I used to bring my daughter (21 months) in to daycare after 10am, sometimes 1 or 2pm, based on appointments or outings in the morning. This happens very rarely, maybe once or twice month.

There was never any negative feedback about this from my centre, they were always happy to see her whenever we brought her in as long as we let them know in the morning the projected time she would be dropped off. I always ensured my daughter was fed and/or napped before I brought her in. Of course I would never bring a hungry or grumpy child into the centre in the middle of their scheduled nap time. I thought it was fine since I pay the same amount regardless of how many days I bring her in or not.

However when I made a comment about this previously in this subreddit, I got a lot of feedback from ece staff and other parents that this was not acceptable even if the daycare staff don’t say anything.

So I decided to keep her home on days we cannot get her in before 10am. Today I called in the morning and let them know she won’t be in because we are running too late, we slept in. The director was surprised and insisted we could bring her any time. I told them she’d need breakfast and would probably not nap at the usual time. They said it didn’t matter and they could save her breakfast, and they hoped I would bring her in.

Later her classroom teacher called me as well saying they hoped I would bring her in later because they had fun activities planned that they thought she would enjoy.

I’m not sure at this point if I am inconveniencing them somehow by not bringing her in late? Does this mean they have to send a staff home or something?

I received so much hate for bringing her in late, and now when I decide to keep her home to prevent a late drop in the daycare is providing feedback that they want me to bring her in. This is very confusing to me.

Can someone give any insight why daycare might not want her to stay home? I will bring her in if it means a staff that wants to work can keep their shift.

Edit: OMG 10AM not 10PM 😭

To preface, I work at a KinderCare and am a floater teacher for those who are curious.

My shift is 9 to 6 PM and I spent 9 to 4 PM in the one-year-old room with a co-teacher I have complained about on here before. We had 10 one-year-olds today and it started off smoothly for the most part, aside from trying my hardest to keep the floor clean while a bunch of them kept dumping every single toy out of the bins and putting ones in their mouths that were choking hazards. What broke me soon after and became the start of my awful day was having to do diaper duty all by myself because my coworker admitted he is way too slow at changing them. Even though I usually just bite the bullet and change them quickly so I have one less thing to worry about, I can’t lie and say that doing 20 diapers total today, all while trying my hardest to ensure my co-teacher was efficiently keeping our children safe and in control, didn’t drive me absolutely nuts because it did and it was very hard on my back and knees. A lot of them were extremely loose and/or diarrhea as well and one child in particular had such a horrific and visibly painful case of diaper rash that our assistant director still refused to send home, so I felt terrible for her and tried my best to give her some TLC throughout the day.

Around 4 PM, I got sent to the preschool three to four-year-old room, and what went down next was so genuinely terrifying and stressful that it put me on the brink of having a near full-fledged panic attack, leaving me completely rattled to the point where I went straight to a bar after clocking out just to get a drink and stop my hands from shaking and my mind from racing. I will call the main character of this whole ordeal Mitchell for obvious privacy purposes. Mitchell is a three-year-old prone to sudden, explosive rages, violent outbursts, and a terrifying level of defiance that would make even the most misbehaved kids look like angels. Multiple kids and staff members look at him as a walking safety hazard, but because keeping him and his sister enrolled brings in the tuition money, management refuses to kick him out unless someone gets injured to the point where they’re hospitalized. Never mind that he’s already punched, kicked, and bitten both teachers and students alike and once went as far to escape our building during pickup and almost ending up in the middle of the street while cars were passing by.

When I was put in a room with him and four other kids, he started off fine, but out of nowhere, he began throwing a fit and started hurling plastic and wooden toys across the room, nailing one of his peers right in the face with a hard figurine. When I calmly told him to stop and put the toys down, his anger instantly was directed toward me. He cocked his arm back and threw the toys straight at my head. Before I could even process what was happening, he then grabbed an empty plastic bin and launched it like a missile, directly hitting another student right on the head. She fell to the floor while crying out in pain and I immediately threw myself in front of her to act as a human shield while Mitchell shrieked and charged at us. I was yelling across the room for my co-teacher to help me, all while Mitchell went on an absolute rampage and flipping chairs, dumping toy bins everywhere, popping open my water bottle to flood the floor, and grabbing our classroom iPad to fling it across the room while laughing maniacally saying that he broke it.

