Inspirational and Empowering Child Care Business Owners To Build Successful Child Care Businesses

Can You Use More Spring Activity Ideas?

03 26 12

I love it when spring comes, because at my child care center; the kids are provided with a wealth of spring time activities including:

  • Gardening
  • Making kites
  • Caterpillar Art
  • Flower collages
  • Painting Rainbows
  • Flowers in the science area and so much more!

If you follow my Learning Days page on Facebook, you may have noticed that I upload weekly classroom activities and I must say that the kids are enjoying the spring activities.

Today I want to inspire you to create a spring like environment in your program by assuring that children are provided with fun and enriching spring activities.

Check out some of the spring activities that my staff has planned for the kids at Learning Days. I take the privacy of the children in my facility very seriously, so please note that I have intentionally excluded pictures of the kids in this blog post.

The School-age kids created this bulletin board!

 

Grass is growing in our science area

 

The kids are growing herbs: Parsley and Basil

I found this picture in my Facebook Weekly Activity folder from Spring 2010! This is a "Ducks in the Pond" Activity in the Sensory Table.

 

The kids can stop by the flower shop to check out or buy flowers. You may even notice that there are pictures from home and garden magazines. The shop was created by Vennie Randolph.

 

This was just a small list of Spring Activities that you will see in my childcare center during the spring months, however, today I discovered a Pinterest page that will give you a variety of spring ideas for your childcare business…Check it out!

If you are a home provider and need inspiration to create enriching lesson plans or learning centers in your home, join the Family Home Child Care Empowerment Club Today!   Have you check out the latest Child Care Business eNewsletter? If not, subscribe today!

 

With Fun Spring Activities in Mind,

Shiketa Morgan

Category:

Activities, Child Care Center, daycare, Family Child Care

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Sometimes You Have To Make the Best Out of Staffing Issues

03 22 12

Back in December 2011, my school age teacher (of 2 1/2 years of employment) decided to work closer to home and she gave me a 3-week resignation notice. I was quite disappointed, however, I understood why she needed to work closer to home.

The hunt was on for a new teacher! As I placed ads at the local college, on Craigslist, the Missouri Great Hires website and on our social media pages, I realized how tough it can be to find a quality School-age teacher.

In fact, it seems like when I need a preschool teacher, I get a flood of applicants. At least 2-3 days a week, I would get an applicant for the position, however, they were not the perfect match for the position.

As I write this post, I am still in search of a qualified and experienced school-age teacher. I have also decided to work with the youth in my After School program until the right teacher comes along.

I must say, that they are enjoying me, I am enjoying them and the parents love to see me in the classroom. I know that soon, my new teacher is coming and while I practice being patient, I am also mentoring and coaching my teachers as I work in the classroom in the afternoons.

Also, as I work in the classroom, I am thankful that I have youth development education and that I am able to step in when we are short staff. Moreover,  decided to give myself a pay increase and pay extra on bills during this season.

I shared this post with you to encourage you to find the positive in staffing issues and use it as an opportunity to do something great for your program. Moreover, instead of getting frustrated because you have to hire someone else, embrace the staff that you have, try to have a positive mindset about it and keep in mind that…This too shall pass!

Since I have been in the classroom, my school-age program has improved, the community in the classroom is more caring, I have more blog post ideas and I feel that I have prepared a great place for my new teacher.

If you have a large center, you may not be able to teach in the classroom, however, I suggest that you have floaters to assure that you are well staffed to assure adequate child-to staff ratio. My center is licensed for 40 children with an over lap of 53 children and I can be counted in the ratio in the state of Missouri.

Moreover, one thing that I have learned during this process is to never stop interviewing or advertising that you are hiring. There many applicants that would love to work in your program, however, it takes time to find the perfect person for your facility.

Keep this in mind when looking for new staff: Be Fast to Fire and Slow to Hire!

I look forward to your thoughts about this post. Feel free to share your feedback or post your comment.

Shiketa

Be sure to subscribe to my weekly e-newsletter for weekly business tips! and check out my blog post on School-Age Care.

Category:

Employee Management, School-Age Program, Staffing

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