Childcare Daily Schedules: The Key to Preschool Classroom Success
Setting up a classroom for a new school year is exciting! But anyone in early childhood education can attest that some days can often feel more chaotic than magical. If you're struggling with managing your classroom, it may be time to revisit your daycare daily schedule.
Daycare Preschool Schedules + Developmentally Appropriate Practice
Young children thrive on routine. Implementing a preschool curriculum with a reliable schedule will dramatically improve classroom management. When planning your daycare preschool schedule, remember that young children have shorter attention spans. A general rule of thumb is three minutes of attention to a task for every year they are old; for example, two year olds can be expected to focus for about six minutes, whereas five year olds will have an attention span of about 15 minutes. This also includes playtime! Active teacher involvement will extend a child’s interest in an activity or playtime, but long stretches of unstructured, unsupervised time can (and usually will) lead to overstimulation in kids and adults alike
Preschool Curriculum Activities + Learning Centers
How you structure your schedule influences how the day goes. Some classrooms thrive with free-flowing centers and teacher-led preschool curriculum activities, while others need timed, rotating centers. Think about your students when deciding how to manage your learning centers. Younger children may benefit from a more freestyle rotation where they have a few play centers to choose from as teachers call them to do a curriculum activity or craft; this style caters to their shorter attention to tasks and also allows autonomy in deciding what they do and how long they participate. On the other hand, older children may have the focus that allows for timed, rotating curriculum centers. The style you choose should reflect the needs and developmental capabilities of your classroom, and active teacher participation should also play a key role in helping centers run more smoothly.
Managing Transitions with Your Childcare Schedule
Transitions are one of the most important but often overlooked aspects of the daycare daily schedule. The way you transition the class from one activity to another can mean the difference between feeling confident and like you are barely keeping your head above water. Regardless of your age group, you can use a few simple tricks to make transitions feel less daunting.
Use Tools
Consider what visual, auditory and sensory aids you will use to help the kiddos know what to do and when. Turning the lights down or off, using a classroom doorbell or playing a transition song are all great multisensory options. For an extra boost, pair your sensory aid with an attention getter so all eyes and ears are on you!
2. Prepare your children
Another important aspect of transitions is preparing the children. Give a warning of the impending transition such as, “Five more minutes to play and then we’ll clean up and get ready for outside time!” and then set a timer they can see and/or hear. This simple announcement lets the kids know the activity will end soon and be more willing to transition when it happens. This strategy can also help you identify children who need more support during the transition and avoid transition-based difficult behaviors.
3. Your Role as a Daycare Teacher
Finally, consider your own role and that of your co-teachers during transitions. Especially at the beginning of the year, your class needs you to model what you expect. You don’t have to do the work for them but you can and should do it with them. Talk about what you’re doing (how you’re moving your body, what voice level are you using, etc.) and give praise to kiddos who show the desired behavior. You can also decide ahead of time who in the teaching team will be responsible for what during these routines: who will clean with the kiddos and who will prepare for the next part of the day? Knowing you each have a role to play during these admittedly chaotic periods can help you maintain your calm.
Childcare Management Software Can Help
Let's be honest, early childhood education is a demanding job! Good childcare management software can ease some of this burden. These programs often include tools to create and manage your curriculum as well as communicate with parents, and help track important information on each child’s progress. CareDay Solutions offers a comprehensive classroom app designed to streamline curriculum implementation, classroom management, and communications.
Daycare Jobs: Not for the Weak!
The work of an early childhood educator can be hard and often exhausting, but it is also one of the most profound ways we can help shape the future. Having realistic expectations grounded in developmentally appropriate practices and creating a daily routine that supports the needs of our kiddos gives them a safe space to learn, explore, and grow into exactly who they are meant to be.