While my adrenaline was already maxed out, one of the other students had a massive pee accident, instantly soaking his pants and creating a huge puddle right in the middle of all the scattered toys. I was trapped in a nightmare and felt completely torn between either racing to help the child soaked in his own pee and keeping my eyes locked on an unhinged Mitchell who was still trying to attack his peers. I rushed the kid who had the accident into the small adjoining bathroom, keeping the door cracked so I could keep a close eye on Mitchell, but my worst fear happened in a second as Mitchell stormed into the bathroom while I was trying to change the kid and viciously attacked me. He bit my leg hard enough to leave a mark, smacked me right across the face, and tried to headbutt me right before bolting out the door cackling. As I frantically tried to finish dressing the sobbing child, I could hear Mitchell continuing to trash the room by climbing shelves and tables and ripping things in half. I sprinted out after him, yelling for him to get down while he darted around the classroom akin to a feral animal on the loose. When my assistant director finally came into the room after what felt like an hour, though it was only about 10 minutes, the place looked like a war zone. She took one look at the chaos and completely dismissed the danger, saying, "(My name), you seem to deal with a lot when you’re with him, haha." Her laughing it off and completely invalidating the fact that I was literally just assaulted filled me with boiling rage. I was standing there covered in sweat and trying to tend to children that got hurt while she was treating the severe safety hazard that is Mitchell like it’s something that should be easy to deal with when he’d be too much for even the most experienced teacher. She then walked out and left me entirely stranded to fend for myself against a violent child without even offering a shred of backup, which felt like a slap in the face to the hard work I provide as a teacher there.

The chaos soon ramped up again and Mitchell sprinted across the room, grabbed a kid by the collar, and roughly shoved him face-first into the sharp corner of a wooden table. I dropped everything I was doing to help him and Mitchell just stood there pointing and laughing. Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, my assistant director came back, unlocked the door, and brought in six more children straight into the volatile hellhole that was my room. When I looked her dead in the eye and begged her not to put more kids in a room running rampant with violence and chaos thanks to Mitchell, she coldly brushed me off and said “(My name), just please try to use all of the skills I taught you when it comes to managing the classroom. If you feel stressed about Mitchell, just take a deep breath." The sheer nerve of telling me to use "classroom management skills" and take a deep breath while throwing them into an absolute war zone felt so insulting and if she were in my shoes, she’d know that no amount of “breathing exercises” is going to manage a child who clearly needs clinical behavioral intervention. The moment she vanished again, Mitchell swarmed the new kids, hitting and scratching them one by one. I had to physically restrain him while urgently asking all of the other kids to huddle in a corner with books to distract themselves. He broke free by scratching me and then lunged at a little girl, grabbing fistfuls of her braided hair and pulling so hard I thought he was going to rip a strand of hair or a bead out. What scared me most was looking over at one of our most vulnerable students, a little girl who is severely mentally and physically disabled and has a feeding tube, sitting inches away from Mitchell with her nurse. Even her nurse looked terrified, pulling me aside to whisper that she didn't feel like the student she looks after was safe in this environment due to her disability making her a vulnerable target and that she felt like that the level of Mitchell's explosive violent behavior was closer to what you’d find in a child psychiatric facility rather than even one of the most difficult daycares.

