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Would anyone be willing to share a detailed idea of what your day today schedule looks like? I've got meals, snacks and naps down, but the rest of the day is not scheduled - I find it hard to keep everyone busy and happy with a mix of ages and genders. I think a better schedule would help - but I need some guidance! Thank you! :)
Mine routine looks like I left the times on from my old schedule just for an idea ~ but for my most current schedule I decided to take them out so we are not 'ruled' by clock but instead I left clients know I watch for their cues for hungry, tired and so forth and go with that so we are within 30 minutes each day one way or another and I attempt to serve snacks/meals at 3 hour intervals so if one day they are hungry and are all in attendance so we can eat snack earlier than that day I would likely serve lunch earlier or vise versa some days we are busy and do not eat snack until later than we would eat lunch a little later that day ... so currently my crew is doing more of a later meal and longer sleep routine cause I have several who need 3 plus hours of sleep so the one little one who does not just has longer 'quiet time' to deal with to meet the majorities needs so he often sits beside the computer with me and 'draws' or explores with a quiet activity from the cupboard that they only get to do at those 'special times' so they maintain their interest in them longer.
7:00 – 9:00 Exploring in the Family or Play Room / Creative & Sensory Explorations
9:00 – 9:30 Hand washing / Snack Time / Washroom Reminders
9:30 – 10:30 Outdoor Adventures or Field Trip Outing
10:30 – 12:00 Exploring Playroom or continue Field Trip Outing
12:00 – 12:45 Hand washing / Lunch Time / Washroom Reminders / Tooth brushing
12:45 – 2:45 Rest time / Quiet Time living room activities or Treehouse as waking
2:45 – 3:45 Hand washing / Snack / Washroom Reminders / Circle Time
3:45 – 4:45 Backyard Adventures / Indoor Creative movement on inclement days
4:45 – 5:00 Small Group Quiet Activities & Stories before home time
Hi! I'm pretty much like you gymmom in that drop off, meals and pick up are routine but hats about it! I make it very clear to parents that I will not provide them with a written schedule. I really prefer to go with the flow of the group. Maybe I've been lucky with the kids I have but it always works just fine. I almost never have a set circle time. We sing songs, read books etc. throughout the day. I use ball games, group building blocks etc. when i feel the group losing some steam.
Our mornings are different all the time because I only have a tiny yard so we travel to parks and the library by foot or on the bus which is how we can travel to different parks and meet friends with their daycare groups. But not in the winter. But for about 9-10 months of the year we can do that usually about twice a week. Then one or two days a week depending on the weather we stay closer to home and I'll teach my themes and have a crafting morning on one day and another learning day and creating day on the other morning.
So I serve breakfast at 8:30 then we are out the door by 9 whenever possible and home by 11 so I can make lunch, then naptime, afternoon snack and then freeplay until pickups. I've tried to have structured circle times but now I just have songs and stories when the mood strikes, sometimes while they eat lunch, sometimes after the last snack of the day at about 3:15 because I have one child picked up at 3:30-3:40 daily.
I'm one of the people who love themes and teaching the children the basics of lots of different things and repeating those basics for a week so they can learn little bits of lots of things to draw on later in life. Researching crafts, games, stories, songs and lessons to teach the children makes me happy because I want to teach the children, not just sing the same songs over and over. I use the same tunes a lot but change the words. For instance, this week we are studying polar animals and I have my globe on the table and it comes out many times a year so I can teach different things about our world.