God's Garden is many things, and like most gardens, still growing!
We offer a morning half-day Christian preschool curriculum for children 18 months to school age. This is available Monday through Friday from 8:30 am until 11:30am.
We also offer full-time and part-time care for children ages 18 months to 10 years in a Christian home environment.
Our hours are:
Monday through Friday 6:30 am to 10:30 pm.
Saturdays as a drop in, as needed basis. Just call to reserve a spot!
For more info, please email: GodsGardenHomePreK@yahoo.com
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Messy Yard Art
Today was an amazingly fun-filled day at God's Garden!!
We enrolled our first boy this morning, so now we've evened the scale! My lil pinkalicious princess now has someone to play with who can expand her thinking to more than just princesses and pink! What a joy to watch them play together! Jay enjoys having another boy around too. They get to play a little louder, faster, and rougher than when there was just a sweet-as-pie princess!
This morning, Jay had a friend from school come over with her two little sisters. So, we had six kids in all and they all had a blast! After a fun, singing/dancing/story time with my two pre-K kids, we headed outside to expand our thoughts about circles! They're not all flat!! (and, they're not all perfectly round!) I gave the kids plates of paint and many different sizes of balls. They got to dip the balls into the paint and toss it at a big piece of paper that I had clothes-pinned to the fence. Oh what fun they had!!! Some of them had trouble - just at first - getting used to the idea that they really could get as messy as they wanted! Go ahead!! THROW THAT PAINT! I encouraged them all until they had as much paint on them as they did on the paper! Then, forget the balls, we want to finger paint! Starting out with hand-prints, the kids got into painting with their fingers, then sticks they found on the ground, even some rocks, and then Jay (OH JAY) took the bottles of paint and just started tossing it at his paper! At that point - as beautiful as his creation was - I had to put a stop to it or I'd run out of paint (which I think I came close to doing anyway)!!!
Stay tuned for the rest of the week! I've got several more art projects in mind as we explore circles, ovals and crescents with various materials!
We enrolled our first boy this morning, so now we've evened the scale! My lil pinkalicious princess now has someone to play with who can expand her thinking to more than just princesses and pink! What a joy to watch them play together! Jay enjoys having another boy around too. They get to play a little louder, faster, and rougher than when there was just a sweet-as-pie princess!
This morning, Jay had a friend from school come over with her two little sisters. So, we had six kids in all and they all had a blast! After a fun, singing/dancing/story time with my two pre-K kids, we headed outside to expand our thoughts about circles! They're not all flat!! (and, they're not all perfectly round!) I gave the kids plates of paint and many different sizes of balls. They got to dip the balls into the paint and toss it at a big piece of paper that I had clothes-pinned to the fence. Oh what fun they had!!! Some of them had trouble - just at first - getting used to the idea that they really could get as messy as they wanted! Go ahead!! THROW THAT PAINT! I encouraged them all until they had as much paint on them as they did on the paper! Then, forget the balls, we want to finger paint! Starting out with hand-prints, the kids got into painting with their fingers, then sticks they found on the ground, even some rocks, and then Jay (OH JAY) took the bottles of paint and just started tossing it at his paper! At that point - as beautiful as his creation was - I had to put a stop to it or I'd run out of paint (which I think I came close to doing anyway)!!!
Stay tuned for the rest of the week! I've got several more art projects in mind as we explore circles, ovals and crescents with various materials!
Sunday, June 3, 2012
God's Garden Handbook Highlights
god’s Garden home child care &
Preschool
HANDBOOK (highlights)
HANDBOOK (highlights)
Who we
are and what we do
God’s Garden Home Child Care and
Preschool (GG) is a licensed home child care program, and we follow the rules
and guidelines of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and
the Shawnee County Health Agency (SCHA) and run our business according to such
guidelines.
We
strive to provide your child a happy and safe home environment rich with fun
learning opportunities. Our program
gives special emphasis to helping children grow and develop socially,
emotionally, physically, cognitively and above all else, spiritually. We believe that in order for educational
learning to take place and positive, healthy relationships to build, children
must feel safe and comfortable with their surroundings. We show children the
love of God in every area of our program.
We also believe that
parents/guardians and caregivers need to work together in order to provide the
most positive experience for the children.
We offer many opportunities for parents to get involved in what goes on
at GG as well as provide daily communication to parents about your child’s
activities. It is very important for us
to have open communication at all times.
We will let you know if we have concerns about your child. I ask that you also keep me informed of any
changes in routine, difficult sleep nights, changes in eating, etc that may
affect your child’s day at GG. If you
have concerns that you wish to discuss outside of your child’s hearing range,
feel free to call at your earliest convenience.
I respect your privacy and will not share information with other
families about your child or family. In
return, I expect you to respect my family’s privacy and our time together after
business hours.
Curriculum
& Activities
We use a broad monthly theme
accompanied by more specific emphasis in weekly themes (example, the monthly
theme may be “God made people” and a weekly theme would be “God made families”
where we’d talk about all the different kinds of families and what makes ours
special.) Themes and lessons will be
planned and posted on our white board for parents to stay informed of our
activities.