When his mom arrived, I approached her and read my detailed incident report to her verbatim, while telling her that “so much happened it couldn’t fit on the entire report”. She listened passively and made him mumble a hollow apology, but her deadpan expression made it obvious she was completely desensitized to his terror because this was just another Wednesday for her. As soon as she left, my assistant director reappeared, not to check if I was okay after being bitten and struck, but to snap at me and demand to know why the room wasn't spotless 15 minutes past my scheduled clock-out time. I stared at her in disbelief, telling her that it was physically impossible to clean while single-handedly dodging flying objects, shielding injured kids from Mitchell, and managing him causing a riot. I wasn’t even able to clean the pee that the kid earlier got onto the floor until all of my kids left and I had an empty classroom, despite the puddle being there for nearly an hour and objectively causing a sanitary hazard, all because I was given no help with Mitchell. Everything that went down from how Mitchell hurt me and the other students to my assistant director’s blatant disrespect left me so shaken and worn out that I went straight to a bar for a drink after work while trying not to replay the entire day in my head.

I’ve been at this center since mid-April. From April to July, my time here was great; I felt genuinely supported and believed I had finally found somewhere I could thrive, especially after leaving a toxic workplace where this new job felt like a true breath of fresh air. Suddenly, however, everything has fallen apart over the past month. My days are growing increasingly stressful, leaving me completely worn out and beat down when I clock out. I have started resorting to drinking more than usual, and I worry constantly that this stress and anger will fester and inadvertently bleed into my relationships with my parents and my partner. I previously told myself I needed to stay here for a full year so my resume would show stability rather than a string of short-term positions, as I am much more mature and career-oriented now and want to avoid looking like a job-hopper. That being said, I honestly do not know how much longer I can survive this environment. My ultimate career goal is to become a Registered Behavior Technician, as I genuinely feel like I excel at helping children with severe autism calm down and decompress, and management frequently calls me in when our most difficult kids act out without their assigned RBT. I have had plenty of unofficial practice alongside the ones that come in who tell me I would do great at it and I do feel like it could be my calling, which makes me feel optimistic. It’s just different dealing with those intense behaviors when I’m completely isolated in a room trying to manage a violent child while responsible for five or more other kids who are at risk of getting hurt. I just don’t know what to do next and I feel like bursting into tears knowing I have to clock in for work in thirty minutes.

Does anyone get a little burst of happiness when talking to the parents of the babies you care for? Like I’ll notice mom smile and it looks just like the baby’s smile and it kinda warms my heart.

I was informed by my boss today that our fever threshold policy is changing from 100.4 to 101.
This is something that doesn’t quite sit right with me. I know myself personally when I have a fever or anything over 100.3, I feel icky even as an adult, so I know a child probably feels 1000 times worst. I know this is due to parents complaining about leaving work early to get sick kids from school. Does any other daycare have the same policy? Do I have a right to be upset, or am I over exaggerating.

I’ve worked in ECE for about 20 years, and there’s a pattern I’ve seen over and over again that I’m genuinely curious about.

Almost every year, we have at least one child displaying behaviors that make us wonder whether some additional support or an evaluation might be helpful — frequent intense tantrums, extreme reactions to seemingly small requests or transitions, throwing objects/furniture, hitting or punching other children, significant disruption throughout the day, etc.

When we bring our observations to the family, sometimes the response is essentially: They don’t act like this at home, so it must be something about the school.

And occasionally the family decides to change preschools because they believe a different environment will solve the issue.

The frustrating part is that, because they leave, we almost never get to find out what happened afterward. Did the behavior improve dramatically in a new environment? Did the same concerns eventually come up at the next school? Did the child later receive additional support?

I’m genuinely interested in hearing from other ECE professionals.

Have you experienced this pattern?

Have you ever had a child leave because the parents believed the school was causing the behavior — and later found out what happened at the next school?

Do you think this is becoming more common, or has this always been part of working in early childhood?

And for those of you who have been in ECE for a long time: have you noticed any change in how receptive families are to developmental or behavioral concerns?

I’d especially love to hear actual stories/experiences, because after 20 years I’m still curious about what happens after families make the switch.

Last one and I will leave y’all in peace.

First off on day two and let me tell u it is a game changer. Everyone is happy so that is great.

I do want to address one comment I got A LOT

“Why don’t you just change him in the car?”

So the way the accident affected my back is it makes bending over hurt real bad. I can’t Bend for long periods of time and I have pain pills for when I am going to be carrying my kids.

