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sariejohnston 07:41 PM 01-24-2015
I have 22 four and five year olds in my classroom, luckily in the mornings I have a co-teacher we split the kids up so I have 12 of the 22 we go out to play outside or Ina different classroom while her class does table work, then we switch... It's still crazy because my students have a hard time follow directions. But in the afternoon we have to move three of the kids to a different class leaving me with 18 kids by myself until 5:30 it's so stressful especially transition time going to the bathroom, snack... They know what is expected of them, they know wE line up with a bubble in our mouth and hands behind our backs, in the hall we sit criss cross apple sauce but they do not listen to me and I competely lose them... They play in the bathroom constantly, cussing is Also a issue, playing violent games like jason, freddie and chuckle, constant throwing fits and Whineying... One thing we do is we write notes in their folders for their parents to read they don't like it but they keep repeating the same behavior every day! I Feel like I am always yelling because they are so loud I cannot hear myself think or talk.. By the end of each day my throat hurts!! I have searched and tried so many techniques to help these kids follow directions but nothing works beside bribing them with candy which I feel is completely wrong I shouldn't have to give out rewards for them to behave, but nothing else works.. Help!!! I dread going
to work on Mondays because it stresses me out, I have been working with kids
since 2006 I never have seen kids behave like these kids. I am newish at this current place my co worker has been their a long time so all my ideas are usually ignored, looked past, I feel like I cannot make any changes with out asking her permission although she is only their mornings until 2:30..
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jenboo 07:50 PM 01-24-2015
Holy moley! That's way too many kids by yourself! No wonder they act up.
What state are you in? It's 1:18 legal?
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permanentvacation 08:21 PM 01-24-2015
Do the kids act like that when the co-worker is there until 2:30? If so, does the co-worker try to make them behave better, or does she just let them act like they do? Is it that YOU notice things that YOU think should be changed, but everyone else seems to think is just fine?

I went out to work at 3 different centers for a little while. I had moved and if I was going to start my home daycare back up, I would have needed to allow time to get my new license at my new address. I decided to go out to work at a center to 'learn how to be a better daycare provider from the 'professionals'.

All 3 centers seemed more like a zoo to me with the teachers pretty much ignoring the kids. I was at the last one for almost a year. So I'll tell you more about it. The 3rd center was the best of the 3. However, other than the 10 minute circle time, lunch, and nap, the teachers just let the kids run wild and completely ignored them. The kids were constantly fighting with each other, cussing, hitting and kicking each other, playing in the bathroom, putting toys in the toilet and flushing them which then flooded the bathroom, etc. If a child tried to tell on another child, whether it was that someone else hurt them or was putting toys in the toilet, all the teacher did was cut the child off and told them to stop tattling and go play. Honestly, I never could figure out why the teacher was even in the room!

After a couple of weeks of watching this, I decided that someone, namely me, needed to do something about the zoo they called a daycare. So I started sitting with different groups of children throughout the day. I'd go from one 'center' to another; from 'housekeeping' to the 'block' center to the 'book' center, etc. and I'd talk to the children about what they were playing, as I would see a child start to hit another child, I'd tell him not to hit him before he got a chance to make contact, etc. At lunch time, to keep them calmly waiting for their plates, I'd get them all to sing songs while sitting in their chairs. I found games and puzzles in the teacher's closet and got the kids to play them calmly and properly with me. I made up activities at my house for them to do. One of the was where I printed off pictures of little penguins and laminated them. I then numbered plastic cups 1 -10. The kids were to put the proper amount of little penguins in the cup to correspond with the number on the cup. I did a lot of things that made the classroom much calmer and the kids much better behaved. They still played and did everything they had been doing, I just got them to behave better and have more control and organization in the room.

All it did was get me in constant arguments with the other teacher in the room and be in trouble with the director on pretty much a weekly basis. Apparently, they liked their daycare center being completely chaotic. They didn't want the teachers to intervene when the children did things wrong.

After 8 months of it, I finally quit. I told the director that I was bored to death because they only wanted me to sit in the room and not do anything. Not teach the kids, not interact with them while they were playing, not teach them manners, not play games like color and shape bingo with them. NOTHING. I also told her that the kids were bored to death which was what lead to them fighting and misbehaving all the time.

