Our Family Child Care

All aboard for playtime. Learn more about the future of trains: https://wef.ch/2DWdTeU

Nearly 150 students have already used her special closet.

A new mom brought her baby to daycare this week. As she was walking in, she was in tears. This was her first day back to work after the birth of her baby. I h...ugged her and promised her that we would take good care of her son. After she left I was so humbled by the thought that she left the most important part of her life with me. There is nothing in the world that is more important to her than her baby boy and she trusts me to take care of him. What a huge gift to have the much trust. It is something that I do not take lightly and I am so grateful that I am allowed to be part of this families life. We have such an amazing job. Please don't consider that it's not important because we hold someone's world in our arms every day! See more

The children were greeted this morning with (among other things), a pasta roller and inexpensive clay. They were NOT greeted with directions of what to do with... these materials. Instead, they were welcomed with time to decide for themselves how to use these materials. I have learned that the most valuable learning lives in the PROCESS....but so often, we adults take the process away by doing all the figuring out for children. This pasta roller, inexpensive clay and FREEDOM TO EXPLORE provided an opportunity for: 1). Risk assessment and management: Children NEED opportunities to do things we adults categorize as risky. It is during these experiences that they learn about safety. I did not address the use of the pasta roller what-so-ever. These children have all had ample experiences with being CAUTIOUS. Take note of how careful they are being with the placement of their fingers. From the information I have already gathered from OBSERVING THEIR PLAY, I have learned these children are very aware of risk and risk assessment and management. 2). Trial and error: By the time I captured this clip, the children had already failed a LOT. If they turn the crank the wrong way, nothing happens. I never stepped in and showed them the correct way, rather, I allowed them to own their failure, work through their struggles and PERSEVERE. 3). Persevering: I can not possibly place enough importance on this skill. Too often, in the rush rush world of adults, we don’t give children the TIME it takes for them to persevere. Too many times we are in a hurry and just do things for children, OR...teachers feel the need to keep up with a rigid schedule that does not allow the time for a child to test theories, fail, struggle and eventually succeed, therefore building perseverance. 4). Muscle coordination and strengthening: Trust me when I tell you that this is HARD WORK. It takes a tremendous amount of strength to turn that crank when a clump or clay is in the rollers. Take a close look at all the muscles that have to work together to accomplish this task! 5). Teamwork: Notice the teamwork involved in organizing their own play. I felt the need to step in one time to make sure one child got his rightful turn, but other than that, the children were aware of each other, and worked well to express themselves in order to organize this play. 6). Patience: Patience goes along with perseverance AND teamwork. In both cases, the children are working on the executive functioning skills of self regulation (which includes patience).

Recess is MANDATORY in NJ...heads up, Parents, you can use this law to advocate for your children!

THIS is what pre-writing and pre-reading looks like at Kaleidoscope. Future reading and writing success is NOT about learning letters and writing words EARLIER.... Rather, it’s about a SOLID foundation built on not only a love of books, word knowledge and vocabulary, but also physical skills, such as visual tracking and eye-hand coordination. These are the skills that are VITAL for future reading and writing success, and these skills must be the focus of the early years. If you want your child to be ahead....STOP forcing letters and writing. Instead, LET THEM PLAY and USE THEIR BODIES!! Combine that with meaningful reading and talking and watch their organic interest in literacy emerge through their love of books, their ability to express themselves with spoken words, developing their own need for writing, displaying an interest in their name and names of those people most important to them and noticing words in the environment (to name a few ways literacy emerges).

We have tried many ways to teach her to tie her shoes and they didn't work. We saw the video going around last week and this worked!!!! She now knows how to tie... her own shoes in 5 minutes too To find Free Local Fun in the Wiregrass Area including crafts, recipes and all the 411 on FREE Family Fun https://ozark.macaronikid.com/ You can follow me online Macaroni Kid Dothan-Ozark

We adults get so caught up in turning everything a child does into a teachable moment that we often times forget that a child’s own thoughts, without interruptions from us, provide the most powerful teachable moment.