So on that note please know that changing tables are accessibility devices. Please remember that when dealing with car poopers if there is not one outside the classroom like at the daycare my kids go to. It is an invisible disability. Now that said there are still asshole parent but if they seem like they try.. maybe give them the benefit of the doubt.

I messed up today as a floater, and gave a child egg, when they are allergic.
I feel very guilty about this matter and have held myself accountable directly to the parent and my supervisors.
But long story short I was in the infant room, and as one of the primary teachers went on her break me and another floater were in the room together, I worked previously in the other infant class, but did not keep in mind that the child from the other infant class had allergies to eggs. I also was trying to get food out to the children since they were crying and the other children had needs I had to get to. So I was a bit overwhelmed and not paying super close attention to the child’s menu form. She barely touched her food probably 2-3 bites of it and when they reviewed the cameras they verified that as well. Mom didn’t seem to upset with us, and I apologized to her during pick up. The child overall wasn’t showing any signs of discomfort or anything throughout the day but I am feeling very guilty of it and wish I didn’t make that mistake if I just paid better attention to that.
Has this happened to anyone else?

Hi everyone,

I am a mom of a soon to be 18 month old boy looking for a dayhome spot in Canada.

So far we have toured a few places and all of them had what I as a parent consider to be red flags. I am really interested in hearing perspectives of early childhood educators on this.

The most recent day home we saw was run by one lady who was taking care of 7 children (a mix of 12 month, 18 month and 3+ year olds). She mentioned leaving the children on their own with a tv distraction (the day home space is in the basement) when going upstairs to prepare meals for them. She made it sound as though this takes a brief moment but I'm doubtful as preparing, plating lunch and two snacks for 7 children takes significant time. I would imagine so many accidents can happen during this time.

Additionally, the children's playroom has a tall wooden bookshelf that is not anchored to the wall. When questioned, she said oh the children don't touch it anyways. The stairs are also not gated and I can't imagine babies and toddlers leaving them alone, at least my son would never.

I have seen a pattern of unanchored furniture across multiple day homes. All of these day homes are claiming to be licensed. It was my understanding that licenses are given out after a detailed inspection of the home.

Are the things I am describing normal in childcare spaces? Am I overreacting?

EDIT: we are in Nova Scotia and I believe one care provider to 7 children is the max ratio stiill allowed so technically she's not in violation

Me and my co-teacher are in disagreement on if a child should start potty training/ brining underwear and staying in underwear all day. Her reasoning is we have too many children with diapers (7) and we should start getting them to use the toilet, and I completely agree. The problem besides that when it’s her week for bathroom duty she doesn’t sit any of them on the toilet and when it’s my week, this child specifically will sit but won’t go. I’ve told her that the child doesn’t say when he even has pee in his diaper. Soo this whole week he’s been having accidents and I’m the one who’s been changing him and cleaning his bed so it’s been more work. I’ve told her he’s not ready and she says he won’t be if we don’t try. So my question is when do you think a child is ready to use underwear?

Hi there! I could use some feedback from some seasoned professionals, or even seasoned parents.

My son has been in daycare for over a year and we have loved the center so far. Our teachers in our baby room were wonderful and we felt so confident leaving him there because we felt like he was loved and appreciated.

We just moved up into a new room, where all of the kids are turning two at some point during the school year. My husband and I have noticed that the teachers in the new room do not seem to be interacting with him when he arrives or when he leaves. We are used to a very warm hello, [baby’s name] and same for goodbyes. This is not a matter of bandwidth – a few times, he’s been the only kid in the class first thing in the morning. One teacher will be on the class ipad, another will be rearranging something. I don’t expect everyone to immediately fawn over him and start playing with him, but I certainly expect a warm greeting to him and to us.

I think I want to talk to my daycare Director about it and just let her know that I have noticed a difference between rooms. Is it customary for caregivers to get a bit more detached as the babies get older? In my mind, my 18 month old is still very much a baby, but I’m not sure if this is normal when you transfer to a toddler room.

I’d be so grateful for any feedback you can offer!

