I have operated an in-home childcare facility for 7 years now, and many of the kids I have now have been here for 2-3 years. Most big center daycares have a big "switching over" day (usually shortly after the oldest kids head off to Kindergarten) when all of the kids are upgraded to different classrooms. There is a period of "newness" about a new teacher, a new room and new expectations.
One of the challenges with in-home daycare is that the kids are all together in the same space for years. It's more difficult to set up that aire of newness when it's the same people, same space and all that. To combat that, we've completely taken the summer off. There's been very limited circle time, quite a bit of free play and as much outside time as the weather allows (we're on day 20 of above 90 degree temps with heat indices over 100). This lack of structure lends itself to more discipline issues, but we've managed to do pretty well. But, the time has come to get "back to the grind." I'm very excited.
To build up the excitement, we've been doing a Countdown to Preschool paper chain, tearing a link off each day. Also the kids will now bring a backpack each day to put their important papers and "homework" in. So far, everyone is on board and ready to start come Monday.
Here are the books we've been reading to prepare for the big first day. We're being sure to substitute the word "school" for "PRESCHOOL!"
Tucker's Best School Day by Susan Winget
Timothy Goes to School by RosemaryWells
Pooh's First Day of School by Kathleen W. Zoehfeld
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