Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG there is so much wrong with this post!!

—preschool workbook? Does “play based learning” mean nothing to you? Aren’t you nannies supposed to be experts in this stuff?

—starting the day with crafts. Zzzzz. Take the kid outside to a playground, a bike ride, a walk, to an indoor pool, to a museum...something to let her get out and about! Like the other poster said, structure the day around her needs, not yours. In the afternoon, a few days a week take her on errands, but engage her. Let her pay the money, or put the groceries on the belt etc. She shouldn’t just be in tow.

—You are not the parent, you are the nanny and should be even more consistent when it comes to getting a child to listen to you.

You don’t seem to know the basics. This kid would be better off in a preschool at her age anyway.

Nothing wrong with workbooks and getting kids prepared for K. Play based doesn't get them prepared for the real world.

Workbooks are more likely to make a child dislike school and learning.

Anonymous wrote:OMG there is so much wrong with this post!!

—preschool workbook? Does “play based learning” mean nothing to you? Aren’t you nannies supposed to be experts in this stuff?

—starting the day with crafts. Zzzzz. Take the kid outside to a playground, a bike ride, a walk, to an indoor pool, to a museum...something to let her get out and about! Like the other poster said, structure the day around her needs, not yours. In the afternoon, a few days a week take her on errands, but engage her. Let her pay the money, or put the groceries on the belt etc. She shouldn’t just be in tow.

—You are not the parent, you are the nanny and should be even more consistent when it comes to getting a child to listen to you.

You don’t seem to know the basics. This kid would be better off in a preschool at her age anyway.

Op isn't a nanny, she's a babysitter. She has zero idea of what the child needs.

For what it's worth, OP, my charges tag along for errands as well. My four year old pushes the kid cart, we work on following directions and distinguishing left/right while I walk behind him in the store, and he's developing ideas about personal space by recognizing that he needs to be at least a foot from other people so that he won't run into them. He knows what we need to buy, and he's learning to categorize so that he knows where things are in the store. I decide which product, then I tell him size, color and letters so that he can find it, and he counts however many we need into the cart. We discuss nutritional needs, which foods fill which needs, which foods taste good together, which foods he doesn't like and what we can put with them to make them taste better. We go through the self checkout, and he hands me each item after he scans it, while he keeps a running total of how many items he's already handed me. He's in charge of putting my card in, getting the receipt, putting his cart away and pushing the elevator buttons. And that's just when we go grocery shopping! To him, going shopping is a treat, even more so than having a cookie, because he likes to do it and he has things he can do. He knows he's not an afterthought, nor is he in the way. He doesn't always listen perfectly, but that's why we played games that required good listening skills before we went in public.

Perhaps you need to research reasonable expectations for a four year old, provide the family with a schedule of things she needs and wants to do, then stick to it. Do your errands on your own time. Or alternatively, you could make her feel like something other than a nuisance?