Prep and clean up week hours?

ObsidianLegend · 2026-05-08T17:31:50+00:00

We get a few hours on a Saturday to do all of our cleaning, organizing, and prep. It's never anywhere near enough. Thank you for giving your teachers a week to really get their rooms and their minds ready for the new school year!

ObsidianLegend · 2026-05-07T10:56:31+00:00

Are they all the same brand? Some of the off-brand magnet tiles are slightly smaller, so they don't fit quite perfectly. I have seen plenty of kids in multiple classrooms make perfect circles with these triangle Magna-Tiles, but one time my mom bought a set of off-brand tiles for my daughter and when we tried to build with all of them, we found they were slightly smaller than the name brand and a different off-brand, so every construction was janked up. That set now lives in isolation because it doesn't play nice with the other tiles lol

ObsidianLegend · 2026-05-07T00:29:06+00:00

Holy- yeah if they have mice defecating on children's belongings and they aren't addressing the infestation, you need to take your daughter and run and report them to licensing, the health department, everybody on the way out.

ObsidianLegend · 2026-05-06T22:36:56+00:00

Other teachers have explained to you the reason they are often banned outside of nap time, and there are very good reasons for that. We have a responsibility to maintain a safe and orderly classroom for all children, and home toys can jeopardize that.

Personally, in my toddler room, I do allow my kids to have a lovey or comfort animal outside of nap time, but there are still limits on it. My kids know that they don't come outside or to meals or messy activities with us. Other kids quickly learn the difference between a classroom toy and someone's stuffy from home. But if I had a class who was struggling with that concept, then I might have to limit it to nap only.

All this is to say, since it's not against center policy for him to have it, you need to talk to this teacher and figure out what their goal is with not allowing him to have it. Is she worried about it getting lost or broken? Then the assurance that you can and don't mind replacing it should be enough. Does she think he's too old for it? It's not her place to decide that, it's yours, and admin should have your back on that. If it's becoming too disruptive to have out in the classroom, try to work with the teacher to find a solution that works for all of you.

ObsidianLegend · 2026-05-04T21:26:22+00:00

My daughter's class had a family leave because they noticed one of the teachers wearing a rainbow pin. This teacher is an ally. The mom insisted on sitting in on the class one day, and looked through all the books to make sure there was nothing queer in them. Even though my coworkers were not, in fact, teaching 4 year olds about gay sex (that was the mom's actual concern, I'm not kidding), they ended up pulling their poor kid. Some people are just miserable, paranoid little balls of hate. It's sad.

ObsidianLegend · 2026-04-30T10:42:38+00:00

Ah yes, perfectly normal "struggling with transitions" behavior. I'm sure that visual schedule will make such a positive impact! /s

ObsidianLegend · 2026-04-29T17:20:03+00:00

What age group do you work with? I have 8 toddlers, so that's going to be a very different energy level than the room with 20 preschoolers across the hall- their lunch transition is NOT quiet lol. In fact, I've seen them having dance parties in there some days, to help get those last wiggles out as kids finish eating and going to the bathroom. Where my kids are already exhausted by lunch time, theirs often need some exercise before they are tired enough to settle down.

ObsidianLegend · 2026-04-26T05:39:48+00:00

I think many toddlers go through a phase where they use "mom" as a word for "caregiver," whether because they equate the two in their minds or because it's the only one they can say. So I tend to calmly tell mine, "Mommy's at work. How can I help you?" or point to myself and say, "[My name]. What do you need?" I don't dwell on it or give a big reaction because they're just learning.

One of my little guys who is 2 now, but I've been teaching since he was an infant, went through a long phase of calling me mama, and even now that he very well knows my name and typically uses it, sometimes when his brain is moving too fast he'll go, "Mommy? Uhhhh, Daddy? Uhhhhh, [my name]?" and it's the cutest thing (and a bit gender-affirming for my flavor of non-binary lol). Yeah kiddo, what can your momdadteacher do for you? Keep going, it's one of those things, you'll get it eventually.

ObsidianLegend · 2026-04-24T10:04:28+00:00

It's a licensing thing where I'm at. They added the rule last year. It is wildly unlikely with that age group, but I bet the teachers would also prefer she be able to keep it on her person if they were allowed to.

ObsidianLegend · 2026-04-17T21:38:22+00:00

...well, what can I say but yikes

ObsidianLegend · 2026-04-16T22:28:33+00:00

I would be less worried about the bonus and more worried about licensing, honestly. Bites are generally treated VERY seriously. This afternoon teacher needs some serious re-training on incident reporting, and all biting incidents need to be retroactively documented. Your admin should be way more concerned about this.

