Screen Time

Yesterday I read an interesting CTV News article about children and screen time.  I thought it was wonderful to compare screen time to nutrition – an analogy that puts the focus on the content of the programs.

Recently I was asked to speak to a group of Red River College students who were just completing their ‘Introduction to Family Childcare’ course.  As part of my presentation I included a slideshow of the past and present learning environments in my childcare home.

Screen time was briefly discussed during my presentation and the subsequent question period.  Yes, I used to have several computers available for the children in my program to use – and I did not even restrict the amount of time they engaged in the activity.

No, I don’t currently have any computers, tablets, or televisions that are available for the children to use at any time during the day.  The reason for the elimination of the ‘computer area’ was due almost entirely to the quality of content available and the fact that the children had no interest in ‘healthy’ content once they had experienced the ‘junk’.

Years ago when I first started my blog I wrote about the use of computers in my childcare program and their gradual elimination.  It is not that I don’t value technology – I use it all the time.  When the children have questions that I can’t answer we can find the answer on the internet – it is an invaluable resource in addition to their hands on experience.

Unfortunately I think the content of children’s media today has far too much focus on competition instead of collaboration.  The smaller screens further emphasize the ‘individual’ over the ‘group’.

I once had a discussion with the staff at my son’s school.  My son was extremely slow to engage in new situations and had a tendency to withdraw from social interaction.  They were concerned because he refused to use a new program they had recently introduced in their computer class.

I suggested that they should let him sit with and watch another child until he felt comfortable enough to try it himself.  They said that was not possible because it would be considered cheating and would not be fair to the other child. Seriously?!?! What were they hoping to teach?

The children and I have discussed the use of screen time – they all have access to screens at home.  They’ve described how they like to use their hand held devices when they are bored – it is easier than finding something else to do.  They’ve retold me all their favorite parts of the movies and shows they’ve recently watched.  If there are any ‘good’ parts in these shows I haven’t heard about them, the children  focus on the violent, destructive, mean or rude segments – that’s what they remember.

As I write this there are two children here – they are reading the label on a cereal box and debating the nutritional value.  Maybe I’d have screen time as part of the program if there were ‘nutrition’ labels on the content of every program.  However, I’m not sure I have the energy to break through their addiction to the junk so instead my program will continue to be screen free and really they don’t complain about the absence of screens when there are healthier options available.

Liking the Space

It seems like I’ve been neglecting my blog.  Truth is, I’m feeling a little overextended at the moment.  Meetings, editing, writing presentations, paperwork, and other commitments have been eating up all my ‘spare’ time.

The 11 hours/day that I spend with the children has become my ‘quiet’ time.  Right now I’m supposed to be working on a slideshow presentation that I need to finish for tomorrow so I really shouldn’t be ‘wasting’ time playing around here but….

I wanted to share some of our experiences as we try out our newly renovated spaces.  There have been (mostly) positives and (a few) negatives from my perspective and the children’s too.

I haven’t really got the time to do this now so I’m just going to post a few pictures for now.  Here is a ‘magic’ tower;

The blanket was successfully removed and replaced several times without knocking over the impressive structure hidden under it;

In the nature area there has been a lot of interest in our new tree pieces – we now have several different sizes to choose from.  Here are some of the smaller ones that were being used to make a fence;

The new art spaces have been popular too – for the preschoolers;

And the school-age children too;

Even the cats have been checking out the new spaces.  Malta has decided that the nap area divider is her property;

However, there have been a few disputes about that.  Both cats have also claimed that the carpet under my computer chair belongs to them;

I continually have to decide whether the paperwork is more important than disturbing the cats.  Maybe it is their way of telling me to go outside and play instead :-)

Hopefully I’ll have time to write a ‘real’ post after things slow down a little.  Until then, I’ve got more work to do….