I'm asking for some real advice from my fellow ECE professionals and moms. I'm so frustrated right now I could cry. My son has been tagged as the problem kid in his room. He's 3 and so far he's had the most unhealthy relationship with preschool. When he was hardly 1 he got moved early to the toddler room because he had already been walking. He was being dragged around by his shirt, pushed, pinched, and so much more and he started biting back because his teacher never paid attention enough to stop the escalation. We FINALLY got over the biting once he moved up and had a phenomenal teacher who took the time to learn how his brain ticks. My center was eventually bought out and we had to move schools, he struggled at first but eventually he adjusted and only had the occasional outburst or tantrum. That school was closed by our corporate and we moved AGAIN. He struggled to listen at that school because he was placed in a room with MUCH younger kids and he followed everything they did despite knowing better. Well, I couldn't afford the tuition at that school so here we are at our FOURTH school in a year. This school operates strangely where he's in one class on Monday /Wednesday and another Tuesday/ Thursday/ Friday. T/TH/ F, he's in the same class as his older sister and they wind each other up bad. She instigates, or he takes toys, and they fight. The problem is, they always assume it's him because he reacts much bigger. He's now lashing out at the other kids, his teachers, and he's making the other kids cry. My room is right next door and I can hear a lot of what is going on, but I try to stay out of it unless they ask me to intervene. I can hear other kids asking him for his toy or chair or whatever it is and him nicely saying he's not done with it. And the teachers will either tell him he needs to be a good friend and share (mind you there's tons and tons of the same toys) or the kids keep asking until he's in tears and yelling. I've witnessed a few interactions between him and his teachers and one of them has no experience with ECE and she has an infant so the way she goes about diffusing situations with ALL of the 3 year olds and some of the 4s leads to bigger meltdowns. Tonight, I got a text from the lead teacher that she wants to move him into my class because his behavior is too much for them to handle. There are 3 grown women in that room with 15 3+4 and one 5 year old. I don't understand how none of them have built a relationship with him, and how situations blow up before intervention with 3 of them in there. It really feels like they are just giving up because he's not an easy child. I fully disclosed his background and struggles and how to best help him but they don't do anything I suggest. They just bring me into it. I don't know how they expect him to properly adjust or trust them when they hardly handle him themselves. We've been at this school about a month. He doesn't have nearly as many issues on Monday and Wednesday with his other teachers. I understand the frustration, I know he's not the easiest child, but a month? Not even a course of action, just a text with "can you take him?". I love working in ECE, I've devoted 10 years to it. But this is making it difficult to enjoy my workday.

EDIT* I know this comes off as overprotective mom. But it's been two years of teachers (my coworkers) telling me they think he's bad, or mean, or just doesn't listen. And none of his behavior has been inappropriate for his age, just difficult or persistent. And they don't try any of the advice I give them they just complain to me or other parents about my child. Then he had one teacher who did really try with him and communicated with me and he was magically a different child. I've already seen the difference in him when his teacher cares. We all know that children can tell when you don't like them. I've had plenty of difficult children, and I've fought with their own parents like they were my kids about working together and being proactive. But no one wants to do the same for my child. I'm looking into therapy, we're putting in the work at home, I can't get a teacher to put in equal work and they're expecting him to change overnight.

I run a small childcare of 15 kids with my mom. I need ideas for us for Halloween costume. I am uninspired this year.

Costumes we have done already:

Batman and superman

Anna and elsa

Thing 1 and 2

Crayons

Apple and strawberry

Pooh and Piglet

Cookie monster and big bird

Paw patrol

Buzz and Woody

Clifford and Emily Elizabeth

Sully and Mike

Ketchup and ranch

I have a pair of 25 month old twins in my classroom. They moved to our center at the start of last month and since then have not slept through the entirety of nap once. One of them wakes up an hour into nap, wakes up the other and then babbles/cries loud enough to wake up the whole class an hour and a half early.

Now obviously I know there is no way they will be entirely silent and that’s a silly expectation of them but does anyone have any tips to either help them sleep longer or have them stay a little quieter? They’re still adjusting to their new environment so we may just have to power through until they figure out nap but the rest of my kids are exhausted.

