^^ This how I am too.

My home is old house so its not open plan but a series of little rooms. We play in one room but we move together as a pack.

The front door is visible from my play room so I will unlock door and admit children as they arrive because I can see the whole of my play room. But other than that, if there is a meal, we all wash hands and move into the dining room and then I serve up lunch where I can see them all sitting waiting at the table or in high chairs.

When it's outside time, we all move as a pack to get our shoes and coats. All get ready together, all walk out door together. When we return, children line up at back door, we all access the house in a group, shoes and coats come off and are hung up and then together we move to the washroom so older children can use that, before headed back into play room.

I have 6 children. Current ages are 8 months, 21 months, just 2, 2.5 years and 2 x 3 year olds. There's no playing off in corners allowed. I tend to play with children in the center of the room but if someone wants to do something independently, they can do that but they don't need to be along the walls.

Have you tried having play mats (even those ones which connect together would work) and laying them out in the middle of the room leaving the perimeter uncovered? You could then have the rule that the children must be "on the mats" if you are finding it hard to see them all if they tuck themselves around the edges.

A lot of this job is in watching and observing. It doesn't take long to learn their little personalities and then you can head off any potential issues long before it escalates, you will know if one of your children tends to target others, you will know if one is a little sneaky at times etc. 90% of my day is redirecting - it's like air traffic control. Do it right and it's all calm. Miss a tiny details and you've got a disaster on your hands.