I think it depends on the age of your child and the space you dedicate to daycare.

My daughter is school age (but homeschooled so home all day) and we have a dedicated daycare area.

When she chooses to be in the daycare area, she must follow the daycare rules. All daycare toys are shared and she has no special privileges with them.

However, when she is in her play room, that is her personal space. Her playroom toys do not leave that room. Some have little parts and would not be appropriate for daycare. None of my daycare kids have ever even see this room, so they don't really even know what is in there. Her playroom is upstairs right above the daycare room. I can check on her without losing visual on my daycare kids.

Her classroom is also her space, and again no daycare child has ever even seen it.

Outside, we do daycare toys. Everything is shared. Her personal bike and toys are in a separate area that only get played with when daycare is closed.

She has meals and snacks with the kids. She gets the same things they get. Sometimes she gets a larger portion as she is older so serving size is larger, but they are always welcome to have seconds, so it balances out.

If she was at a friends house, I would not expect her to have free reign of their home. If she was at another daycare, I would expect them to treat her really well, but would not expect them to treat her like their own child. Due to her being older than any of the others here, and that the "special" is not really visible to them, I have never had it create a problem.

Reply