Not Sure What To Think About This One...
 

I have a 4 yo DCB in my care. The DCM walks in this morning to drop him off and proceeds to inform me that her son gets bored at daycare and she said I should step it up with my daily activities. Now mind you she said this with a little chuckle but was most likely trying to be serious. She told me that he gets bored learning his alphabet, numbers,colors and shapes so she is teaching him the States at home and has a map they work with. Now, I think that's great! I love when parents work with their kids at home but am I wrong for thinking teaching him his States at the age of 4 may be a bit excessive? I do MGT curriculum and all my kids and myself like what they are teaching. Some things are a little silly but I have my own lessons I throw in there also. All my DCK are toddler/preschool age and kids at those ages just want to have fun and play so I do our lessons and then we have free play and sometimes I even break it up with a short lesson free play then back to another short lesson. Though that does make it a bit harder to get the kids back into learning mode. But anyway what would you think and what would you say if a Parent made a comment like that one?

Originally Posted by MamaB'sKidz:
I have a 4 yo DCB in my care. The DCM walks in this morning to drop him off and proceeds to inform me that her son gets bored at daycare and she said I should step it up with my daily activities. Now mind you she said this with a little chuckle but was most likely trying to be serious. She told me that he gets bored learning his alphabet, numbers,colors and shapes so she is teaching him the States at home and has a map they work with. Now, I think that's great! I love when parents work with their kids at home but am I wrong for thinking teaching him his States at the age of 4 may be a bit excessive? I do MGT curriculum and all my kids and myself like what they are teaching. Some things are a little silly but I have my own lessons I throw in there also. All my DCK are toddler/preschool age and kids at those ages just want to have fun and play so I do our lessons and then we have free play and sometimes I even break it up with a short lesson free play then back to another short lesson. Though that does make it a bit harder to get the kids back into learning mode. But anyway what would you think and what would you say if a Parent made a comment like that one?

A few years ago, I had a mom come in with a stack of worksheets and proceeded to tell me her daughter was bored as well! I simply put those in the child's cubby hole after giving the mom the "are you serious eyes" where they stayed till her mom come back in that afternoon....after about 3 days of bringing those in and me NOT using them, she stopped....the child never even asked for them and was fine....most of the time this is a PARENT problem....I don't mind parents input, but I DO NOT like being BULLIED and WILL NOT tolerate it! :eek:

Rude! Just plain rude and ridiculous. Don't feel badly about how you run your program or feel like you need to do more. I had one that would bring dcg in and recite the states from a map I had- I would just walk away, I didn't care to watch her put on a show. Dcm never complained or anything, because her daughter was on the young end, and learned everything the older ones did just by being present during the activities/ circle time. Now that she's older and in a center, dcm feels the center is lacking in comparison to what if offered. Tell your dcm that you do a formal curriculum, believe children learn through play as well, and she can take it or leave it!!!

Originally Posted by Shell:
Rude! Just plain rude and ridiculous. Don't feel badly about how you run your program or feel like you need to do more. I had one that would bring dcg in and recite the states from a map I had- I would just walk away, I didn't care to watch her put on a show. Dcm never complained or anything, because her daughter was on the young end, and learned everything the older ones did just by being present during the activities/ circle time. Now that she's older and in a center, dcm feels the center is lacking in comparison to what if offered. Tell your dcm that you do a formal curriculum, believe children learn through play as well, and she can take it or leave it!!!

I had a 12 months old's mom tell me once that her child could say an astronomical amount of words and I told her to "call Oprah and put her on her TV show" :lol::lol::lol: All kids are special and all learning is at different paces adn i respect that, but come on???? :lol:

I would just say something like this - "I am sorry if you feel Jimmy is not enjoying my curriculum but this program works for the majority of my group and the other kids really enjoy it. I like to focus on learning through play as opposed to directed classroom type learning since the children seem to respond better to it and I feel that children learn more from indirect learning than being taught things by memorization at this tender young age but if you would like to bring in some workbooks, papers or activities that we can do as a group I would certainly be willing to have a look at them"

You might end up with some free materiel for your program but I doubt she will prepare anything. She likely isn't doing as much as she claims at home either.

She is probably just trying to convince herself that she has one of those extra special "gifted" children.

If her child is bored...it is probably because she is one of those over achiever moms who constantly entertains her child and fills every waking moment of her child's life with learning, music lessons, sports and other activities.

Note to parents: Let your kids be kids!!! They learn through play!!

Also her comment would have annoyed me immensely. ;)

I would honestly just laugh...but all my dcps know I have a super sarcastic sense of humor so maybe I would say "Oh, we are starting Algebra next week!" ;)

Lol...love the Oprah comment and the we are starting algebra next week! Good ones! I try to laugh most comments off and just respond with an "oh" or "ok". I've noticed the longer I do daycare the more Ive started speaking my mind.
The poor kid probably is bored if he's doing lessons at home and then at my daycare also. Thanks everyone for the stories and encouraging words. Sometimes I begin to wonder "is it me that's crazy"??? ( if you ask my family they would say YES) lol

Originally Posted by MamaB'sKidz:
I have a 4 yo DCB in my care. The DCM walks in this morning to drop him off and proceeds to inform me that her son gets bored at daycare and she said I should step it up with my daily activities. Now mind you she said this with a little chuckle but was most likely trying to be serious. She told me that he gets bored learning his alphabet, numbers,colors and shapes so she is teaching him the States at home and has a map they work with. Now, I think that's great! I love when parents work with their kids at home but am I wrong for thinking teaching him his States at the age of 4 may be a bit excessive? I do MGT curriculum and all my kids and myself like what they are teaching. Some things are a little silly but I have my own lessons I throw in there also. All my DCK are toddler/preschool age and kids at those ages just want to have fun and play so I do our lessons and then we have free play and sometimes I even break it up with a short lesson free play then back to another short lesson. Though that does make it a bit harder to get the kids back into learning mode. But anyway what would you think and what would you say if a Parent made a comment like that one?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this parent teaching her child the states on a map. Doesn't Montessori focus on countries?