Two lessons per day are presented in
a variety of ways including, but not limited to: music, finger plays, creative
dramatics, stories, fitness and movement, arts and craft activities with a
variety of materials.
All of our lessons are Biblically
based, while incorporating preschool and Kindergarten readiness skills. We
teach children how God and the Bible are active in our everyday world. Most of our lessons come from Boz the Bear’s
Preschool book. For more info on Boz,
check out: www.bozthebear.com
GG also maintains an online blog for
parents to keep up-to-date on our activities. We would love for you to follow
our blog and participate in all that is going on here at GG!
GG
follows a daily routine to assist children in regulating themselves and to
foster security that a regular schedule can provide. In general, our day typically looks like
this:
6:30am Welcome & Free Play
8:00am BREAKFAST, brush teeth
8:45am Lesson Time
9:30am AM Activity
10:15am Outside/Social Time
11:30am come in, clean up, play in kitchen
while lunch is being prepared
12:00pm LUNCH, brush teeth, set out cots
12:45pm NAP
3:15pm SNACK
4:00pm PM Activity/Homework time for school
aged kids
4:45pm Outside/Social time until parents come
Vacation & Holidays
GG
will be closed the following
holidays which are paid holidays (IF they fall on a
regular business day):
New Year’s
Day, 4th and 5th
of July, Thanksgiving Day and the
following day, Dec 24th, 25th
and 26th.
If any of these holidays fall on a Sunday, GG
will not close an extra day and your regular weekly rate will be the same.
The provider is entitled to four (4) unpaid personal days each calendar year to be used at her discretion to cover provider illness, family crisis, professional development, or various other instances when a substitute is unavailable and the provider may need to close the facility for a day. It is the parents’, grandparents’, or legal guardian’s responsibility to have a “back up” plan if the facility is closed. All substitutes will be called first, and as much notice as possible will be given in any of these instances if a sub cannot be available.
The facility will be closed one full week per year for the provider’s paid vacation – usually the first full week of August. The provider will give a minimum of two months written notice of the exact dates.
When your child is absent for any reason (vacation, illness, etc) the regular weekly fee is still due.
The provider is entitled to four (4) unpaid personal days each calendar year to be used at her discretion to cover provider illness, family crisis, professional development, or various other instances when a substitute is unavailable and the provider may need to close the facility for a day. It is the parents’, grandparents’, or legal guardian’s responsibility to have a “back up” plan if the facility is closed. All substitutes will be called first, and as much notice as possible will be given in any of these instances if a sub cannot be available.
The facility will be closed one full week per year for the provider’s paid vacation – usually the first full week of August. The provider will give a minimum of two months written notice of the exact dates.
When your child is absent for any reason (vacation, illness, etc) the regular weekly fee is still due.
If you think you will have trouble
finding alternate care during these times, I can offer a few referrals of
church friends who do home daycare or my substitutes who may be willing to care
for your child(ren) individually, or you can call Child Care Aware at
785-357-5171 to assist you.
Meals
GG participates in the Child and
Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) which means that we provide nutritionally
balanced meals and receive three visits a year from Food Program staff. The menus are posted in the kitchen on the
refrigerator.
We are sensitive to the nutritional
needs of everyone who eats here at the center.
We follow an all-natural diet and do not serve any processed foods with
artificial ingredients, food colorings/dyes, or preservatives. Also, if your child has an allergy or intolerance
to any food, please be sure to tell Jessica as well as writing it down in our sign
up paperwork to keep on file. We will be
sure not to serve your child those foods and let you know when those foods are
served to others here at the center.
Because of these sensitivities, I ask that you do not bring food to
child care unless prior arrangements have been made. (For more info on what we serve or why we are
all natural, please visit: www.feingold.org)
Guidance
GG follows Love and Logic techniques
for discipline. We believe modeling is
the best teaching tool, and we strive to model kind, thoughtful and caring
behavior at all times. All children will be treated with love and respect in my
home. Starting when they are very young,
we begin teaching them how to ask for help and problem-solve with their peers. We
encourage the children to think for themselves by offering two safe and
appropriate choices in any situation.
Most discipline issues can be managed by the environment, such as making
sure there are enough hands-on activities for everyone. I will never withhold food, use shame,
intimidation or physical punishment to manage behaviors. I also do not use a reward system, but I do
use language that teaches independence, encouragement, negotiation skills and
empathy.
*For more info on Love and Logic,
please read “Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood” by Jim Fay and Dr.
Charles Fay. Or you can check them out
online at: www.loveandlogic.com
Birthdays and Celebrations
We celebrate most holidays with a
party in the afternoon. I encourage you
to join us for celebrations, but please let me know ahead of time if you want
to bring treats. We are very sensitive
to the nutritional needs of everyone who will be participating in the
celebration.
Thank
you for your time and consideration in reading and abiding by the policies
stated in this handbook.
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