Need Help Organizing Ideas!

[Kacylf]

My problem is I have a ton of ideas for crafts, activities, games etc. for the kids but cannot seem to put it all together! I've been doing this for 3 years and at one point I was working hard at making daily lesson plans but I have such a hard time. Ive looked into purchasing curriculum and I just don't have the funds to do that right now. I currently have a 6mo, 15mo, 2yo, and 2 almost 4yo. Help please!

[laundrymom]

Play and opened ended art is your friend. Give them "stuff" let them create. It doesn't have to be anything in particular. Exposure is way more important than result.

[Kacylf]

I completely agree! I love to just let the kids play and explore but parents want planned activities! A lot of the time the kids aren't interested when it's something planned and it's hard for them to learn that way. I want to try to give the parents what they would like for their children but sometimes I feel it would be better just to let them play and give them supervised access to art materials to make whatever they choose!

[laundrymom]

Planned "art items" are not developmentally appropriate at these ages.

[Blackcat31]

Originally Posted by laundrymom

Planned "art items" are not developmentally appropriate at these ages.

Planned art = parent pleasers

Give parents info on "how" kids learn.

If they want cookie cutter craft projects, plan one a week and call it good.

I transitioned from 'parent pleasers' to open ended art by enacting a fee for those parents that wanted the option of a cookie cutter craft. It wasn't long before parents figured out their kids learned more from doing things my way.

[laundrymom]

The
Above is what you should tell the parents.

[Kacylf]

Good idea blackcat! What about preschool type learning for the almost 4 year olds? One of them knows all his letters, numbers, shapes, colors, etc. The other dcb still needs help with all of this, I know his mom doesn't work on any of it with him at home and I feel bad because he tells me all the time he wants to learn! Of course I incorporate learning into play but is that enough for a 4yo? I'm used to mainly having younger kids so this is new for me.

[Blackcat31]

Originally Posted by Kacylf

Good idea blackcat! What about preschool type learning for the almost 4 year olds? One of them knows all his letters, numbers, shapes, colors, etc. The other dcb still needs help with all of this, I know his mom doesn't work on any of it with him at home and I feel bad because he tells me all the time he wants to learn! Of course I incorporate learning into play but is that enough for a 4yo? I'm used to mainly having younger kids so this is new for me.

Find a good assessment tool like ASQ and use that to plan what types of learning or what content to focus on for each age group. As your DCK's master skills in each of the developmental domains you'll know what skills to move on to.

Here is the link for Ages and Stages http://agesandstages.com/

[Kacylf]

Thank you!