New Natural Daycare in Fairfax now open

[Anonymous]

Your daycare looks beautiful. Good luck to you!

[Anonymous]

I work at a large child care center and want to say that your daycare seems fantastic! I can tell that you put a lot of planning and research into your daycare. I read your website, looked at pictures and I am following this thread. I would just have to piggy back and agree that a cozy area, and perhaps a climbing structure within the daycare would be ideal. Some children will get tired and want down time but still want to be in the action. Also, you will have some children that are more active than others and on a rainy day, they need to release some energy. A climber would be great! Can be used for all age groups. Keep up the good work. I wish that you lived in the montgomery county area (not to label the area), because your daycare would surely thrive there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work at a large child care center and want to say that your daycare seems fantastic! I can tell that you put a lot of planning and research into your daycare. I read your website, looked at pictures and I am following this thread. I would just have to piggy back and agree that a cozy area, and perhaps a climbing structure within the daycare would be ideal. Some children will get tired and want down time but still want to be in the action. Also, you will have some children that are more active than others and on a rainy day, they need to release some energy. A climber would be great! Can be used for all age groups. Keep up the good work. I wish that you lived in the montgomery county area (not to label the area), because your daycare would surely thrive there.

Thank you! And I agree. We just moved from a rather small space into the place we live in now and have lots of extra space. We are thinking about either setting up one of our bedrooms as an active room with a slide, climber, balance beam and similar - or to move our living room area into one of the bedrooms and use that space for an active area. Everything takes time, especially if you do it all yourself - but it's on the top of our list to make the experience here truly complete.

[Anonymous]

Ikea has a wooden slide and other stuff that would fit in. Your space is impressive but I have an everything in the mouth child and I would be very concerned about some of the small and loose objects that could cause a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the setup and the materials but I think your inexperience with group care of toddler and preschool age kids shows. Cutesy little dolls? Perfect when it's just your child but they will be destroyed and aren't really washable. The tons of little pieces? That will be a treat to clean up. You don't need a full big basket of shells (that are spiky and will inevitable end up hurting some child) or a cash register of 20+ coins. 2 or 3 shells and maybe 10 coins at most are good. Also realize that the majority of parents are not going to be drawn in by your set up. Also, I can't imagine those wood blocks dropping on your wood floor day in and day out. The loud sound will upset some kids and your floor will eventually take a beating. And while I appreciate the aesthetic, I can't say that I think young kids will be immediately draw to the area. It's kind of dark and boring. Natural doesn't mean just brown. Nature has lots of colors. There is nothing wrong with adding in some colors to attract attention and provide a boundary to the kids play areas. Color silks for the canopy for example, natural dyed baskets, a comfortable spot to land on the floor - bean bag or equivalent, soft child size furniture, a fuzzy rug.

How come you have no books on any of the shelves? No pictures of kids or other general pictures? Tons of great waldorf inspired art that you can place low on the bookshelves sides and in other areas. Where will you display things the kids create?

Thank you for letting me know possible concerns. Let me address all the things you mentioned, I am sure others might have similar questions:

I do have experience with group care. The largest group of children I ever cared for was 25, together with 1 other caregiver. And I am very excited to now be able to set up a smaller group that will allow much more personalized care. Our set up is what worked well for me in the past. All our toys are washable and we take care of keeping everything clean. What looks like big baskets on the pictures actually are wooden bowls the size of cereal bowls! Clean up time is part of our daily schedule, we do it together with the children. It's not a chore, more like a fun exercise in memorizing where things belong and taking pride in keeping our play space neat and tidy for the next day. All our toys are washable and if something breaks we have no problem replacing it. Toys that end up not working for us will be phased out and replaced with toys that fit the children in care better. Nothing is set in stone.
We will adjust the amount of materials we actually use according to the number and age of children in care - right now everything is set up as we are in the first enrollment phase. And once we have 5 children playing together I am sure all our materials will be used. We don't have any children actually in care yet, as we just opened, so everything is set up for parents to get a full idea.

All our play areas are actually visually separated. That might not be too visible on the pictures and I might try to take some different angles to make that clearer. Our main toy area for example has a huge bamboo rug underneath and wooden towers tumbling over are not a noise issue there. We also believe in homes to be spaces to freely and fully live in and do not mind little nicks and scratches on the hardwood floors!

About color: that's one thing we are still working on. Since the current pictures on the website have been taken we actually have already improved our set up again. We will continue to improve our space, it is and always will be an ongoing project. However, we do not want to over stimulate the children in our care with overly colorful walls. The children should be able to focus on their play and learning experience, rather than being distracted by too much 'stuff' going on on the walls. We have added some colorful play silks and some fitting artwork however and are working together with an artist who creates beautiful felted wool pictures. Each child will have an individual folder for their drawings and painting. Other artwork will be displayed on a shelf in the art area - we have kept that space free for that very purpose. There will also be an art wall in our entrance area where we can display interchanging drawings whenever a child likes one of their paintings enough to wish for it to be displayed there. However, as we do not have any children in care yet, there is no artwork to be displayed yet, either.

