I SAH and I feel like we've gotten in a rut, especially with the weather being so crappy. I'm assuming daycares are a bit more structured in what their days look like and I think I can learn from that. So what does your LOs day look like at daycare?
My kids are at home with the nanny now but she used to work at the daycare and keeps their day structured similarly. They do snack in the morning (we do with tv but you scould do without) for a half hour. Then they do "circle time" where they read books, sing songs, do art and things together. After that she does some one-on-one time with each kid while the other kid does free play. Ethan does animal sounds, naming body parts, etc. while Maya works on counting, vocab and things for her level. After that they do lunch and nap. After nap they do more free play. At 4 p.m. they get to watch tv until I get home, which is usually around 5.
Each week they have a theme. Along with the theme they read a book, sing a song (music and movement) and make an art project. They also go outside everyday (we can do that here) eat and nap on a schedule.
We get a report emailed each day, here are the last few:
12/10: Today we read Merry Christmas Maci. For art we marble painted candy
canes. We sang The lights on the tree. We also looked at different
Christmas lights.
12/9: Theme: Christmas. For circle time we read Clifford's First Christmas.
For art we made Rudolph thumb prints. We sang Rudolph the red nose
reindeer. We also played with pretend snow.
11/26:Today we read Mouses’s First Fall. For art we made pumpkin pie. We sang
G-O-BB-L-E was his name-o. We also smelt pumpkin pie spices.
11/25: Theme: Thanksgiving! For circle time we read Setting The Turkeys Free.
For art we made thanksgiving hand prints. We sang The Thanksgiving song.
And we also had fun at our thanksgiving lunch!
They also attach awesome pictures: Seriously. WTF?
Each week is a theme. They concentrate on a specific color, number, letter, animal, and sign. The entire school also does a theme for each month and an activity each day based around that theme. I can't remember what Dec is but today they are doing melting in the sun (good thing it is sunny today). They put an ice cube in a cup and put it in the window. Check on it throughout the day until it is melted and then they get to drink their water.
I get a ton of art work. Sometimes just scribbles and sometimes more work that is done by the teacher (hand prints, cut outs...).
Have you heard of Tot School. This is a blog by a Bumpie from when I was going through with James. She did some fun stuff.
My DD is not in daycare, but I used to manage and teach at a center. I try to do what I did at the center with DD.
We had two week long themes I've been picking our monthly themes based on the season/holiday each month. In September we did 'on the farm', October was harvest time, November was helping, and December is family.
We start our days with breakfast, then she gets to play with whatever while I clean up. We get dressed and talk about the plan for the day (this is in place of a morning group time). Most of our activities start at 9:30 so we pack up and head to school, the gym, or the library. When we get back around 11/11:30 I make lunch and pull out her sensory bin. After lunch we pull out our theme books and read until 12:15/12:30. She goes down for nap and I do all the house stuff.
After nap we play with a toy that somehow fits with our theme. Around 3:30/4 we have snack, then we go play outside, run an errand, or if it's really cold out we blast some music and dance like fools.
DH gets home around 5/5:30 and when he's ready he comes and takes over.
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I don't know what the frack my kid does at DC... It's an in home daycare and less structured than all of the above. But I do know she had at least two sugar wafers there today. Orange and pink. Because that's what I found in her orange barf that put the final fork in my oatmeal colored sofa. FANtastic.
E is at a Montessori school so it's a little different. They have "work time" which is sorta free choice with the materials. A teacher will guide him with some things- naming colors, labeling what he is doing. A lot of the work he does right now is fine motor and problem solving, like interesting small stacking puzzles.
They do a music circle most days, and they read as a group. They typically let E pick the books since that is his favorite. They use 3D representations of what they are reading- so toy caterpillars and butterflies with the very hungry caterpillar.
They do art/sensory but it's exploratory- sticking objects to contact paper, sensory bottles.
Man, everyone's DC sounds so structured. I'm pretty sure Andy's DC is just free play, morning tea, free play, lunch, free play, afternoon tea, free play. There's a nap in there somewhere too.
He does lots of activities though.
They paint a lot, strip the kids down to their diapers, and let them go nuts with paint.
Gloop is a regular favourite there.
They have someone come play music and do dancing with them every now and then.
This is our daycare too. I appears to be more structured in the toddler + rooms, but since DS still isn't walking, he's with the infants still. They love music, dancing and doing "art" projects with lots of free play in between.
Thank your for posting this @lyndseyloveshugh! I SAH, too, and feel like I'm in a rut. I feel like if I structure things a little more it would make the days more fun for both of us!
Re: What does your s12 toddler do at daycare?
We get a report emailed each day, here are the last few:
12/10: Today we read Merry Christmas Maci. For art we marble painted candy canes. We sang The lights on the tree. We also looked at different Christmas lights.
12/9: Theme: Christmas. For circle time we read Clifford's First Christmas. For art we made Rudolph thumb prints. We sang Rudolph the red nose reindeer. We also played with pretend snow.
11/26:Today we read Mouses’s First Fall. For art we made pumpkin pie. We sang G-O-BB-L-E was his name-o. We also smelt pumpkin pie spices.
11/25: Theme: Thanksgiving! For circle time we read Setting The Turkeys Free. For art we made thanksgiving hand prints. We sang The Thanksgiving song. And we also had fun at our thanksgiving lunch!
They also attach awesome pictures:
Seriously. WTF?
DD's daycare has a pretty good schedule.
Breakfast
Stretching/ Excercise/Dancing etc.
Sensory Activity (Playdough, Sand Table, Playing w/snow etc.)
Music (Instruments, Singing etc.)
AM Snack
Free Play
Blocks (carboard bricks, legos, waffle blocks, bristle blocks)
Circle Time (Weather, ABC's, Counting, Days of the Week, Colors)
Arts & Crafts
Lunch
Story Time
Nap
PM Snack
Free Play
They do a music circle most days, and they read as a group. They typically let E pick the books since that is his favorite. They use 3D representations of what they are reading- so toy caterpillars and butterflies with the very hungry caterpillar.
They do art/sensory but it's exploratory- sticking objects to contact paper, sensory bottles.