I think I am working at a less than stellar daycare centre. I don't really have anything to compare it to, except for the family resource centre where I worked for 8 years.
Where I am at now the kids have so little access to art materials. Most of the books they have are Disney crap, and there is no where to sit down and read to the children--no couch, no comfy chairs. We move from room to room every 45 minutes. One room we only have 30 minutes, and snack is also terribly rushed. The 2.5-5 year olds only have an hour for their nap time, and of course they don't fall asleep right away. They wouldn't even have fresh play dough if I didn't make it. I've started bringing my backpack with a few different activities every day--bubbles for outside, some of my favourite children's books, flubber, markers that actually work, and plain paper for the kids to make their own pictures. Once I brought sidewalk chalk and black card stock and the kids had a blast with it.
Today I was with the school age and kinder kids, and when they saw I had brought markers and large finger paint paper they were all so eager to draw. Usually for the last 1 1/2 hours they just sit and watch tv or play with their DS or tablets, and they look so bored. I'm studying ECE and I'm only working there until September when I start my practicum, and I made a commitment to my boss that I would work full time in the summer to help cover other staff's holiday time, so I wouldn't feel right about trying to find a different job.
I just feel so bad for those kids. They aren't getting the kind of stimulation that they need, because the almighty schedule is so d@mn important. The water table rarely gets used because there is no time to clean it when the group has to move to a different room. There is no sand table inside, and for art half the time they do worksheets (preschool children doing worksheets?!?). They only have half an hour in the morning for art. They don't even have easels for painting. The longer I am at that centre the more I wish I had the finances to open up my own centre and do things my way.
My boss wants me to do my practicum there, but thankfully the university I am at won't allow me to do a practicum at any centre where I have worked. I have so many things I want to do with the kids, but the schedule and the space dictates what I can do.
Where I am at now the kids have so little access to art materials. Most of the books they have are Disney crap, and there is no where to sit down and read to the children--no couch, no comfy chairs. We move from room to room every 45 minutes. One room we only have 30 minutes, and snack is also terribly rushed. The 2.5-5 year olds only have an hour for their nap time, and of course they don't fall asleep right away. They wouldn't even have fresh play dough if I didn't make it. I've started bringing my backpack with a few different activities every day--bubbles for outside, some of my favourite children's books, flubber, markers that actually work, and plain paper for the kids to make their own pictures. Once I brought sidewalk chalk and black card stock and the kids had a blast with it.
Today I was with the school age and kinder kids, and when they saw I had brought markers and large finger paint paper they were all so eager to draw. Usually for the last 1 1/2 hours they just sit and watch tv or play with their DS or tablets, and they look so bored. I'm studying ECE and I'm only working there until September when I start my practicum, and I made a commitment to my boss that I would work full time in the summer to help cover other staff's holiday time, so I wouldn't feel right about trying to find a different job.
I just feel so bad for those kids. They aren't getting the kind of stimulation that they need, because the almighty schedule is so d@mn important. The water table rarely gets used because there is no time to clean it when the group has to move to a different room. There is no sand table inside, and for art half the time they do worksheets (preschool children doing worksheets?!?). They only have half an hour in the morning for art. They don't even have easels for painting. The longer I am at that centre the more I wish I had the finances to open up my own centre and do things my way.
My boss wants me to do my practicum there, but thankfully the university I am at won't allow me to do a practicum at any centre where I have worked. I have so many things I want to do with the kids, but the schedule and the space dictates what I can do.
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