Ms. Amy's Blog @Child Central Station

  I get a lot of comments and questions in regard to our program. Often people have a hard time understanding how to work with so many different ages and levels of development.   How do you manage your time with the daily needs of the younger children and the learning needs of the older children? What do you do to keep older children from being "bored"?   How do you make sure that you are meeting the needs of each child?   How do you structure the day?       First, age is a number. Children, especially young children develop at different paces. The range of ages at which children accomplish certain developmental milestones can be HUGE! So, just because you work with a specific age group does not mean that you don't have to deal with some of these same issues.  If we can let go of the age expectations and respect children for who they are and where they are developmentally, it will make juggling those differences much easier. ...

As you know, we are a home based childcare program. Allan and I have been working together from home for the last almost 16 years. We are a licensed group home caring for up to 12 children at any given time. We consider ourselves a play based, child centered program and we are always learning, always questioning, always growing. We have built up a pretty solid reputation. We have clients who have been with us for over a decade, and we take great pride in our business and the long term relationships we hold with our families.  We are not a center, we are not a school, and we do not strive to be. We provide care in our home, but we are child care professionals. We do our best to make our space a space for the children, a place where they know they belong, a place they know that they can come to and drive their own learning, curiosity, and whims. A place where it is okay to just be whatever, whoever... A place that supports children's development and recognizes the needs of the whole ...

Last week, a colleague of mine asked, "What does a child-led, play based program look like for infants and toddlers?" For many, it is really easy to see how to follow a child's lead with older children. It is easy when children can communicate with you, when they can tell you what they are doing or want to do, but how to do you embrace a child-led, play philosophy with our youngest learners? As a home based childcare program with mixed ages, I have the wonderful opportunity of learning, growing, and playing with children of all ages. In our program we support  a play based program for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, school aged children, pre-teens, teenagers, and sometimes even adults! Regardless of age, supporting play boils down to relationships and trusting the player. For infants, this means providing a lot of materials that support child development and what we know about children at this age and stage of development. For infants it means getting ri...

Dan Hodgins, a good friend and colleague posted a great question over on his Invitations to Learning Facebook page today. The question simply stated was, If we plan for it, is it Play??? I invite you to visit the page and get in on that discussion. Dan is one of my favorite ECE people, not because we agree on everything, but because we don't always. We also tend to make each other think.   After answering his question today and some dialogue with a few other ECE professionals, I have decided to share a few thoughts that were originally published in the Child Central Station Provider's Play Day Book. (This isn't a book you can order, it is just a collection of handouts that changes every year and is given to each attendee of the Play Day). So here is section 1. During Play Day, we took a lot of time to discuss this in small groups. Why Choose Play? A Journey to Play We are living in a time where “play” is almost a 4-letter word. Some advocates have indicated th...

A few years back, I attended an amazing professional development conference. Like all opportunities to learn and grow, I found myself among many like minded people. One of the beautiful things about diversifying the training I attend is that I am exposed to a variety of programs and points of view.  During this particular session, I found myself questioning my practice and wondering if what the presenters were sharing really fit with my point of view and practice. Are you familiar with the idea of loose parts? If not, there are plenty of resources out there for you to explore. The basic premise is that children don't need to have toys that have a single purpose. The idea is that you can provide them with a variety of odds and ends where they can be creative and use them for a multitude of different uses. You'll find some practitioners who promote the loose parts theory who can give you a recipe... or a plan for exactly what to use and add. They may tell you to make...

"LOOK! It's Santa!" I exclaimed in my best impression of elf as I noticed a child putting on a Santa suit. "I'm not SANTA! I'm -------" "Oh, I thought you were Santa." "No, Santa's dead. I guess I have to deliver the presents now" (with a deep sigh) "Santa's dead?? What happened?" "Yeah, Santa's dead. It's a long story" and.. just like that he skipped off to play.  Clearly the story was too long to tell, and he had other things that were more important to do than to share it with me.  Many programs are looking at the calendar and providing materials and lesson plans revolving around spring and Easter. We tend not to look too closely at the calendar and instead follow the lead of the children. We have many holiday related materials available to the children, but they are available year round. On any given day of the year you will most likely find a child dressed up as Santa (in fact...