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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>How Much Behaviors Do You Deal with On an Average Day?
hippiedaycaregal 10:21 AM 08-03-2016
I have a SA, 2 three year olds, a two year old, and a baby. We do a couple hours of outdoor playtime, circle time and craft, as well as a good amount of free play every day. I feel like I'm having to step in and redirect or help kids work things out nicely all day long most days! My crowd is all very strong willed with vibrant personalities😆 what's a normal amount of "help" your kids need getting along?
EntropyControlSpecialist 10:36 AM 08-03-2016
I noticed that the more children I had here the less I had to step in to intervene.
I have one 4.5yo boy (full time, no siblings), one 3.5yo girl (part time, no siblings), and one 3.5yo boy (part time, one younger sibling) out of eighteen children enrolled who really struggle with appropriate social interactions. I am constantly redirecting and assisting them and sometimes I have to take a 15 second bathroom break to close my eyes and give myself a break. That 15 seconds is BLISS when they say my name one thousand times in a row. It is very tiresome.
My others (ages 2-5) do fine and I don't really need to intervene at all.
I have one 4.5yo boy (full time, no siblings), one 3.5yo girl (part time, no siblings), and one 3.5yo boy (part time, one younger sibling) out of eighteen children enrolled who really struggle with appropriate social interactions. I am constantly redirecting and assisting them and sometimes I have to take a 15 second bathroom break to close my eyes and give myself a break. That 15 seconds is BLISS when they say my name one thousand times in a row. It is very tiresome.
My others (ages 2-5) do fine and I don't really need to intervene at all.
hippiedaycaregal 10:41 AM 08-03-2016
Just to clarify, I feel like my kids to know how to get along but because they're all for the most part fairly High Strung if they disagree it escalates very quickly and if I didn't step in they would be screaming and crying and possibly hitting each other! As it is when it starts to escalate I step in and remind them to use their nice words, or to take turns. Over and over and over and over all day long LOL help please! If it's an unusually rough day I give everybody quiet mats and they play separately, preferably I'd like everybody to be together during freeplay.
Blackcat31 10:56 AM 08-03-2016
The issue usually lies in the span you have of developmental age groups.
ALL school aged kids and it's probably not too bad.
Add them to a mix of younger kids and the entire group dynamics changes as well as the amount of squabbling.
Other than my toddlers that are just learning, I do NOT intervene when kids fight or have issues. What I do, do is give them boundaries/rules and let them figure it out themselves. There will always be givers and takers and those roles are not always 50/50. Life isn't fair so I wont teach kid that it is.
Our 3 rules are:
This includes PHYSICAL and EMOTIONAL
ALL school aged kids and it's probably not too bad.
Add them to a mix of younger kids and the entire group dynamics changes as well as the amount of squabbling.
Other than my toddlers that are just learning, I do NOT intervene when kids fight or have issues. What I do, do is give them boundaries/rules and let them figure it out themselves. There will always be givers and takers and those roles are not always 50/50. Life isn't fair so I wont teach kid that it is.
Our 3 rules are:
- You may not hurt yourself
- You may not hurt others
- You may not hurt things
This includes PHYSICAL and EMOTIONAL
hippiedaycaregal 12:19 PM 08-03-2016
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
The issue usually lies in the span you have of developmental age groups.
ALL school aged kids and it's probably not too bad.
Add them to a mix of younger kids and the entire group dynamics changes as well as the amount of squabbling.
Other than my toddlers that are just learning, I do NOT intervene when kids fight or have issues. What I do, do is give them boundaries/rules and let them figure it out themselves. There will always be givers and takers and those roles are not always 50/50. Life isn't fair so I wont teach kid that it is.
Our 3 rules are:
This includes PHYSICAL and EMOTIONAL
These are some good insights, I do know I need to back off more and let them learn. This Forum definitely has lots of good advice. At the same time it's hard to watch my kids struggle and melt down so much😕The issue usually lies in the span you have of developmental age groups.
ALL school aged kids and it's probably not too bad.
Add them to a mix of younger kids and the entire group dynamics changes as well as the amount of squabbling.
Other than my toddlers that are just learning, I do NOT intervene when kids fight or have issues. What I do, do is give them boundaries/rules and let them figure it out themselves. There will always be givers and takers and those roles are not always 50/50. Life isn't fair so I wont teach kid that it is.
Our 3 rules are:
- You may not hurt yourself
- You may not hurt others
- You may not hurt things
This includes PHYSICAL and EMOTIONAL
hippiedaycaregal 12:20 PM 08-03-2016
Also, yes SA is so hard 1 more week till back to school!
Heart12 12:25 PM 08-03-2016
Originally Posted by hippiedaycaregal:
Also, yes SA is so hard 1 more week till back to school!
I'm going through the same thing here! No issues until the SA comes! 3 more weeks until school starts back up Also, yes SA is so hard 1 more week till back to school!
Josiegirl 06:38 AM 08-04-2016
This summer hasn't been too bad so far. I think there has been a total of 3-4 days I wanted to tear my hair out or strangle somebody. 
But between everybody taking different days off, they still seem happy to reconnect when they come back. I've got 2 3 yos, 2 4 yo, 1 5 yo, 1 7, 1 8, and 1 9 yo this summer. They have their moments and then I just tell them to take a break from each other or suggest they ask one of the SA to read a book to them. I have a couple extra bossy girls, a couple whiner/criers that's always complaining....I'm learning what to tune out and what to place importance on.
I agree, the age spread you have sounds difficult. And essentially only 1 SA? I would find that tough right there.
I have done the separate play space before when days seem to be spiraling downhill. It works great! And I only do it for maybe an hour until things get back on track; that seems to be all it takes some times. I place certain things in separate areas, set a timer, designate where they start, when the timer dings they start over in a different area. Or if it's one specific dck causing problems, I place them in a designated spot til they can control themselves.
I try not to intervene too much, maybe guide them if they need help or things start getting aggressive, which they often do with 2-4 yos.
But between everybody taking different days off, they still seem happy to reconnect when they come back. I've got 2 3 yos, 2 4 yo, 1 5 yo, 1 7, 1 8, and 1 9 yo this summer. They have their moments and then I just tell them to take a break from each other or suggest they ask one of the SA to read a book to them. I have a couple extra bossy girls, a couple whiner/criers that's always complaining....I'm learning what to tune out and what to place importance on. I agree, the age spread you have sounds difficult. And essentially only 1 SA? I would find that tough right there.
I have done the separate play space before when days seem to be spiraling downhill. It works great! And I only do it for maybe an hour until things get back on track; that seems to be all it takes some times. I place certain things in separate areas, set a timer, designate where they start, when the timer dings they start over in a different area. Or if it's one specific dck causing problems, I place them in a designated spot til they can control themselves.
I try not to intervene too much, maybe guide them if they need help or things start getting aggressive, which they often do with 2-4 yos.