About Step By Step Child Care
Four bears go on the road in early September 2012!
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Hi, and welcome to Step By Step Child Care online. My name is Jana, and I'd like to tell you about my family child care home. I've been in business since 1991. Please follow the links below to view my Handbook, Rates, Setup, and more. If you have any questions or comments feel free to email me any time at janalyn686@yahoo.com and I'll be happy to talk with you.
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Our Daily Schedule
Here at Step By Step Child Care, we have a very busy day. I believe in structure for the children whenever possible. Children thrive on structure. They love knowing what will come next in their day. They get very excited as we transition from one thing to another. I do allow for some flexibility because, as we all know, things do happen in the course of our days. For example, maybe it's a very beautiful day outside and it hasn't been for awhile. The children are having so much fun playing outside. Since the weather is so nice and we haven't been out in awhile, I'll push back our lunchtime perhaps 15 minutes or so. That is just one example of how we can work flexibility into our schedule. If I have infants in care, we need to be flexible as well since they are cared for on demand.
Most children arrive between 7 and 8 a.m. The children 'free play' while drop-offs are being made and I'm preparing breakfast and during breakfast clean-up. They may watch educational television, choose a toy from our toys shelves, and/or play with a special toy that I set out for the day. An example of a special toy would be our Duplo Blocks or Musical Instruments. I have an abundance of 'special' toys and rotate these frequently.
Our breakfast is currently 8 a.m. so I ask that children arrive by 7:50 a.m. in order to be served breakfast in my child care. If your child is eating breakfast at home I ask that drop-offs be between 8:20 and 9 a.m. Breakfast times may vary during the year. In the summertime it may be later as I would not have to meet a school bus schedule. It may also vary according to the schedules of current children in care.
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After breakfast, the children continue to have free play until approximately 9:30 a.m. We then clean up, potty, diaper changes, etc. On Mondays through Thursdays from September through May we have "School Time." My Preschool Program lasts until approximately 11 or 11:30 a.m. Preschool Music, Science, Calendar, Weather, Free Discussion, Stories, Arts & Crafts, Colors, Numbers, Letters, Shapes, Cooking, and much more! We study themes such as On The Farm, Health & Safety, Arctic Animals, and many, many more. I want to add here that learning does not stop at the end of Preschool Time, learning is an ongoing process. I believe children learn best through Play. I also believe that I am teaching the children throughout the course of their day in their everyday routines. For example, we are currently learning all about the Farm and Farm Animals so at lunchtime we will talk about the Milk the children are drinking. Where does milk come from? A cow. That's right, milk comes from a cow. A cow is a Farm Animal. Get the idea? Children are like sponges, they love to learn and it is so easy to stimulate their young brains. Not to mention rewarding.
On Fridays we may do Play-Doh or other fun activities during the day. My schedule is flexible in that we work around any infants in care and/or the children's current interests. In the summer we have a lot of outdoor play, water play, etc. We also get outside whenever possible during the fall and spring when the weather permits. |
I do not serve a Morning Snack, but around 10 or 10:30 am the children may have Juice or Water if they'd like. Actually water is accessible on demand for the children. In addition, if we are doing a cooking activity as part of our Preschool Program that also doubles as a Morning Snack. If the weather permits we will go outside after Preschool until Lunch Time. Since we are in NE Ohio it is not always possible to get outside when it is very cold or raining. On days when we cannot get outside, we will extend Preschool Time or possibly play a game, work on a special project, more Music Time, or maybe watch a video or movie.
During certain times of the year and children's ages permitting, we will take a weekly Field Trip to the library for Story Time and playing in the awesome Children's Room there. Whenever infants are in care, we typically will not take Field Trips.
We also incorporate Special Days here at Step By Step Child Care. We have Color Days where I have all of the children come dressed in blue, for example. On blue day I try to serve blue foods, we emphasize the color blue during Preschool Time, and we do some fun Blue games & activities. We have Show & Tell Days. We also have occasional holiday parties.
Lunch is at 12 noon and meets the Federal Child Care Food Program Guidelines for nutrition. We serve healthy foods here at Step By Step Child Care. My policy is that all children are served a little of each item we are having and they may eat what they wish. Foods are never forced or withheld as punishment. Normally, I do not serve a 'dessert' immediately following the lunch meal, however if I do children must have eaten their lunch or tried. If we aren't hungry enough for lunch, we aren't hungry enough for dessert, right?
My policy state no food brought in from home. If you have any food concerns we can address these during our interview. I do not believe in serving something special or different to one child because she/he is a picky eater.
From 12:30 - 1 p.m., we wash and clean up and prepare for Quiet Time. From 1 - 1:30 p.m. children are permitted to watch 30 min of special educational children's television. After that, it is TV off and time to rest. Children usually all fall asleep before the TV is off. If a child just cannot seem to rest, she or he may lay quietly on their mat and read or look at books.
Rest-Time is over at 3:30 p.m. or slightly earlier if the majority of children are awake. I serve p.m. snack at 4 p.m. for children who are hungry. After snack, children once again have access to our "Special" toy of the day or may have free play until they are picked up to go home.
I hope that you enjoyed reading about our days here at Step By Step Child Care!
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