Summer programs in childcare should be fun for kids, doable for parents and the experience of a lifetime for the adults who provide them. Getting through a hot summer of hours outside, gallons of sunscreen, extraordinary exercise, picnic foods, water on the go, field trips on noisy busses, etc, can really take its toll on everyone, so cooperation is the name of the summer game.
Designing a summer program for very young children should by the very nature of good childcare consist of lots of extras and lots of new things, but rest, hydration and nutrition should always be in the forefront of every good sense program.
Care is the first priority when you take children out of their regular environment. And childcare is a two way street. With cooperation between parent and teacher, children will thrive, and without it, they will suffer and learn to hate summer, and that’s a shame.
Most parents are really wonderful about early bedtimes that help children get through a busy summer that includes swimming and field trips. When parents don’t help, it can be an utter and unfair nightmare.
One child’s behavior was absolutely out of character during a very long field trip. On a trip to Spring Mill Park, two hours away, to see the restored village, the child was nearly out of his mind and slept most of the bus ride. Mom admitted that he had gotten to bed very late the night before and had to be dragged out of bed to get to school early enough to catch the bus. Sleep deprivation is an illness and part of the ill child contract.
One summer, a child was sent to school with a 102 fever. She went with us on one of our out of state field trips, and by the time we discovered she will really ill, we were a long way from home. Mother had to drive two hours to catch up and take her home.
One little girl had horrible diarrhea and had to be stripped and dressed wet clothes.
Parents really need to read everything sent home from school or summer camp. Often parents lay important papers aside. And it’s no wonder. We live in a very demanding and busy place, and when parents associate a convenient drop off childcare without assuming the responsibility that comes on paper in folders or cubbies, it’s just another place to do half a job. Notes, parent boards, announcements placed on the doors, paperwork that is sent home, papers that are placed on individual cubbies are all aimed at distributing UINFORMATION PLEASE: to know what, when, why, what and who! So read everything.
Reading everything can have some unexpected rewards. I sent home a note one summer about our trip to Mammoth Cave. I included three parts: Schedule for the trip with leave and return hours, sign up for a special cave tour, and an “if you read this, sign it and return it for a chance at $10.00 price off tuition.” One parent in forty returned it.
This summer at the Garden School, we will be using a calendar as a guide to our field trips and swim dates. If you lose one, pick up another.
A trick to zeroing in on the demands of childcare is to remember the expression, “Stop, Look, and Listen” every afternoon when entering the childcare gate. Stop what you are doing, look at what is posted and intended for busy parents, and finally, listen to both the child and the teacher.
Stop, Look and Listen only takes five minutes, and it just might be the best five minutes spent during the day.
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