Fluffy Rain

One of my fellow family childcare committee members coined the term ‘fluffy rain’ in reference to the white stuff falling from the sky during our meeting last Thursday.  Maybe it was positive thinking or maybe it was just denial – none of us wanted to believe that it was snowing again at the end of April.

There was no school on Friday and although not all the children were here we still had a larger than normal group.  The ‘fluffy rain’ did not dampen anyone’s mood – outdoor play in any type of weather is still preferred over being stuck in a classroom all day.

Most of the morning there was an elaborate dramatic play activity involving an eccentric designer, an art exhibit, and various other characters.  I was assigned the role of ‘photographer’ to document the event – perfect because I was taking pictures already.

There was artwork everywhere;

Then someone discovered the steady stream of water running out of the rain barrel overflow spout;

Eventually we had to go back inside because it was too cold for soaking wet toddlers (my decision, not theirs).  Before that though we still had some more time to play with wet fluffy rain – on the plexiglass;

One toddler was super excited to discover ‘flowers’;

Hmmm, those ones might be remnants from last summer.  However, the pasture sage has been eager to get growing this year.  It has been active for a couple weeks already.

Hopefully it won’t be deterred by a little fluffy rain – after all, it is a hardy native prairie plant.  It, like the rest of us Manitoba prairie dwellers, should be used to this by now.

Done - Mostly

I am mostly done the big renovation.  There are still a few things I want to modify or update but I won’t be doing them yet so today is the day I show you the new spaces.  This is the main playroom;

The most noticeable change here is the relocation of the stairs to the library loft.  This was done to increase the usable space both in the loft and in the block area below.  This is the new larger block area;

This additional space will definitely come in handy when there is a big construction project.

The children (even the bigger ones) used to worm their way under the bottom step of the staircase at the end of the block area.  By turning the staircase there is now a tunnel here that they (and I) can use as a secondary entrance/exit between the block area and the workshop/music area;

The entrance to the library loft is now located off the nature area.  This is due in part because the library loft and the nature area are now also the two areas that the older children use for quiet time when all of the little ones are napping.  The nature area is now larger too;

There are two ‘grass’ areas, the ‘water’ area, and a bridge.  The nine little themed shelves are still on the left (not visible) side of this photo.  Revamping those shelves is one of the planned projects that are not yet complete so there will be photos of them after completion.

Back in the playroom this is the view of the housekeeping area which is also larger than before and the laundry/dress-up area is now located where my desk used to be.

Look, no wall :-) just a gate to separate the play area from the office/art/dining area.  I can now supervise both the art area and the play room at the same time!  Some of the older children are unimpressed by the lack of unsupervised space – no more inappropriate behaviour.
This is our new art/dining space;

There are several different table/seating arrangements that can be used depending on the activity and how many children are participating.  I love having the art area adjacent to the play area – convenient when someone wants to make something for their dramatic play activity.

All equipment and supplies are stored on shelves in this room or in the nature area so I can set up/clean up activities without leaving the children unsupervised or making them sit & wait.
The playpens are located behind these moveable dividers;

The infants can nap as needed throughout the day without limiting access to the play areas.  I forgot to set up the highchairs before I took the photo but they would normally be in front of the dividers.
This arrangement is more flexible than before and allows me to accommodate varying schedules according to the infants’ needs while still allowing the other children to continue with their chosen activity.

There’s one other space too.  The sunroom used to be the art/quiet time area that was difficult for me to supervise.  Now it is something we didn’t have before – a living room/dining room area for my family.  Private space not used by the children.

So, what do you think of the new spaces?

Tearing Down the Wall

Before the first stage of our big renovation began I wrote the post ‘Alternatives‘ to give a little history about how we have used the spaces in my childcare home. I was planning to wait until our main floor renovation was complete before writing about the new arrangement but because this renovation affects so many areas I think that it may be too much for just one post.

