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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Weekly Prep Checklist
kcnjason 10:27 AM 08-11-2013
I have made a post about creating less stress while planning for the upcoming week. My next question is does anyone have a prep checklist for what needs to be done for the upcoming week? do have a certain list/routine you follow for things such as preparing sign in/out sheet, menus planned, etc.....
heyhun77 02:31 PM 08-11-2013
I have a daily task list that breaks all the things that NEED to get done into 5 days (Monday through Friday) so that the bulk of the work can get completed in under an hour each day including normal cleaning tasks throughout my house. For the most part one room/area of the house gets cleaned each day and then one learning center in my daycare stuff gets cleaned and items rotated each day. I also do one part of my bookkeeping each day. Literally I can finish everything in under an hour, less if naptime is uneventful that day so I can do some of it while everyone is sleeping. I could share mine with you but really I just made a list of each part of my house and all the learning centers and all the paperwork that needs to be done each week and split it into manageable sections that work with our typical evening activities. That leaves shopping, washing daycare linens and food prep for the week to be done on the weekends.
For lesson planning/activity planning I take one Saturday each month to work on the plan for the next 6 weeks. I use creative curriculum so I really can't plan THAT far ahead but I can look at my observation notes and choose a direction to go and pull out the items we will need, gather books that go with the theme and songs/poems/ect. to do during morning meeting. I currently have all under 2's so lesson planning is really about following their interests and scaffolding their skills which is where my observation notes come in. I can anticipate the next rung on their scaffold and plan activities for each child accordingly. I also have a couple school agers so I plan out an activity for them to do each day (usually an art activity) and then at least one long-term project each month. By the time they get here, eat snack and do their homework they really just need to have free-choice activities and they both enjoy playing with the infants/toddlers so that's usually what they choose. They like to be "teachers" so I will often times give them some of the infant/toddler lesson activities so they all get several one-on-one times each day.
For lesson planning/activity planning I take one Saturday each month to work on the plan for the next 6 weeks. I use creative curriculum so I really can't plan THAT far ahead but I can look at my observation notes and choose a direction to go and pull out the items we will need, gather books that go with the theme and songs/poems/ect. to do during morning meeting. I currently have all under 2's so lesson planning is really about following their interests and scaffolding their skills which is where my observation notes come in. I can anticipate the next rung on their scaffold and plan activities for each child accordingly. I also have a couple school agers so I plan out an activity for them to do each day (usually an art activity) and then at least one long-term project each month. By the time they get here, eat snack and do their homework they really just need to have free-choice activities and they both enjoy playing with the infants/toddlers so that's usually what they choose. They like to be "teachers" so I will often times give them some of the infant/toddler lesson activities so they all get several one-on-one times each day.
EntropyControlSpecialist 06:17 PM 08-11-2013
Mentally, yes.
The night before every work day I ensure that the tile floors with area rugs are vacuumed and mopped, I wipe down the tables one last time, I check the menu for the next day and write it on the dry erase board, I log in to the iPad for the parents to check in the next morning (checkinkids.com), I set out the breakfast bowls/plates/cups/silverware, and I look to see if everything is in the right spot.
On Friday night or Sunday night (just depending on the kind of week I've had LOL) I will erase the whiteboard with the information we talked about during that week, put away the thematic unit books and toys, and bring out next weeks.
I check on accounting stuff daily and enter in expenses once a week.
Daycare laundry is done right after naptime on Fridays. They separate their sheets and their blankets into piles and the other soft items in the daycare are washed after those. It's usually all done by closing time on Friday night. I do not waste my time folding. I hate folding and they don't care if the things aren't folded. So, on Mondays they pick out a blanket they want from the blanket pile and a sheet they want from the sheet pile to put on their cots. It works well for me.
At the end of the month, I start making sure all of the photos of the children and their artwork have the children's names tagged in them on iPhoto so that I can go into each child's album and upload their photos from the month onto snapfish for their parents. I also look at the calendar to see what I have planned for that next month and start printing off the things I'll need or pulling them out.
It's all just routine for me now and I sometimes don't even realize I've done everything until the end (like the end of the night routine) because I have so many thoughts racing through my head.
If I see something messy, I clean it up as soon as I am able to. It prevents me from scrubbing dirty handprints off of the home center mirror at the end of the day if I see it during lunch time or nap time.
The night before every work day I ensure that the tile floors with area rugs are vacuumed and mopped, I wipe down the tables one last time, I check the menu for the next day and write it on the dry erase board, I log in to the iPad for the parents to check in the next morning (checkinkids.com), I set out the breakfast bowls/plates/cups/silverware, and I look to see if everything is in the right spot.
On Friday night or Sunday night (just depending on the kind of week I've had LOL) I will erase the whiteboard with the information we talked about during that week, put away the thematic unit books and toys, and bring out next weeks.
I check on accounting stuff daily and enter in expenses once a week.
Daycare laundry is done right after naptime on Fridays. They separate their sheets and their blankets into piles and the other soft items in the daycare are washed after those. It's usually all done by closing time on Friday night. I do not waste my time folding. I hate folding and they don't care if the things aren't folded. So, on Mondays they pick out a blanket they want from the blanket pile and a sheet they want from the sheet pile to put on their cots. It works well for me.
At the end of the month, I start making sure all of the photos of the children and their artwork have the children's names tagged in them on iPhoto so that I can go into each child's album and upload their photos from the month onto snapfish for their parents. I also look at the calendar to see what I have planned for that next month and start printing off the things I'll need or pulling them out.
It's all just routine for me now and I sometimes don't even realize I've done everything until the end (like the end of the night routine) because I have so many thoughts racing through my head.
If I see something messy, I clean it up as soon as I am able to. It prevents me from scrubbing dirty handprints off of the home center mirror at the end of the day if I see it during lunch time or nap time.
Meeko 06:51 PM 08-11-2013
I have used a planner for many years now and couldn't live without it. Used Franklin Covey for eons. Now I use a tablet version to keep my life straight!
I also have calendars all over the house! One in the playroom with daycare info on it. One in the kitchen with family stuff on it. My planner has ALL of it in it!
I also have calendars all over the house! One in the playroom with daycare info on it. One in the kitchen with family stuff on it. My planner has ALL of it in it!