Thread: Refusing Nap
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Preschool/daycare teacher 06:41 PM 03-25-2012
Originally Posted by bbo:
sorry-I am NOT trying to be snarky, but it sounds like the arrangement there is not very practical. I realize this is not under your control;it sounds like your owner has it set up this way.

The reason I say this is because it sounds like the school-agers are also "forced" (for lack of a better word, but that sounds harsh) to nap. That tells me that there is a staffing issue, maybe for good financial reason, but an issue never-the-less. I cannot imagine expecting my school-agers to take a nap, although they do go into another room and have quiet time. I'm family dc though, and I can be a little picky about what school-agers I take. If they are real physical kids, they don't really fit in here. My own ds is a lego man, and although he can certainly be wild-and-wooly, he can also entertain himself (and a friend) in his room for a couple hours and be fine with that.

I don't know what your weather is like, but my suggestion would be that any non-nappers (and that included all school agers and a few younger than that-this girl, presumably) be seperated from the nappers. My first choice would be that a staff member be outside with them, and maybe do some quieter teacher-led activities, and then maybe take blankets out and lay under a tree. Watching the leaves blow in the trees, the clouds roll by, etc.

Or, how about a seperate room for the older kids with a movie? If you stay on your mat and are quiet, you get to watch the movie. If you get up or make a lot of noise, you get moved to the hall? Is there a quiet area like a hallway that she could be moved to and still be supervised? Being in the movie room is a privilege for "big kids". So, if you want that privilege, you need to show me that you can behave like a "big kid".

This little girl does sound a little out of control, overall. How does she sleep at home? Does attention motivate her to "do bad?" If so, the old catch-her-being-good is essential. I have also found with my defiant 3 1/2 yo here that she needs LOTS of love. Sitting on the lap, extra hugs, pats on the hair, smiles accross the room. The more she gets, the sweeter she is.

Those are my thoughts. I don't know if any of it can help...
Thanks for the reply. The arrangement may not be the best, but it's the best we've been able to come up with, and it works for everyone else excpet the one little girl (they all go to sleep just fine, except her). The owner can't really help it; it's a home daycare, so she can't just find another building for it There's only two rooms, and they are connected without so much as even a door (that 2nd room is the play room, and lots of light comes into it so we can't put her in there, but I do like your suggestion of trying to seperate her from the others. maybe we can put her cot in the hallway? It's connected to the room everyone else sleeps in, so there's still supervision).
We don't have school agers right now, just 2 1/2 - 5 yr olds (I was talking about at one time when we had school agers and we tried letting them get up at nap time; it just didn't work. When we decided to have them lay down too, they were fine with it and we provided quiet activities on their cots, although they usually were the first to fall asleep, so it wasn't forced on them).
We cannot let this little girl get up during nap (or have quiet activities on her cot), although I really wish we could. It would only create even more problems. 1st, she will NOT be quiet, so she would end up back on her cot, which would mean a loud, screaming, kicking fit. 2nd, if the others found out one child got to get up at nap time they would never go to sleep again (what child would, if they think they can stay up and play if they don't let their little bodies fall asleep?), and 3rd, this little girl needs a nap. Her behavior is AWFUL in the afternoon when she doesn't let herself go to sleep, but is fine when she does.
We don't have enough children left in the afternoons (only 4-6 at most) for myself and the owner both to stay after everyone goes to sleep, so one of us always leaves.
Any other ideas, anyone? Thanks again, bbo. If you think of anymore suggestions, please let me know
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