Thank you for the hint about a comfortable space to land on - we do have a pile of sheepskin, however, we are currently using those in the Quiet Room, which is the room the children sleep in. We should get some more so we can add a pile to the playroom as well for the children to grab whenever they want or need it!

About missing books: all our books are actually also in our second room, the Quiet Room. As sitting down and reading a book requires some quietness and calmness we have decided to put our reading nook in there and separate it more from the general play area. I should take some proper pictures and add those to the website as well!

In general I'd like to say that we are just starting out. We have been preparing for opening day for about half a year, buying and creating toys and everything else you see in our pictures. We are by no means done and I don't plan on ever being 'done' as I want to keep improving constantly. However, our space and concept are ready to be enjoying by children and I am absolutely certain they will thrive here.

Please do let me know if there are any other questions or concerns - the community here is great and hearing from parents can only help us improve!

25:2 - I would hope that ratio is for school age children.

Cleaning is a chore and not all kids enjoy the process of cleaning up or will want to clean up. 2 yr olds like to pull things off shelves just because. They don't really have the same desire to replace things on shelves. This is why daycare centers have low shelves, with limited toys per shelf for kids in that age range. They also usually have some gross motor area in the classroom with a low to the ground climbing structure.

Please don't tell parents anything as hokey as "bright colors on the wall will distract your child from playing". Children naturally gravitate towards bright colors and that's fine. Their development will not be stunted.

Books should be available in all areas for kids and not confined to a quiet area. The benefits of books for toddlers and preschoolers included fine motor skill development - turning individual pages of a book, learning basic concepts about the world - animals, colors, etc, learn simple sequencing - picture books will have the story written in illustrations and photos and the child follows along as he turns the pages, developing imagination - looking at pictures and illustrations and then incorporating those into play later on by building a structure with blocks, or dress up, etc.

One adult with 5 kids under age 5. You are providing custodial care first. You have one kid who throws a tantrum that lasts 15 minutes and you still have to make sure the other kids are safe and somewhat occupied. This would be one reason that home daycare often have specific daycare areas that have gates and/or doors. It's not because they are trying to confine a child's spirit, they are just trying to confine the children to keep them safe as they are the only adult in the house.

Realize that daycare centers do not have it wrong. They actually setup their environments according to well researched early childhood education studies and information.

And lastly, don't get too caught up in Waldorf-ness. The reason there are not Waldorf daycare centers is because it goes against the principal of Waldorf where daycare is something that is not good for the child because they should spend their early years with their mom and do not need to be separated from her and of course parents are the first, best teachers.

Enough already, bitter Betty. There is no reason to keep coming back and nitpicking little things to try to tear OP down. She sounds incredibly dedicated, knowledgeable, and warm, and that's what's going to make parents choose her day care. Not the color of the walls. Get a grip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at a large child care center and want to say that your daycare seems fantastic! I can tell that you put a lot of planning and research into your daycare. I read your website, looked at pictures and I am following this thread. I would just have to piggy back and agree that a cozy area, and perhaps a climbing structure within the daycare would be ideal. Some children will get tired and want down time but still want to be in the action. Also, you will have some children that are more active than others and on a rainy day, they need to release some energy. A climber would be great! Can be used for all age groups. Keep up the good work. I wish that you lived in the montgomery county area (not to label the area), because your daycare would surely thrive there.

Thank you! And I agree. We just moved from a rather small space into the place we live in now and have lots of extra space. We are thinking about either setting up one of our bedrooms as an active room with a slide, climber, balance beam and similar - or to move our living room area into one of the bedrooms and use that space for an active area. Everything takes time, especially if you do it all yourself - but it's on the top of our list to make the experience here truly complete.

It sounds like you are making some good updates.

This piece is a nice classic - http://www.communityplaythings.com/products/toys/v43-rocking-boat - it can be a boat or a bridge - or anything else the kids want. Get some blue interlocking foam mats, border them with green interlocking foam mats - now you have a river and land. Bridge or boat over the the water or in the water. kids can make fish to go in the water or forest friends to go on land. This brand has other great, very sturdy natural wood pieces that will stand up to years of use.

Helen Oxbury does nice books for the toddler / preschool set. Nice illustrations and simple concepts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ikea has a wooden slide and other stuff that would fit in. Your space is impressive but I have an everything in the mouth child and I would be very concerned about some of the small and loose objects that could cause a problem.