Right now we make sure to give them something to occupy themselves (a family picture, a book, a quiet toy) and have my co or I sitting by them almost the entire time but it doesn’t seem to be helping much.

Tomorrow is my last day at a center that I’ve been at for a while. Due to problems with management it is no longer a place I feel safe working. But I will miss these kids so much. Technically my class has moved to the next room but I’m going to miss seeing them so much.

My first class I ever felt was truly “my class” is now transitioning into older preschool rooms. For context I’ve been with them since toddlers. And while they were and still are very special to me, my most recent class is probably my favorite group of kids so far. They just happened to be my unicorn class. Luckily my last few days I’ve been moved to the class that a majority of them are in to float, as I’m assuming they don’t want me to get attached to a new class. I’m so incredibly sad to be leaving. Like I just can’t believe I won’t get to see my kids anymore. I mean yeah some of them are staff kids and I’ve already been told by those parents that I can visit their kids which I’m super stoked about.

Not only all that but the assistant replacing me is someone I have had huge problems with due to their treatment of the kids. They are outwardly rude to kids that don’t fit their aesthetic (people of color and neurodivergent kids). Recently a new child came in for a trial morning. This child is autistic. Upon seeing the child standing near them the assistant screamed and yelled that the child could not be near her and for someone to “get it away from me”. I’m so sad for the treatment these kids will be getting especially when fewer and fewer people who are willing to stand up to them remain at the center.

I just feel like I’m maybe a bit dramatic but this change is so hard for me. I’m excited for my new center. I’m sad for leaving my kids. I’m sad for kids who have to deal with this assistants behavior. (I will be reporting the center asap for this treatment , as well as other things)

so I recently left my old center which I was mainly the two year old teacher at. I did float for the last year I was there because I was technically the manager…anyway at my new center I’m a lead in an infant room. It’s been going really good and my new center is great! the only problem is I feel like I don’t know any good activities to do with the babies. I usually just did breaks in the infant rooms before so never saw a lot of activities. I just want them to reach their milestones and not get bored!

edit: I should have added…my new center is NICE..my state ratio is 1:4 and I only have four babies in my class and always have a second teacher except for lunches. we also have two older babies that are on a schedule and two younger babies who are still on their own schedule

Hi all — hoping to get some insight from the ECEC professionals in this group.

My 17-month-old has been at a local center since he was 6 months old.

Three weeks ago he moved to a new class (same room, new kids and teachers) and his group went from ~6–8 kids to 12. Drop-off is chaos every morning - I think the teachers are still figuring out the class. Since the move, we've been getting reports that he occasionally bites (~2x a week). When we've talked it through with his teachers, they say it usually happens when he's playing on his own and another child takes his toy or pushes him and that he looks overwhelmed when it happens.

At home we're working on helping him signal when he's overwhelmed. If we're there when he bites (at home/playdates), we remove him from the situation immediately, say "no biting," and give him a minute on his own.

A few things I'd love input on:

• Is this a normal adjustment reaction to a bigger group, or a sign the environment isn't working for him?
• What should I reasonably expect the center to be doing about it?
  • We had an incident with a teacher (no longer in his class) over the summer which is making me question this center a bit more. I won't go into details, but there has been some concern (among numerous parents) around lack of communication.
• Is there anything we should change in how we're responding at home?

Thanks in advance.

My current school had lovely parents. It is unusual if I end up with a parent who is not grateful for the work we do.

However, I always have a high level of anxiety before conferences. Expecting to be attacked in some way about my teaching. I always go above and beyond for my kids but I always feel it isn’t enough for some parents.

I recognise this is because of trauma from some previous schools (private system) where I was regularly attacked by parents because they took little responsibility when monitoring their child (absentee parenting guilt)and because they outlay a lot of money, they basically push back all responsibility of a child achieving onto the school. So their child’s failings were always my fault.

My anxiety gets really high and I end up eating my way through with chocolate and sugar comfort food. I also struggle to sleep prior. I do think it is a bit of PTSD.

