Originally Posted by Solandia:
Old school during daycare hours, and more new agey after hours.
That is because during the daycare hours, my first priority is to keep everyone SAFE, and injury free. I could care less if anyone is happy about it, how/what the child feels about it. I expect obedience the first time, and that's that. It is required in order to be safe with a larger group. ALL my rules are to minimize my liability and to prevent as many issues as possible.
Now, after hours with only my own kids...I want to explore their feelings on a particular matter, help them make their own decisions (and for them to own their own successes & failures), thought behind those decisions, etc... My priority is their personal growth & happiness with themselves -- not me making them happy by giving in to demands/tantrums. There does tend to be more tantrums with my own kids, with the less strict boundries and stuff...but I know that I am growing these kids to be confident in themselves.
So, an example: I do not allow the kids to run, jump on the sled and crash into the fence at the bottom of the little hill during daycare hours. With only my own kids, I figure it is rather harmless fun, but if someone lands wrong & breaks an arm or gets a bloody nose, it is all part of childhood.
I'm pretty much like this, too. The only difference is, my youngest is 11, and my oldest dc kid is 4, so the rules are a little different just by nature of their age.
I am taking a class called "intentional teaching", and so far, I have to watch my mouth on the discussion boards for the class, lest they see me doing this:
When they start telling me that infants need to be "taught", and have a planned "curriculum", I start to throw up a little in my own mouth...lol