So, today I’m going to start by describing a little bit about the biggest change we made to the floor plan and why I chose to do it. To begin, here again is the basic floor plan of my home;

What this floor plan picture doesn’t show you is that there is not really a full wall separating Room One and Room Two.

I had to go to my old photo albums – back before digital cameras – to find a picture of the rooms before we added the wall to create two separate rooms. This picture was taken just two months after I first opened my childcare home. The child in the front is one of my now-adult sons.

I didn’t scan any of the older pictures showing the wall that we originally built but the pictures below are the earliest digital pictures I have.  The wall here is several years old and has already been modified a few times. This is the view from Room One (the living room side at the time);

and these are the views from Room Two (then used as the playroom);

In 2008 we switched the uses of these rooms and Room One became the play room and Room Two became the living room/dining room.  However, there was still a wall between those two spaces. Room Three – the sunroom – became the art area/quiet time area.

As much as I loved the idea of having a dedicated art space it was so far from the play area that I could not supervise both spaces at the same time. Consequently the art area was mostly used only for whole group activities – usually only a couple of times each month. Spontaneous art was nearly impossible and scheduled art does not allow creativity to flourish.

Currently we have another problem too. The children in my present group have vastly different schedules. Between parental pick-up and drop-off times as well as school schedules I regularly have children coming in or going out at 6:45am, 7:00, 8:00, 8:30, 8:40, 9:00, noon, 1:20, 2:30, 4:00, 4:20, 5:00 and 5:30pm. Our largest uninterrupted time period is between 9:00am and noon – our outdoor time.

Somewhere in between all those comings and goings I have to squeeze in two snacks, lunch, and naps for the infants and toddlers. When you consider that some of those little ones are already here for the day while other ones are still snuggled in their beds at home you realize that their nap times are not going to be anywhere near the same time.

So, in phase one of the main floor renovation we took down the wall. In the past few weeks we’ve slowly rearranged the spaces to allow for napping, eating, art and playing all at the same time and all within my direct supervision. Sounds amazing doesn’t it?

Over the last two weeks we’ve been adjusting to the new spaces. I won’t even use the word ‘schedule’ because it has been different almost every day. There have been a few periods of confusion but mostly because the renovation isn’t completely finished yet.

The single best word I can use to describe it is ‘flexible’. I can’t believe I never considered doing it before. It all became possible when I took down a wall – a wall I put up in the beginning because I thought we needed it.

Coming Together

In the post ‘Alternatives‘ I wrote a little history about how I have used the various rooms in my home. I was planning a BIG renovation – so big it had to be broken down into several phases.
Phase one of the BIG renovation took place on the weekend of March 22nd and was predominantly a demolition and construction phase. Some of the built in playroom components were moved, removed, or modified.

On the weekend of March 29th my husband and I worked on phase two of the renovation. We began on Friday after the last of the children had left but this phase took longer than expected. In fact, by suppertime on Sunday I was feeling a little panicked – what if it wasn’t going to be ready before the children arrived on Monday?

To be honest, I didn’t finish everything I planned to do in phase two. It took nearly 28 hours for this construction phase but there were a lot of loose things that got buried in corners and hidden away and most of the sorting and organizing stuff didn’t get done. Still, the space was usable.

It made spring break ‘interesting’ – kind of like playing hide & seek all day, every day. The first time one of the children went to do crafts they asked for the pencil crayons. I replied “All the craft supplies are easy for you to get right here on these shelves …. except the pencil crayons.” Grrr.

I’m sure some people would wonder why I’d choose to start such a major project before spring break. Spring break is a notoriously hectic time. Everyone is here for the full day and although the weather is improving we still spend more time indoors than out.

There were difficult periods, not everything went as planned but this was a good thing too. We got a chance to discover the flaws in the design before the project was complete.  Both the children and I had time to evaluated the space and recommend changes.

