Hi there!
Long time reader, first time poster...
I was just made into room leader for the 1-2 age group.
And I am 'freaking' out just a little bit.
So I guess my first question... where do I start?
New room leader
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chickensoup
- Newbie
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2012 4:25 pm
New room leader
Last edited by Lorina on Tue Jan 01, 2013 2:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic moved from General Discussions forum
Reason: Topic moved from General Discussions forum
Re: New room leader
Congratulations!
OK, the first place to start is to get to know the families and children as best as possible. Since it's the beginning of the year you wont have to worry about observations, portfolio's etc for another couple of weeks so best to start forming relationships within the room. Talk to each parent, try and find out as much possible such as interests, milestones that may have happened at home, likes, dislikes, feeding habits, sleep times, etc... keep a note of these for each child or add these onto the program to follow up on and extend on.
If you want you could also re-organize and change the room around. Depending on how big and how much space you have to work with, for babies you could add a sensory area, book corner, art/feeding area, home corner, exploration area, puzzle area, construction area and enough space for walk along/push along toys.
You could also start setting up your wall displays. Figuring out what you're going to add onto each wall and where. Maybe you could ask parents to bring in family photos that you could add onto the wall at child's level, you could take individual photos of each child and add them too, birthday charts, programming information etc.
It's exciting to be in charge of your own room because you get to decide what you want to do and how you want to do it!
Hopefully this gives you some ideas,
,
L.A
OK, the first place to start is to get to know the families and children as best as possible. Since it's the beginning of the year you wont have to worry about observations, portfolio's etc for another couple of weeks so best to start forming relationships within the room. Talk to each parent, try and find out as much possible such as interests, milestones that may have happened at home, likes, dislikes, feeding habits, sleep times, etc... keep a note of these for each child or add these onto the program to follow up on and extend on.
If you want you could also re-organize and change the room around. Depending on how big and how much space you have to work with, for babies you could add a sensory area, book corner, art/feeding area, home corner, exploration area, puzzle area, construction area and enough space for walk along/push along toys.
You could also start setting up your wall displays. Figuring out what you're going to add onto each wall and where. Maybe you could ask parents to bring in family photos that you could add onto the wall at child's level, you could take individual photos of each child and add them too, birthday charts, programming information etc.
It's exciting to be in charge of your own room because you get to decide what you want to do and how you want to do it!
Hopefully this gives you some ideas,
,L.A
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Re: New room leader
HI chickensoup
Congrats! One of the things I do is sned out/give out a 'getting to know you' page. It asks parents things like - names of everyone in family, pets, child's interests, things that are their children's strengths, sports/activities their child does etc. I can then plan activities based on their interests. I have found in the past that you can get quite a few that have the same interests etc and it makes it easy for you to plan things that the children will really be interested in.
Keep in close contact with the families, do your best to chat to them at pick up/drop off time etc.
Introduce yourself - let the families know who you are - things like letting them know whether you have pets, your hobbies etc. this can help find common ground for future chats etc.
It is a lot to do to start with, so just take baby steps and remember to breathe
Cathiek
Congrats! One of the things I do is sned out/give out a 'getting to know you' page. It asks parents things like - names of everyone in family, pets, child's interests, things that are their children's strengths, sports/activities their child does etc. I can then plan activities based on their interests. I have found in the past that you can get quite a few that have the same interests etc and it makes it easy for you to plan things that the children will really be interested in.
Keep in close contact with the families, do your best to chat to them at pick up/drop off time etc.
Introduce yourself - let the families know who you are - things like letting them know whether you have pets, your hobbies etc. this can help find common ground for future chats etc.
It is a lot to do to start with, so just take baby steps and remember to breathe
Cathiek
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chickensoup
- Newbie
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2012 4:25 pm
Re: New room leader
Thank you!
I think now I've had a few days to wrap my head around having the role I am feeling much better.
There are a few things I would like to introduce straight of the bat, such as Reading the children a goodnight story while they are falling asleep. I also want to introduce the children to classical music, from what I've read this kind of music really helps with brain development. As much as I know the children love the Wiggles and High 5, I think they need to be exposed to other music they may not typically encounter.
I am a very big on messy play, I think children should be able to get dirty, jump in puddles, anything that can be made dirty can be made clean again.
Is it ok to ask parents if they have old shirts or if they don't mind if little johnny comes home with paint in his hair from time to time? I wish I had known about this forum when I was in school, so many great ideas and everyone is very supportive!
I think now I've had a few days to wrap my head around having the role I am feeling much better.
There are a few things I would like to introduce straight of the bat, such as Reading the children a goodnight story while they are falling asleep. I also want to introduce the children to classical music, from what I've read this kind of music really helps with brain development. As much as I know the children love the Wiggles and High 5, I think they need to be exposed to other music they may not typically encounter.
I am a very big on messy play, I think children should be able to get dirty, jump in puddles, anything that can be made dirty can be made clean again.
Is it ok to ask parents if they have old shirts or if they don't mind if little johnny comes home with paint in his hair from time to time? I wish I had known about this forum when I was in school, so many great ideas and everyone is very supportive!
Re: New room leader
Hi Chickensoup
In relation to messy play, I give my parents plenty of warning when there is messy stuff happening & even show photos from previous years so they can see I mean MESSY! This way they can put in a change of clothes and ensure their child wears something old. Of course, I cannot expect them to do this all the time, so on other messy days when we are playing with goop or doing finger painting, and other sensory stuff, they wear art shirts. Parents don't seem to mind if a bit of paint etc goes astray.
All the best with your new role.
Cathiek
In relation to messy play, I give my parents plenty of warning when there is messy stuff happening & even show photos from previous years so they can see I mean MESSY! This way they can put in a change of clothes and ensure their child wears something old. Of course, I cannot expect them to do this all the time, so on other messy days when we are playing with goop or doing finger painting, and other sensory stuff, they wear art shirts. Parents don't seem to mind if a bit of paint etc goes astray.
All the best with your new role.
Cathiek
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catchmeifucan
- Coach
- Posts: 358
- Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 7:17 pm
Re: New room leader
Reading the children a goodnight story while falling asleep is a nice idea to add into the sleep routine. If you need that extra time to get things done you could probably put on a story c.d or cassette that the children could listen to while you get them organized for sleep time. I also find it helpful putting on sleep time music as this relaxes the children and usually gets them sleepy and tired (sometimes this music even makes me want to sleep). lol…
Usually parents should already be sending their child in “old” clothes which they don’t mind getting dirty but yeah its probably best to check with them before you begin messy play. Remember to take plenty of photos!
Usually parents should already be sending their child in “old” clothes which they don’t mind getting dirty but yeah its probably best to check with them before you begin messy play. Remember to take plenty of photos!