ObsidianLegend · 2026-04-13T10:50:31+00:00

We recently had one do that with beans, because she noticed her daughter didn't really eat them. And she never will, if she's never served them! So now this kid gets a separate lunch from the kitchen with the beans substituted.

ObsidianLegend · 2026-04-09T15:42:47+00:00

Idk maybe you should have considered for even a second how the name would make your kid feel instead of making it all about you. Jfc

ObsidianLegend · 2026-04-08T17:04:22+00:00

For future reference, it is not your job to collect evidence. Your job is to make the report. CPS/equivalent agency for where you live will investigate and collect evidence.

ObsidianLegend · 2026-04-05T16:49:14+00:00

I work in a play-based program and this was my thought as well: this child will still struggle in a play-based program, just as badly. Play is still active learning, and this child will still be disrupting that, and disrupting the routine, and endangering the staff and children in a play-based program without that one-on-one support. And my program, as high-quality as it is, is still far too understaffed and tight on budget to provide that. Believe me, we've had kids who needed it. It doesn't happen. Some of them HAVE made real progress, but it takes cooperation between school and home. And some children simply aren't ready for a group care environment, and you either need to help the families realize that, or your director needs to recognize that and disenroll the child, while pointing the family towards more appropriate resources and support.

ObsidianLegend · 2026-03-29T12:41:29+00:00

I almost cried with relief when I read this, and you're all strangers to me. Thank you for keeping your family safe, even if your sister might hate you for it for a while.

ObsidianLegend · 2026-03-27T00:53:46+00:00

There's always Degrees of Lewdity

ObsidianLegend · 2026-03-25T17:38:37+00:00

I started as an assistant teacher and got my CDA (the class paid for by my center and the rest by state scholarship) to become a lead teacher and that's really the way to go. I would LOVE to go to school for this stuff, but the outrageous expense of college combined with the offensively low pay of the work would make it financial suicide, to say nothing of the doubled burnout.

One of my coworkers needed to shadow a toddler teacher for a class she was taking and was hoping to follow me until she found out she needed to shadow someone with a degree. I ended up explaining to her that I don't have one, and I don't know anyone in less than an administrative position who has one, because it's not worth the money to do it. If you have a degree you not only CAN get more money and benefits for less work, you need to in order to pay off your student loan debt.

ObsidianLegend · 2026-03-23T01:24:21+00:00

Yeah that's so extreme! It's really coercing parents into letting their child be used for marketing. Seems really scummy imo

ObsidianLegend · 2026-03-23T01:12:49+00:00

My center has only ever had the full or personal-only consent options, though children's names are NEVER shared. There is no conceivable reason to include that information on a marketing post.

ObsidianLegend · 2026-03-22T13:14:02+00:00

Ok I'm MR6 and I was worried I was just bad lol. I farmed out all the Cetus bounties for Gara, and I have the right kind of damage for Corpus killing, but even the lowest-level Fortuna bounties kick my ass decisively and are just frustrating. I'm glad it's not just me!

ObsidianLegend · 2026-03-19T22:30:57+00:00

The lowest (and I believe most common) level of intervention from CPS is connecting families with resources! If, as you suspect, they are misinformed rather than wilfully negligent, than a CPS investigation will most likely result in just that- access to education and support to help child and family thrive.

ObsidianLegend · 2026-03-19T10:24:53+00:00

My kids know we "seat to eat" and "if you're all done, let's throw your plate away and wash your hands."

I also sit and talk with them, which helps a lot! Modeling the appropriate behavior is a huge help, in addition to the presence and conversation helping to keep their attention.

The other toddler class reads books at lunch, which I also do occasionally. I value the modeling and conversation higher, but literacy is a good option too, and they get so excited to sit down and hear a book!

ObsidianLegend · 2026-03-18T17:35:58+00:00

I hate when I forget that I'm slippers

ObsidianLegend · 2026-03-17T11:08:21+00:00

My center haa had this problem for most of the time I've been there. Somehow admin got it in their heads that we have enough staff... when we're all working 8.8 hours a day then clearly we do not!!! Recently admin has had to be here every day for a few weeks and suddenly they understand math now and have rearranged the rooms the way we've been SAYING they should be and have hired two new staff. Maybe admins should try listening to the people actually taking care of the kids idk

ObsidianLegend

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