Some questions from a Newbie!

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Hello! Brand new to the biz huh? So glad to hear it's going well! This is a great spot to get advice. Many of us in here have been in daycare for years....20 yrs myself (13 of those in home daycare). This website is full of great resources and information.

The sleeping issue - as harsh as it may sound, leave her in her crib. That's what I would do. She may have a hard time with it at first, but will quickly adapt and that's better for her as well. She will (in all likelihood) start sleeping longer as she'll learn that she's not going to be brought out. She may cry and kick up a fuss for a little bit, but don't worry about that. After a few days or a week of doing this, she'll sort it out and learn that waking up does not mean she's getting up. Kids often wake up between sleep cycles and go back to sleep. Once we start getting them out of bed, a pattern is established in which she understands that if she wakes early, she's coming out. If she cries, don't sweat it. Go in and check on her, but don't pick her up. She will learn to self soothe, which is also a valuable tool for her.

Circle time - All the kids in my group right now are infants and toddlers and they all sit for circle. They all WANT to be there and I'll tell you how I've done that and maybe it'll be of some use to you. I do allow new toddlers to leave circle. I certainly don't want to stress a kid out by forcing them to sit. But my experience has been that they always wander back. What we're doing captures their interest and it just looks like more fun to them. The last little guy missed half of one circle...that's it. Now he sits. It helps to have very realistic goals for circle time. Our goal is to get through a story and 4-5 songs - that's it. Keep it simple and most importantly, keep it active. I read the same few books for about 3 weeks. I always look at the books ahead of time to see that I can add in actions and sounds so that the kids can participate in the story too, rather than just listen. When the same stories are used for a period of time, the kids start to anticipate what will happen next and you can see them get ready to do the next action. Now, when we read 'The Foolish Tortoise', all the kids start waving their hands in the air for the page with the wind through the trees.....you get the idea. We do the same 4-5 songs for weeks - all high action songs like Mr Sun, 5 Little Ducks, etc. Once the kids have those down, I introduce a new song. After a while, you've got a wider repertoire of songs that the kids know. Now, with 16mos to 2 yr olds I have, when I say it's time for circle, they immediately help tidy the toys and scramble to sit in a circle. It's pretty cool!

The Park - When I did my ECE training and worked in daycare centres, the general rule of engagement at the park was this - "If you can't do it yourself, you can't do it". No wobbly toddlers on the stairs, no climbing monkey bars, etc, etc. This way, a child will not find themselves in a pickle when you can't reach them. It's one thing to pick a child up and place them on a slide or in a swing. It's quite another to have them climbing stairs or, somehow managing to get up to the higher levels. With some of those high drops, I wouldn't ever chance it. At this point, with my group, we just don't go to the park. I know they'll want to do stuff I'm not comfortable with, so we just go for walks and hang out in the toddler friendly playground I set up in the back yard.

Congrats on the new business venture!