Philosophy
Our Philosophy
"Kind Hearts, and Gentle Hands". If we would want children to learn one thing while in our care, it's what it means to be nice and kind to one another; having empathy, learning to say sorry, share, and give a hugs. Additionally, we teach children to have respect for themselves, their parents, and their classmates; being polite, making eye contact, saying good-morning, hello, and goodbye. Anyone can teach A,B,C's and change diapers; we strive to instill good morals, and make a positive and lasting difference in each childs' life.
We believe that the first years of a child's life is by far the most important, helping to lay the foundation for all intellectual and emotional development to follow. Through nurturing and individualized attention, we take great care to provide a warm, friendly, and fun environment for your child, while ensuring they receive the guidance and structure they need. We strive to nurture your child's ideas and imagination, acknowledge each child's individuality, and validate each personality. Our goal is to provide a place where children know that they are accepted, loved, protected, and wanted; helping to instill in each child a strong sense of self-worth and purpose. Our job is to make sure that each child has numerous positive experiences and interactions throughout each day. It is our hope that when the day is done, and children go home, they feel happy and proud of themselves; eager to express the happenings of their day to you.
Each and every day we feel privileged to have the opportunity to see the world through the eyes of a child, to join in their laughter, and to be included in their games. This is how we have chosen to spend our days. We are both very tolerant individuals with an enormous amount of patience. This coupled with our love for children makes us nurturing childcare providers. Having three children of our own, we understand how difficult it must be to leave your child in someone else's care. Because of this, we can appreciate the trust you must put in us on a daily basis. Therefore, our goal is to build your trust by being professional, dependable, honest, and most importantly caring for your child the same way we would want our own children to be cared for. We view our chosen profession as a career, not as just a job. Therefore, we look forward to keeping children smiling and safe for many years to come.
We feel that good communication between parent and provider is a very important part of a quality daycare. Because of this, we are committed to creating a strong bond with you and your child, helping to ensure the best start to your child's life. Our goal is that you feel completely confident and reassured when you leave your child in our care. Each child is different, unique, and special and will be treated as such. These carefree years are far too short. Therefore, we do not rush children through this fun filled time in their lives. Rather, each child is encouraged to develop and grow at their own pace. We understand that you are trusting us to care for your child, and we take this responsibility very seriously. We look forward to the opportunity to care for your child, while providing a positive influence in their life.
Behavior Management and Guidance Philosophy
We provide a daily routine that is flexible, yet structured, to ensure that children are comfortable with their surroundings and expectations. Children's interactions with one another are carefully watched, giving us an opportunity to help instill common values within each child. Through sensitivity and understanding we strive to teach each child in our care manners, kindness, and to be respectful towards others and their belongings. When a child displays inappropriate behavior towards others, he or she is encouraged to make amends through a sincere apology; all in a sustained effort to help teach children the basic understanding of right from wrong. Additionally sharing, taking turns, problem solving, and teamwork are stressed with equal importance, so that the children can learn to play harmoniously with one another; helping to lay the foundation for all social interactions to come later in life.
We believe that the guidance of a child is achieved through patience, consistency, and positive reinforcement. One of the influential ways positive reinforcement is used is during activities such as circle-time, reading, and etc. If two of the children amongst the group are listening well and paying attention, we commend the children who are following directions - "Thank you Billy and Hailey for listening so well. Great job!”. If a younger child is given the responsibility of carrying a cup of milk across the room with no lid on it, we would say things such as - "Wow what a big boy, look how good you’re carrying that cup and not spilling!". These subtle words spoken have the affect of reinforcing positive actions, and at the same time, drowns out the influence of negative actions and thoughts, either upon oneself and/or from others in the group. This simple technique is used with great success by many top professionals in the childcare field, and is why we have adopted this reinforcement by positive reinforcement outlook into Building Blocks Home Daycare's core belief system.
Another of the ways in which we do this is by the example we, as childcare providers, set. We understand that our actions and reactions speak much louder than our words. The children are explained and shown the rules of the daycare frequently, so they know what’s expected of them. Once a child is old enough to understand the rules and disobeys them, by exhibiting inappropriate behavior (hitting, aggression, etc), hurts others, or property, the following developmentally appropriate guidance techniques will be used.
- Positive Reinforcement: The child will be encouraged when he or she is demonstrating acceptable behavior.
- Redirection: The child is redirected to another activity and given an opportunity to try again at another time.
- Time-Out: When a child is old enough to understand the concept of time-out (usually around 18 months), the child is separated from the group for an age appropriate amount of time (one minute per one year of age). This technique is only used as a last resort, when a child repeatedly will not follow our directions or listen to our words, is exhibiting temper tantrum type behavior, or hurting ones self, others or property. When the child shows that he or she is ready to demonstrate acceptable behavior, they are encouraged to join the rest of the group.
- Last Resort: When a child’s behavior is continually upsetting or dangerous to others, a conference will be called with the parents. If the problems cannot be resolved, arrangements will have to be made for the child to go elsewhere for care.