Does anyone else get same level of anxiety?

So I have been by myself a lot but just this week got a two year old who doesn’t walk, talk or eat with a disposable plastic fork. She however can eat pouches, bananas, crackers independently. Can flip over and put right side up for collages, scribbles with crayons, roll a ball. Can also walk for short distances with me holding her hands and sit in a chair.
I have been trying to get her to walk with a walking toy on wheels. Any ideas on how else to make modifications?

I need advice on how to handle aggression with my 2.5 year old. Recently, she has gotten aggressive with other kids at daycare. Specifically when they tell her no, or if they have a toy and she wants it. She will hit, scratch, scream or throw things. We have tried a behavior chart with the teacher, but then my toddler would get upset about not getting stickers and would just become even more aggressive. At home, we have tried to tell her so many times that hands aren’t for hitting and have tried to work on different strategies like taking deep breaths but this can be a 50/50 success rate.

Videos are allowed but for some reason I can’t post photos, despite how I see many users here post memes and such (which is what I want to do to lighten the mood haha). I would just ask ModMail but they weren’t sure what was going on either so I wanted to ask if anyone here knows how to post photos here? Thanks!

For reference, I'm F20 and this is my 2nd year in the EC program I work at. This year for the first time I'm a main assistant teacher in a room, and not just a half day assistant. I was paired with a teacher who is new to our program, however has more experience teaching then I do.

She's lovely and I really do like her, however I feel like she's not hearing me whenever I have an opinion that conflicts with hers. For instance, we make the schedules for our kids then pass them to admin to have them officalized. Since I've been in the program, the general lunch routine seems to be lunch, half day dismissal, then quiet time. However she wanted to do a play period after lunch, which ultimately I kinda threw in the towel fighting about. Fast forward to today, we came to the conversation of keeping lunch-bags in cubbies or in the classroom.( For reference we supply snack, so they're only needed at lunch) Last year, the kids who are coming into our class now kept them in cubbies outside of the room, and go get them by lunch, which is what the other 4 year old class is doing.

I tried explaining that its something the kids are familiar with since they've been doing it for over a year now, and gives them a chance to be independent. She kept subtly pushing back on it, and I was internally getting really frustrated so I put it on pause. I talked to a few other teachers about it throughout the day, and they too didn't see the need to change this now. After I left for the day I sent her a message reiterating my thoughts, to which she continued to push back the same point.

She says she wants to keep them in the room to eliminate the transition. However going from play to sitting down and eating lunch is quite literally is one of the best examples of a transition in the day...

Again, she's lovely, however I really feel like she's a bit stuck in her own routine and not really taking into account the ones the kids have grown accustomed to

hi!

i absolutely love our daycare. the teachers are true angels. my son transitioned from the toddlers to the two’s class about a month ago. he’s only there 2 days a week. He was a late talker (started talking around 19 months after tubes), and definitely can be hesitant at times.

in the toddler class, he was quiet, but confident and playful. In the 2’s, he seems hesitant, and maybe overwhelmed. In the photos and videos he’s sometimes smiling, but usually is sort of staring at everyone while the other kids jump around. I know he plays with toys there, has snack, participates, etc., but he seems so hesitant and almost subdued like he’s taking it all in.

is this something you guys see in classes? Is there anything I can do to help him? I feel terrible.

Hi guys, today was my first day at school as a preschool assistant teacher and I am feeling quite lost. For reference, this is my first center based childcare job...I've babysat a little girl routinely for the last 2 years but she's been super easy to take care of. I am currently pursuing my CDA but am only about 1/4 of the way through it, so I feel like I am really lacking the knowledge I need. We just had a straight week of orientation, in-service, and training days which did a great job of explaining how to implement creative curriculum but I feel lost on caring for the children. Basically, I just need advice on how to comfort upset children, I know it's natural for them to cry on their first day (especially so young). But I just feel like I am not supporting my lead teacher enough, she is incredibly understanding that it's my first childcare job and she's been mentoring me but idk I just need some tips.