At 2, my grandson could go through any book on sealife and name every single type of whale, dolphin, fish, etc. He couldn't answer a yes or no question though.

I would just explain to her that Johnny is doing great, doesn't appear to be bored, and enjoys his day as it is. You cannot center the day around Johnny as you have other kids.

I would say, "Hmmm, then maybe he's outgrown my program?".

Or, "Is it time for little Johnny to move on?"

Or, "Have you had him tested for early kindergarten admission?"

Or, "Maybe you should quit your job and stay home and teach little Johnny yourself since he's so bored here with us".

I'm of no help. Isn't being able to entertain yourself a valuable skill to learn?

I was hoping you would ask me to step it up because I've been trying to figure out ways to increase my income. I offer private tutoring at fifteen dollars an hour. How many would you like a week? Just let me know.

Originally Posted by nannyde:
I was hoping you would ask me to step it up because I've been trying to figure out ways to increase my income. I offer private tutoring at fifteen dollars an hour. How many would you like a week? Just let me know.

likethis exactly this.

Originally Posted by Naptime yet?:
I would say, "Hmmm, then maybe he's outgrown my program?".

Or, "Is it time for little Johnny to move on?"

Or, "Have you had him tested for early kindergarten admission?"

Or, "Maybe you should quit your job and stay home and teach little Johnny yourself since he's so bored here with us".

I'm of no help. Isn't being able to entertain yourself a valuable skill to learn?

likethis

I don't see anything wrong with mom doing some enrichment at home. But telling you her child is bored (under the guise of "joking":rolleyes: ) is RUDE.
And honestly what does she expect will happen in K? They are not going to change curriculum because Tommy is "bored."

Originally Posted by MamaB'sKidz:
I have a 4 yo DCB in my care. The DCM walks in this morning to drop him off and proceeds to inform me that her son gets bored at daycare and she said I should step it up with my daily activities. Now mind you she said this with a little chuckle but was most likely trying to be serious. She told me that he gets bored learning his alphabet, numbers,colors and shapes so she is teaching him the States at home and has a map they work with. Now, I think that's great! I love when parents work with their kids at home but am I wrong for thinking teaching him his States at the age of 4 may be a bit excessive? I do MGT curriculum and all my kids and myself like what they are teaching. Some things are a little silly but I have my own lessons I throw in there also. All my DCK are toddler/preschool age and kids at those ages just want to have fun and play so I do our lessons and then we have free play and sometimes I even break it up with a short lesson free play then back to another short lesson. Though that does make it a bit harder to get the kids back into learning mode. But anyway what would you think and what would you say if a Parent made a comment like that one?

Me: The great thing about my work is I get to decide the curriculum. Maybe Such n Such Preschool or Such n Such Learning Center are stepping it up. You may want to shop around and discover the perfect fit to meet your requests.

I would tell her it sad he feels he has to be entertained. Most kids have an imagination & seek out an adventure everyday. It's Daycare, not school.

Wasn't it Blackcat who said, "Boring kids are bored!" likethis

Originally Posted by coolconfidentme:
I would tell her it sad he feels he has to be entertained.

"I am so glad he is bored during free play. likethis That is progress!!

Now he knows bored is no fun and he will get on with his imagination, experimentation. exploration and creative play.

That is the point of education, you know. To build character and to learn HOW to discover the world for yourself; not how to parrot what other people have figured out. THAT would truly be boring. :Sunny: "

Originally Posted by coolconfidentme:

Wasn't it Blackcat who said, "Boring kids are bored!" likethis

Yes! likethis This was something I remember being sad when I was young...

Boring kids ARE bored because they haven't been taught/allowed/or shown how to do what Cat Herder said.....

They haven't been taught/allowed/shown how to use their imagination and creativity and explore their world and everything going on in it! ;)

Originally Posted by Cat Herder:
"I am so glad he is bored during free play. likethis That is progress!!

Now he knows bored is no fun and he will get on with his imagination, experimentation. exploration and creative play.

That is the point of education, you know. To build character and to learn HOW to discover the world for yourself; not how to parrot what other people have figured out. THAT would truly be boring. :Sunny: "

likethis happyface likethis happyface likethis happyface

Originally Posted by nannyde:
I was hoping you would ask me to step it up because I've been trying to figure out ways to increase my income. I offer private tutoring at fifteen dollars an hour. How many would you like a week? Just let me know.

Love it!! :)

Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
Yes! likethis This was something I remember being sad when I was young...

Boring kids ARE bored because they haven't been taught/allowed/or shown how to do what Cat Herder said.....

They haven't been taught/allowed/shown how to use their imagination and creativity and explore their world and everything going on in it! ;)



likethis happyface likethis happyface likethis happyface

This all fits my DCB to a T!! Constantly wants to be entertained. He will not build with blocks and he is always asking me to watch TV or wants an iPad. When I tell him I don't have an iPad and we are not going to watch tv all day...the tears start flowing. I think it's time for a meeting with the parents. :)