For me I am excited to know that I do have my child care well organized and child centered at this time. The one thing I am looking to change is how best to incorporate a more complex learning environment through questions structure and letting children use the materials more independently within the space. I will see if they are capable of remembering where the items go and put them back instead of just throwing them on the ground so I have to pick them up. I want to allow a more free exploration process but I realize now that I must do my part to encourage this deep thinking.
I do add pictures for the children to use in the block area such as sky scrapers and cities. I never thought of doing this with the playdough. I will be adding more pictures of the children playing in this space around the centers. It is always fun to see yourself in a picture but I have noticed they like to find their friends in the pictures as well. I think this is a communication tool that will spur language development in all children. I will incorporate more found items into the area. I like the small basket ideas but with such young kids this makes me nervous. I will have to make sure the items are put away when the youngest ones are present.
Making this all happen is overwhelming for me. I try to always stay on top of the children interests but I have never tried to make learning more complex. I am interested in doing this through days of exploration, brain storming, and retrieving the items necessary to make it complex for the children. I have to learn to be more tolerant of messes and think about the knowledge gained from the experience.
I want to become more efficient with my documentation and getting this information to the parent each day. I am so bogged down with all this paperwork I almost feel like I am an administrator instead of a teacher. This was not what I wanted to do but it looks like I must make this happen as well. Reflecting is tough but it is also needed in order to see yourself and how best to improve your child care.