Seven in the morning to four in the afternoon, five days a week.
Parents ask what the day actually looks like, so here it is, hour by hour. The times bend around the kids — if someone needs one more chapter before nap, they get one. But the shape of the day stays the same, every day, because a day a two-year-old can predict is a day a two-year-old can relax into.
7:00 am — Arrivals and breakfast
The door opens at seven. Breakfast is on the table for anyone who wants it, and there is no rush — some children eat the moment they arrive, some need to sit on my lap for ten minutes first. Both are fine.
8:30 am — Free play, crafts, letters and counting
This is the busiest stretch of the morning. Colors, shapes, songs, the alphabet, counting. Arts and crafts most days, and a Home Depot Kids Workshop kit once a month that they build themselves and take home.
Tuesdays are music day. A musician comes in with a guitar or a keyboard, teaches them new songs, sings the seasonal ones, and gets everybody wiggling their wiggles out.
9:30 am — Outside
Outside every day the weather allows it. The yard and the swing set, or a walk on the rail trail, which is close enough that even short legs manage it. In the summer we are in the pool, and by August the ones who arrived nervous in June are swimming.
11:15 am — Lunch, cooked here this morning
Breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack are all included in the fee, and all of it is cooked here. Meatloaf, pulled pork, chicken pie, homemade chicken soup, homemade pizza. I love to cook, and they eat well.
12:00 pm — Story time
Everyone picks a book. We get through more of them than you would think.
12:30 pm — Nap
Quiet time for everyone, whether or not they sleep. The older ones read or draw.
2:30 pm — Snack, then play until pickup
Afternoon snack, then free play until parents arrive. Pickups run until four.
What happens when the day bends
Six children is the state limit for a family child care home, and it is the whole reason a day like this is possible. With six, I can give one child the extra ten minutes they need without the other five losing anything. That is not a schedule you can run with twenty children and three adults.
Hours are 7:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Closed weekends and holidays — the current holiday and vacation schedule is on the Forms page.