Hello there! That is a valid concern and one we are aware of - our space right now displays everything we have in order for parents to get an idea of what we can offer. However, we do adjust the toys we actually use in accordance with the ages and developmental stages of the children we enroll. If we enroll a mouthing child, we will take potentially harmful toys like spiky shells or too small pieces out of the play space and store them until the child doesn't put things in his or her mouth anymore. I believe being able to adjust the space you offer to the individual children you care for is very important and we are flexible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
It sounds like you are making some good updates.

This piece is a nice classic - http://www.communityplaythings.com/products/toys/v43-rocking-boat - it can be a boat or a bridge - or anything else the kids want. Get some blue interlocking foam mats, border them with green interlocking foam mats - now you have a river and land. Bridge or boat over the the water or in the water. kids can make fish to go in the water or forest friends to go on land. This brand has other great, very sturdy natural wood pieces that will stand up to years of use.

Helen Oxbury does nice books for the toddler / preschool set. Nice illustrations and simple concepts.

That website looks fantastic. We will definitely find some inspiration there - so many high quality, open ended toys...Thank you for the link!
I am actually aware of the Helen Oxbury board books and really like them - thanks for reminding me of her. We have such a long list of things we want to add to our space and it only keeps growing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the setup and the materials but I think your inexperience with group care of toddler and preschool age kids shows. Cutesy little dolls? Perfect when it's just your child but they will be destroyed and aren't really washable. The tons of little pieces? That will be a treat to clean up. You don't need a full big basket of shells (that are spiky and will inevitable end up hurting some child) or a cash register of 20+ coins. 2 or 3 shells and maybe 10 coins at most are good. Also realize that the majority of parents are not going to be drawn in by your set up. Also, I can't imagine those wood blocks dropping on your wood floor day in and day out. The loud sound will upset some kids and your floor will eventually take a beating. And while I appreciate the aesthetic, I can't say that I think young kids will be immediately draw to the area. It's kind of dark and boring. Natural doesn't mean just brown. Nature has lots of colors. There is nothing wrong with adding in some colors to attract attention and provide a boundary to the kids play areas. Color silks for the canopy for example, natural dyed baskets, a comfortable spot to land on the floor - bean bag or equivalent, soft child size furniture, a fuzzy rug.

How come you have no books on any of the shelves? No pictures of kids or other general pictures? Tons of great waldorf inspired art that you can place low on the bookshelves sides and in other areas. Where will you display things the kids create?

Thank you for letting me know possible concerns. Let me address all the things you mentioned, I am sure others might have similar questions:

I do have experience with group care. The largest group of children I ever cared for was 25, together with 1 other caregiver. And I am very excited to now be able to set up a smaller group that will allow much more personalized care. Our set up is what worked well for me in the past. All our toys are washable and we take care of keeping everything clean. What looks like big baskets on the pictures actually are wooden bowls the size of cereal bowls! Clean up time is part of our daily schedule, we do it together with the children. It's not a chore, more like a fun exercise in memorizing where things belong and taking pride in keeping our play space neat and tidy for the next day. All our toys are washable and if something breaks we have no problem replacing it. Toys that end up not working for us will be phased out and replaced with toys that fit the children in care better. Nothing is set in stone.
We will adjust the amount of materials we actually use according to the number and age of children in care - right now everything is set up as we are in the first enrollment phase. And once we have 5 children playing together I am sure all our materials will be used. We don't have any children actually in care yet, as we just opened, so everything is set up for parents to get a full idea.

All our play areas are actually visually separated. That might not be too visible on the pictures and I might try to take some different angles to make that clearer. Our main toy area for example has a huge bamboo rug underneath and wooden towers tumbling over are not a noise issue there. We also believe in homes to be spaces to freely and fully live in and do not mind little nicks and scratches on the hardwood floors!

About color: that's one thing we are still working on. Since the current pictures on the website have been taken we actually have already improved our set up again. We will continue to improve our space, it is and always will be an ongoing project. However, we do not want to over stimulate the children in our care with overly colorful walls. The children should be able to focus on their play and learning experience, rather than being distracted by too much 'stuff' going on on the walls. We have added some colorful play silks and some fitting artwork however and are working together with an artist who creates beautiful felted wool pictures. Each child will have an individual folder for their drawings and painting. Other artwork will be displayed on a shelf in the art area - we have kept that space free for that very purpose. There will also be an art wall in our entrance area where we can display interchanging drawings whenever a child likes one of their paintings enough to wish for it to be displayed there. However, as we do not have any children in care yet, there is no artwork to be displayed yet, either.

Thank you for the hint about a comfortable space to land on - we do have a pile of sheepskin, however, we are currently using those in the Quiet Room, which is the room the children sleep in. We should get some more so we can add a pile to the playroom as well for the children to grab whenever they want or need it!

