Mrs. B's Childcare

07/15/2024

Minnesota recently passed a new child restraint law, which may change the way your children travel in a vehicle. This law goes into effect on August 1, 2024.

“Every driver who transports a child or children under the age of 18 years old in a motor vehicle is required to have the child or children restrained in a child safety seat or seat belt. If a child can be placed in more than one category, then the child must be placed in the more protective category.”

For example, a 2.5-year-old child weighing 35 pounds who has a car seat with a rear facing limit of 40 pounds must stay rear facing even though they are over 2 years of age. Learn more: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/169.685

06/03/2024

From

04/30/2024

Terrific list!

>>> https://www.andnextcomesl.com/2017/03/list-of-social-skills-to-teach-kids.html/?ref=7041593 (affiliate))

04/18/2024

Thank you for this reminder via The Motherhood Home https://parentfromheart.com/highly-sensitive-child-challenges-supporting-your-child/

03/31/2024

05/19/2023

Oh what fun!

04/02/2023

I like the cute set ups - but LOVE open ended child led play

BEFORE:
If bakery play happened in my program years ago, it would have looked like this:

I would have had it written in my lesson plan to coincide with teaching the children about letter "B".

I would have created the cutest little bakery ever, complete with a sign. (did I mention it would have been cute?)

I would have purchased fake bakery play food and had it neatly organized for the children like a proper bakery display. (again...super cute)

I would have created the most adorable bakery menus and had them laminated.

I would have created a cute little checkout area and has the cash register all filled with fake, plastic money.

When the children arrived they would not have been allowed to touch anything until we had circle time so I could introduce bakery play.

Before they played, I would have explained how everything works at a bakery.

As they played, I would have directed them and corrected anything they did that was different than what my brain knew about a bakery.

BEFORE: the children owned NOTHING. They didn't even own a choice of whether or not to play bakery.

The entire process was owned by ME.

****NOW****

DAPHNE (5yrs old) had the idea she wanted to play bakery.

SHE cleared the baskets off of a shelf she planned on using for her bakery display.

SHE cleaned up the space from yesterday's play to make room for HER ideas.

SHE got out the paper and folded it to create her menus.

SHE recruited a team of willing participants to help her make menus (cuz a bakery has lots of menus according to Daphne)

SHE asked me to show her how to write "MENU" (see previously posted video)

SHE spent 75 minutes doing all the things in the past, I had done for children.

In the end....her schematic need of transporting got the better of her, and she packed up a bag (you can see her doing this in the pic)menus, plates and all....and hauled it to the other side of the room, never returning to complete her bakery idea.

Here's the thing: THIS is child-led play. It looks totally different than when an adult leads it.
Even though the child-led version of this story never made it to a cute bakery, it is loaded with far greater value for the child (children, actually) involved.

Daphne owned:
•her own intrinsically motivated idea
•the creating of the environment
•the creating of the props
•sharing her idea with others
•collaborating to make the menus
•asking for what she needed (how to write "menu")

LET GO!

03/14/2023

🙃

We did it! 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

02/27/2023

PLAY is so important!

Oftentimes, children's play is more than what meets the eye. Read this article for ten great facts about your child and play!