Typical Loving Care Day -
Hours are 7:15am - 5:00pm
7:15am - 9am Arrivals and free play during arrivals Breakfast is made usually around 8/830
845am - Morning nappers will get a diaper and a bottle and be laid down for morning nap. I will wake them at 10am to go outside with the rest of us unless a longer morning nap is needed.
9:00am- Calendar and Circle Time In circle we do our songs, have specific learning goals that vary (i.e math, letters, colors, shapes, learning our full names and where we live ect), and definitely read lots of books!
9:30am- Group time - In super nice weather this will take place outside and may be in the form of adventure walks or park play when we don't have morning nappers. We might do arts and crafts or table stations or engineering work or wipe clean books we even do some worksheets when kids want to. We love working in our sensory bins during this time too!
10:00- Outside run time is our focus. When we can't go outside will try to fit in some sort of gross motor play. We like to build obstacle courses or do yoga or gymnastics or yoga balls ect.
11:30- Lunch prep and Kids will do clean up of toys and wash up
12:00 – Lunch
12:30 Clean up, get ready for quiet time with potty, washing, diapers and getting cots and blankets out.
1:00-3:00 Quiet Time
3:00-330 Wake up and I will have a PBS show for a gentle wake up time. Babies and young toddlers won't be woken, I let them sleep until they are ready to wake up. I usually clean up the kitchen at this time and get ready for snack.
3:30 clean up of cots and blankets and any books. Potty diapers and washing up
3:45- Snack
4:00-4:45 Free play in nice weather its usually back outside. In winter its indoor play. I usually try to incorporate some type of proprioceptive work in this time with listen and move videos or our yoga balls or gymnastics mat or dance parties and I would never discourage any self directed play they want to do either.
4:45-5:00 back in side for the few remaining kids we may have and we usually have stuff on and ready to go, and I "put daycare away"
For day to day I ask kids be dropped off before 9am and picked up after 3pm as to not disrupt the bulk of our schedule. Of course situations arise and we can arrange for special circumstances no problem.
All time slots are subject to change. I generally follow this routine pretty closely because I myself and most kids tend to do better with routine. We will promote the routine and time of our day, but if children are enjoying themselves and learning well in an activity I will not make everyone stop because its time to have snack. Nor will I make children follow something that is not going over well. Flexibility is key and better for all involved. Kids that love daycare and a provider that loves her job = happy parents!