So, it might just be the way the director and teachers WANT the center to be run. They might NOT want you to make any changes.
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sariejohnston 08:35 PM 01-24-2015
Yes it's illegal for the state Of tx, I moved from Missouri where we could only have 15 in our class By ourselves, so it's really overwhelming to have 18 by myself. My co teacher doesn't allow the behavior, they listen to her better then they listen to me, but they still act crazy with her their. It once she leaves at 230 I feel like the become out of control. I have them put their heads down when they act like that I told them if they can't follow the rules,They will lose time from their play time.
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sariejohnston 08:49 PM 01-24-2015
I feel like my class is bored the curriculum we use is Boring, it is a Christian themed curriculum I have seen it for older kids and it is so much better but for preschool I don't like it because it doesn't Allow the kids to be creative they have to color a picture the color in which it is highlighted, so when I give my students other coloring pages they ask what color do I color this!? I say rainbow. Most the work is they use dito sheets. Sooooo boring I wonder if any of the kids are learning anything at all. I believe they need more hands on actives but my co teacher swears this is the best curriculum ever! We have different views on how to teAch young children, even though she is awesome and I love working with her I dont always agree with her views... I agree their is a time and place for work sheets but I want ones that don't put limits on their creativity .... Anyway their is very few hands on activities we having reading group three times a week, and we just started kindergarten club... Both these groups involve ditto sheets, reading basics and getting them excited to go to school! Which is the only thing I am liking I want my students to be excited to learn and go to school! Another thing I noticed is they sit a lot which is probably why they act up a lot.... From the moment they come in until they leave they sit for circle time, table work, bathroom breaks, meal times, reading groups, kindergarten club, nap time... By the time 2:30 comes around they have so much energy they can't help but act crazy that's my theory... Even if we go outside in the morning for 30 mins for going in to do our work...
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permanentvacation 09:26 PM 01-24-2015
So, can you, at 2:30, do some group large muscle development activities? Can you have music and movement time then? Or some other proper activity that allows them to get loud and moving in a controlled setting? Maybe have them act like different animals; slither around like a snake, hop like a kangaroo, etc.
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racemom 09:34 PM 01-24-2015
Can you do outside time in the afternoon? At our center, weather permitting, after nap we have snack and then play outside until parents pickup. It is hard for any child to sit still for more than a few minutes. The center I am at is mainly play based with some preschool in the morning. If outside time is not available could you do sensory boxes that are only brought out at 2:30? Make it something they must play with nicely or they will not be allowed to use. It sounds to me like your class may be bored and not know how to play. Also, maybe some music and movement activities to burn energy, stretching, or get some small soft balls and stand in a circle and toss them to each other, play farmer in the dell. Anything to get them moving would help with classroom management. But have clear rules and expectations and be quick to make someone sit out who is not following the rules. This may help with the rest of the day if they have something special they know is at the end of the day.
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sariejohnston 04:41 PM 01-25-2015
Originally Posted by permanentvacation:
So, can you, at 2:30, do some group large muscle development activities? Can you have music and movement time then? Or some other proper activity that allows them to get loud and moving in a controlled setting? Maybe have them act like different animals; slither around like a snake, hop like a kangaroo, etc.

What we do at 2:30 is I get them up from nap time, put up the cots, take a bathroom break, do art activity, then we got to snack at 3:15 if we have extra time before snack I put music on and have them dance or we play the freeze dance, after snack we go to the bathroom, then if the weather is nice we go outside so they can run and we stay out their from 4:00 until 5:00
after play time we go back to the bathroom to wash up, go back to the classroom where we read stories, they play a game while I clean up the room. and then I leave at 5:30 somone comes in for me then.. but transitions are the hardest because they are so crazy getting them to line up, be quite and follow the rules is so hard.... I try to get them to move as much as possible.
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Thriftylady 03:00 PM 01-26-2015
I agree it could be boredom. I learned long ago that bored children are problem children. Perhaps they just need some things that can be changed up some changed up a bit. I would bypass your coworker and go to your boss. Tell her what you have told us, perhaps ask her to come and visit for an hour or so and see for herself. Perhaps you can go with a system of if they are calm and such they get to pick an activity late in the day or something. I wouldn't go to the director saying "this has to change now", more like "I could sure use your thoughts and ideas someone could get hurt".
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