Outside the Lines Child Care

Outside the Lines Child Care Outside the Lines is an autonomy supportive, play-based, child-centered family child care located in Serra Mesa. License #376627847

If you are reading this, you are probably here trying to learn more about Outside the Lines and the work we do here. So...
09/04/2024

If you are reading this, you are probably here trying to learn more about Outside the Lines and the work we do here. Social media is a powerful tool for giving access to the thinkings of other people. You may be noticing that the last posts on here were from quite a while ago, and you may be wondering why. The answer is simply that I no longer embrace social media. For me, the harm of social media and other attention-maximizing algorithms outweigh the good. Unfortunately, some of the good that I give up with social media is the ability to share our ideas and some of the wonderful moments of our days here at OTL. Please feel free to peruse the posts here that already exist and take a look at our website. If you want to find out more, shoot me an email and we'll talk more!

www.outsidethelinescc.com

Two children were working together to fill a dump truck with mulch. One decided it was time to dump it, and he did so. ...
10/06/2022

Two children were working together to fill a dump truck with mulch. One decided it was time to dump it, and he did so. The other screamed "NOOOOOO!" to make sure his point was taken. They started filling it up again, message received. A third child, playing nearby, wondered if this boundary applied to him too. He dumped out the mulch load, and got the same, passionate, loud response. Satisfied with his experiment, that third child moved on, now a little wiser. The first child thought maybe it was time to dump again, but he had also learned from this experience. "Can I dump it?" "No," answered his colleague, not feeling the need to scream this time. "Okay," said the first child, and they continued to fill until both children agreed it was ready.

Where was I? Right next to them, listening carefully. I knew that the third child was going to dump it, and I could have stopped him. But he needed to find out for himself where the boundary was. They all did. And once everything was laid out on the table and they all understood each other, there was no resentment.

It left me thinking. Sometimes the ways that young children act and communicate are unpalatable to us adults. Screaming makes us squirm and scramble. But for these children, it was simply an extra unit of meaning in their conversation. "THIS IS IMPORTANT TO ME." When children scream to adults, we tend to get ruffled, but children are able to see it for the nuanced tool that it is.

We painted water onto a sun-warm log with fine paintbrushes. When the water touched the wood, it raced away from the br...
04/28/2022

We painted water onto a sun-warm log with fine paintbrushes. When the water touched the wood, it raced away from the brushes by itself, spreading quickly across the surface. Then it shrank back toward the center as it dried.

02/18/2022

The life blood of mutually nourishing relationships with children is sharing in the magic of wonderful moments.

An unusually strong sunbeam lay across our rug, begging to be harnessed. We used magnet tiles to build colorful shadows...
02/09/2022

An unusually strong sunbeam lay across our rug, begging to be harnessed. We used magnet tiles to build colorful shadows.

We picked a bucket of lemons from our tree, and during nap time I sat down with them intending to cut and juice them. W...
01/26/2022

We picked a bucket of lemons from our tree, and during nap time I sat down with them intending to cut and juice them. When a child saw what I was doing and asked if they could help, I said no without thinking. Then, of course, that child asked why, and I realized that the answer was "because that wasn't my plan". Plans can, and should, change as the people involved do. I explained my whole thought process and changed my answer, and as nap time slowly ended we were joined by several others. We shared an unexpected and lovely hour juicing lemons, daring to sample the sour pulp, and being together.

Using the hot and cold glue guns holds a special magic for all of us. The glue sets so quickly and it makes such lovely...
11/12/2021

Using the hot and cold glue guns holds a special magic for all of us. The glue sets so quickly and it makes such lovely little blobs. This particular project began as my own thought that I could offer up my collection of toilet paper cores for painting, and my theory that gluing one end down would make them more satisfying to paint. But of course, as I worked on this, the children supplied their own ideas. They brought sticks and showed me where they could go, then they brought rocks to make the grass. Soon they were bustling back and forth, finding perfect treasures to add. We used markers, glitter makeup, and paint in glue bottles to bring our creation to life. It becomes more marvelous with every passing day.

Four hands of homegrown Dwarf Cavendish bananas, hanging up to ripen! We can't wait to eat them. As with most things, ...
11/02/2021

Four hands of homegrown Dwarf Cavendish bananas, hanging up to ripen! We can't wait to eat them. As with most things, they taste so much better than their store-bought cousins.

10/22/2021

This morning we harvested sage flowers from the garden. We stripped them from the stalks and put them in a tub. They were so soft! Then one child wondered what it would be like to add water. The flowers were still soft, but more like a sponge. They trailed their fingers through the floating flowers and studied how the movement of the water was affected. Then, cup by cup, the flower water was transported away to be poured onto the banana trees.

After extensive use holding dirt, mulch, and rocks, our class set of dishes was a bit more dirty than the children wante...
10/21/2021

After extensive use holding dirt, mulch, and rocks, our class set of dishes was a bit more dirty than the children wanted. They decided to fix this, and asked for soap and water. It was a chilly, grey morning, so the warm soapy water was very inviting. Soon there were many hands plunged in to the elbows, scrubbing the dishes with small towels. Some couldn't resist the call of the water, and put their whole selves onto the wash tubs. The bubbly water was used long after it cooled in various cleaning, cooking, and sensory seeking projects.

Address

8848 Hammond Drive
San Diego, CA
92123

Opening Hours

Monday 7:30am - 6pm
Tuesday 7:30am - 6pm
Wednesday 7:30am - 6pm
Thursday 7:30am - 6pm
Friday 7:30am - 6pm

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