is the grand plan taken from advice from my mom and supernany...

I became a sahm in feb 08 and worked in daycare for yrs prior to the switch. my daughter eill be turning 4 and we like noggin.com, in doing my lesson plans i also enjoyed using debs pre-schohttp://www.mamasource.com/respond/11159724983138123777ol fun pages ut i thought it was a fee of $25 but i thought it was well worth it. In my experience i have found that offering 2 choices with boundaries really helped to create structure. taking something out and putting it away before you get something else also helps, and bake or cook something.

Hey K.,

I own a childcare center/nursery school and what we do is pick a theme each week. Along with that we try to learn a color, shape, number, letter all depending on the age. We change our activity every half hour. Example, for a three year old we open at 7:30 we have free play for one hour (organized we do centers, kitchen area etc) then at 8:30 breakfast, snack, 9:00 circle time we do the calender, discuss the weather, sing songs, etc. 9:30 what ever project we are doing craft, work sheet etc. 10:00 outdoor play (weather permitting) if can't go outside we do some type of dancing, physical activity 10:30 we practice Montessori so we do those activities until around 11:15 and then a quick storytime before release of part timers and then lunch at 11:30 for the kids who remain for the day. We then have nap time at 12:00 until around 2 when they wake they are allowed to get up and do something quiet while the others still rest puzzles, coloring etc. 2:30 usually do music and movement, or sometimes they will do some Montessori Activity. At 3 we release again and then for those who stay until 6 we have snack at around 3:30 from there we have aftercare which again is organized free play, playdough, puzzles, coloring, centers, etc. I am not sure where you live but there are some really nice school supply stores that sell books with many different ideas. Also Mailbox (that's the name of the company) has a nice selection of activities for each month. You can go on the website and have the books mailed to you. Another idea is to try to reinforce what they are learning at preschool. Maybe their teacher can give you an idea of what is upcoming each week and you can follow her lead. We do a newsletter so each parent knows what is coming each week. I know what you are talking about free play is a necessary tool for child development but to much of a good thing is a recipe for disaster. I hope this helps. Good luck!!

familyfun.com is also a good website and themes are a good idea also, good luck

Hi K., I'm a stay at home mom to my 2 1/2 year old son and although he is not in preschool yet I thought we needed to have a more structured day. We do a lot of learning games and reading but I need our day to be more scheduled, so I did some research this weekend and found a really great site called daycare.com. It is geared at preschools and daycares but I thought I would give it a shot. For 15.00 you get a full month of lesson plans, activities, activity calendars and themed posters. I ordered for the month of February that way I have time to get any supplies I might need. I can't wait to start!

The women who runs the website also has her own daycare and I checked out her daily schedule to get some idea's on how to set up our day. She also has a weekly meal plan which is all organic, so I got some new meal idea's for free as well.

Hope this helps. If you try it let me know how its going for you and I'll do the same. Have a great day!

There's a book by Dr. Mike Meyerhoff called Bright Start that has 146 activities for 0-4 to help develop your child's potential. Dr. Meyerhoff used to be a consultant to Discovery Toys, which carries many developmental products for young children that may be helpful to you. I can send you a recipe for making your own play dough, and you can use a product like Place & Trace to cut the dough (or cookie dough) into dinosaur shapes and dogs and airplanes and more. The product does double-triple duty as a stencil and puzzle. www.toysofdiscovery.com

Hi K.! You are right, it is important for children to feel that there is dependable sequence to such events as eating, resting, toileting, work, and play so that they have the security of knowing what happens next. Once they get used on the daily routine, you will not have a problem with transitions. Find some bell, song or light change that will always prepare them in advance that soon will be the time for change. Take care to always give them clear instructions. Also, the major emphasis should always be on learning through play. Large blocks of free, uninterrupted time should be made available. You need to be there and observe your girls, so you can turn the fight into a learning opportunity. Also, include art time and going outside into your daily schedule. If not outside, then inside exercise, like dancing, creative movement, games. Plan the day; know your routine, like breakfast, two hours of free play, art time, snack, going out, lunch, nap time follow lunch, reading the book, song or finger play, free play again. Yes, there are great resources on the internet for the activities, or if you just want to learn more – I don’t have the link, but if you search a little bit, you’ll find it. You can also buy inexpensive child care curriculum CD with printable activities on ebay. Also, there are nice videos on youtube, like ‘cullens abc’, with lots of activity ideas and finger play songs. Good luck, and enjoy the time you all spend together!

K.,

I had the same issue when my Son was in Pre-K. If they are in a 3 yr old pre-K I would Ask the teacher what the routine is at her class, so you can keep the routine the same, and reinforce what they are learning in school, if not, then What I used to do was get up, have breakfast, Brush Teeth, go to windo and learn about the weather, how should we dress today? then get dressed. Then you could do your craft time, then carpet time, the a small free time, then back to calendar learning Teach the days of the week and the month, Then art time. I loved taping large paper to my dishwasher and letting him paint with water colors, it washes right off. Then snack and story time then nap time. After nap time hide and seek, or some fun game. then I would find something to count. or colors to review. then you could build, have "tea and snack time" Free time, ect...

I hope this has been some help.

K..

K.,
Start simple and work more routine in.

Simple crayon/markers coloring will help.

Decide what times you want meal/snack times, and work around them.

Keep it simple, and you won't go crazy with it.

Alternate crayon coloring with other activities. Crayons are good for 3 year olds now.

you can get more creative with science projects earlier than age 3 (2 year olds are fascinated with a lot of science stuff :)

Good luck,
M.

Hi There,
I have a 3 year old and 11 month old myself... and I take care of a 10 month old and an 18 month old. I have also worked with young children in pre-school and elementary school integerated programs in the past. One website I always reffer to was www.perpetualpreschool.com. It offers ideas given by early childhood educators. It has every theme you could think of, then with each theme it has ideas for crafts, cooking, sensory play, music etc. that goes with each theme. The ideas are easy to adapt for a variety of skill and age levels. Hope this helps!!