About missing books: all our books are actually also in our second room, the Quiet Room. As sitting down and reading a book requires some quietness and calmness we have decided to put our reading nook in there and separate it more from the general play area. I should take some proper pictures and add those to the website as well!

In general I'd like to say that we are just starting out. We have been preparing for opening day for about half a year, buying and creating toys and everything else you see in our pictures. We are by no means done and I don't plan on ever being 'done' as I want to keep improving constantly. However, our space and concept are ready to be enjoying by children and I am absolutely certain they will thrive here.

Please do let me know if there are any other questions or concerns - the community here is great and hearing from parents can only help us improve!

25:2 - I would hope that ratio is for school age children.

Cleaning is a chore and not all kids enjoy the process of cleaning up or will want to clean up. 2 yr olds like to pull things off shelves just because. They don't really have the same desire to replace things on shelves. This is why daycare centers have low shelves, with limited toys per shelf for kids in that age range. They also usually have some gross motor area in the classroom with a low to the ground climbing structure.

Please don't tell parents anything as hokey as "bright colors on the wall will distract your child from playing". Children naturally gravitate towards bright colors and that's fine. Their development will not be stunted.

Books should be available in all areas for kids and not confined to a quiet area. The benefits of books for toddlers and preschoolers included fine motor skill development - turning individual pages of a book, learning basic concepts about the world - animals, colors, etc, learn simple sequencing - picture books will have the story written in illustrations and photos and the child follows along as he turns the pages, developing imagination - looking at pictures and illustrations and then incorporating those into play later on by building a structure with blocks, or dress up, etc.

One adult with 5 kids under age 5. You are providing custodial care first. You have one kid who throws a tantrum that lasts 15 minutes and you still have to make sure the other kids are safe and somewhat occupied. This would be one reason that home daycare often have specific daycare areas that have gates and/or doors. It's not because they are trying to confine a child's spirit, they are just trying to confine the children to keep them safe as they are the only adult in the house.

Realize that daycare centers do not have it wrong. They actually setup their environments according to well researched early childhood education studies and information.

And lastly, don't get too caught up in Waldorf-ness. The reason there are not Waldorf daycare centers is because it goes against the principal of Waldorf where daycare is something that is not good for the child because they should spend their early years with their mom and do not need to be separated from her and of course parents are the first, best teachers.

OP,

Please don't be discouraged by this poster. I teach a class of 2 year olds at a Reggio inspired preschool and our set up is similar to yours. The 2 years olds definitely like to dump things, but they are also very aware of how to sort things, put things away, and clean up. The quality of play and learning that I experience with a wide variety of natural materials is well worth the chance of having a little extra clean up time. It is a much more valuable learning experience when children are provided with open ended materials rather than bins of Fisher Price. Color will come as you fill the space with art and other things made by the children. You are definitely creating an environment that will be wonderful for children.

[Anonymous]

The preschool hollow blocks set is really cool from community playthings. It's a great "loose parts" toy. I see some of the more natural leaning daycares using that set and the kids come up with some great creations and games from them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP,

Please don't be discouraged by this poster. I teach a class of 2 year olds at a Reggio inspired preschool and our set up is similar to yours. The 2 years olds definitely like to dump things, but they are also very aware of how to sort things, put things away, and clean up. The quality of play and learning that I experience with a wide variety of natural materials is well worth the chance of having a little extra clean up time. It is a much more valuable learning experience when children are provided with open ended materials rather than bins of Fisher Price. Color will come as you fill the space with art and other things made by the children. You are definitely creating an environment that will be wonderful for children.

Thank you so much for your encouragement and positive feedback. I am looking very forward to little ones dumping out and sorting through all our toys

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The preschool hollow blocks set is really cool from community playthings. It's a great "loose parts" toy. I see some of the more natural leaning daycares using that set and the kids come up with some great creations and games from them.

I just took a look at it and wow...it's pricey! That was honestly my first thought. My second thought was: we can build that ourselves! Definitely saving a picture as inspiration for our next daycare building project! Looks like a great way for kids to build structures they can actually use for sitting, climbing, etc. Especially for older children, who slowly outgrow regular building blocks this seems like a very good next step.

[Anonymous]

Hello - OP here

Let me ask you parents something: Would you like if we offered regular field trips or would you be too concerned with your child being driven there by car? Would you prefer us sticking to our neighborhood and anything in walking distance?

We are currently discussing this question - we have a van and were planning on going on regular field trips as we have such a strong emphasis on being active and exploring nature. However, we don't want that to scare potential parents away! We are thinking off not going on field trips until a child has been with us for a while and the parents are comfortable...

[Anonymous]

Are you prepared to deal with carseats?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you prepared to deal with carseats?

Yes. Parents would be required to leave their car seats at the daycare on field trip days. Eventually we might purchase our own car seats, but right now buying 5 is a bit much - we don't want to buy used.