This past weekend was spent making some layout adjustments and finishing a few of the incomplete phase two projects.  I began some sorting and organizing and by Sunday afternoon the playroom looked like this;



As for the ‘finished’ project….we’re not there yet so I won’t include any other pictures. The plan is nearing completion. One more weekend to complete a couple of smaller components and some painting etc. We will have spent approximately 112 hours over 10 days working on the project.

Paper work is piling up on my desk. I’m neglecting the laundry and other household chores. Everything is coming together, slowly, and the big main floor renovation is nearing completion.  Then, over Easter I’ll have a four day weekend to recuperate and catch up on all that other stuff.

Working on Phase One

Last weekend my husband and I spent about 26 hours working on ‘phase one’ of the BIG play space renovation. The second phase of the project is scheduled for next weekend. This post does not contain details about the completed phase or the plans for the next phase. This post is about the process.

People have often commented on the childcare environment that my husband and I have created. Some remark that we manage to make every nook and cranny into a functional space. Many claim “I would just love to stay and play here all day – the children must love it”. Other family childcare providers wistfully say “I wish my husband would build/let me build something like this”.

By far the most common statement is “You two really work well together.” This one always makes me smile. They might not say that if they were here through the process. Yes, my husband and I have different strengths and together we can accomplish a lot. I am the planner, the detailer, the visionary. He is the mechanic, the physical labor, the force.

However, we also have very different methods that don’t always mesh (some may say our methods never mesh). Much like the tortoise and the hare we work at different speeds. I know that we have a limited amount of time and therefore I try to consolidate trips and organize supplies. As we disassemble the old stuff I spend a lot of time sorting and arranging the pieces that we may be able to reuse. I group pieces according to the part of the project they belong to. I trial fit pieces even though they are not part of the section we are currently working on.

My husband’s approach is more ‘frantic’. He is constantly darting back and forth making what I consider to be unnecessary trips. He dumps bins and digs through neatly organized piles in his haste to find something he wants. He complains that I am dawdling and we’ll never complete the project before the children return. He threatens to quit and leave all the tools and supplies out as ‘loose parts’.

The radio is on in the background – my husband must have music while he works – I block it out because it is not relevant to what I am doing. Periodically he asks ‘Who sings this?’ These random music trivia quizzes interrupt my train of thought and are distracting. He is both frustrated and amused that I cannot name the artist of a classic song.

He needs to cut a board and asks me for a measurement. I measure the space but there are fractions involved. I need paper – things don’t make sense to me until I write them down. He’s about to have a meltdown. “I’m cutting the board NOW – if you don’t give me a number I’m just going to make something up and that’s the way it will be!” I’ve measured the space and done calculations several times – each time I get a different result. The yelling doesn’t help.

He returns with the cut board, holds it in place and asks if that is what I want – I don’t respond. I didn’t hear him because I’m ‘rendering’. I’m standing still staring at the space and visualizing not only the current piece but also all the pieces that will connect to it – in this phase and the next phase too. I’m picturing children in the space. Can they reach that shelf? Will they climb? Will toys get knocked off the edge? “ARE YOU HAVING A STROKE?” he yells.

I pick up a piece of paper. He flips out. “Don’t you dare draw me a picture!”

“I have to. It’s the only way I can explain it to you.”

“I thought you had a plan already. How can you start a project without a plan?” he asks

“I had a plan but in phase two…”

“WE’RE NOT WORKING ON PHASE TWOOO!” He throws the board on the floor and stomps off. I suggest it may be a good time for a break. He can have something to eat while I’m drawing my picture. I can’t include the rest of the dialogue that accompanies the noise as he puts tools away. I don’t tell him that I’m really considering all the aspects of phase three and phase four….

Sometimes I wonder how we manage to complete these projects but we do. When they are complete we are both pleased with the finished project and eager to see how the children respond. During the process though the end result is very hard to see. I don’t have a photo of the process for this post. Instead, I’ll include one of my favourite paint color – Bison Brown. Mmmm, looks like melted chocolate….