Guest Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 So after attending an abc does... conference I am super excited about starting the new term with all of Alistair's fab advice. I'm pretty happy about my 'routine' but the one sticking point that I can't seem to get right is the way in which we finish each session and do home time. We currently finish at 11.45 with parents coming straight in to collect so there isn't a big rush. However this means that children are on the carpet for up to twenty minutes, and because some are leaving it we end up singing as this something children feel happier to leave during rather than not hearing the end of a story. We have always done 'stay on the carpet until we call your name' which is at times a logistical nightmare as children get anxious, or simply cannot wait. I did visit a playgroup where the parents were simply 'let in' once all of the children were sitting down and they simply found their adult. Does anyone do this? We also have a real mix of children at the moment and whilst some will happily sit and listen to a story, others clearly are not ready. I had been splitting the group and getting children who weren't ready for a sit down carpet time to do a more active things but to be honest they are just wanting to run around and make lots of noise or hide! I know that tidy up time is important however part of me feels that we are a little too tidy too quickly and that children are hanging around at the end rather than being in purposeful activities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 When you say they are there for up to 20 minutes whereabouts is this time? I mean are you all ready on the carpet 10-20 minutes before 11.45? Or are you ready on the dot at 11.45 and parents are then 20 minutes late? If it's late parents I'm not sure what to do about that (I'm sure others will have ideas!), however if it's that you are ready too early perhaps you could look at changing how you let the parents in as you say. If you're looking to avoid a rush of parents and children in the cloakroom perhaps you could have a system whereby once the children are tidied up they get their coats on ready to go and then sit on the carpet. That way parents who are there for 11.45 could be let in altogether, rather than having a trickle of them meaning a long time waiting for some children and they could go straight away rather than having to clog up your coat area. If parents are being let in at one set time you could obviously adjust your tidy up time accordingly so that it wasn't so early. It's difficult without knowing more about your setup to know whether just letting the parents in would work. If you were doing this would you have some way of knowing a child wasn't sneaking out or leaving with an unknown adult? Do you have the staff to post someone on the door solely to keep a sharp eye out to prevent this happening? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fimbo Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 in my setting we all get coats on etc 15 mins before we finish -this takes about 5 mins -we then have story / songs etc. door is then opened and manned by member of staff -each child is called up as their parent comes to the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 At about 5 mins before home time they all join hands and make a circle and sit down and then the bookbags are given out and we sing the going home song, then an adult leaves to open the exterior door. if it all works to plan, then the parents gather outside the main door which is opened by a member of staff at 12 ( they then stay by that door), the parents line up by the internal door and the memebr of staff inside calls each childs name as there adult reaches the front of the line. sometimes there is another adult on the carpet, sometimes thee name caller is sat on the carpet with a child if they are having a problem. We tend to have a rule that they cannot have there name called to go unless they are sitting down sometimes it takes a few goes but they get the idea. Have been known to have little siblings come and join the circle while they wait for their adult to reach the front of the queue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rea Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 Our children go to the mat at about 10-15 mins before the end of the session for stories, singing, show and tell and at the end at 11.30 we open the door and all the parents come in. Each child and parent find each other, put the coats on, chat to staff and leave. A member of staff stays at the door to ensure no-one leaves without and adult and also ticks they have left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panders Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 Our children go to the mat at about 10-15 mins before the end of the session for stories, singing, show and tell and at the end at 11.30 we open the door and all the parents come in. Each child and parent find each other, put the coats on, chat to staff and leave. A member of staff stays at the door to ensure no-one leaves without and adult and also ticks they have left. My routine is very similar, the children are sitting on small chairs for their story,song,newstime, we get the children ready to go and when we finish, we all sing a goodbye song together I then open the doors and children wait until they are called forward to the doorway to their parent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 My routine is very similar, the children are sitting on small chairs for their story,song,newstime, we get the children ready to go and when we finish, we all sing a goodbye song together I then open the doors and children wait until they are called forward to the doorway to their parent. Exactly the same for us.......must be a 'Kent' thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lashes2508 Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 at my previous setting - we had circle time (approx 15 mins before end) with children sat on chairs for show and tell, one member of staff led show and tell whilst 2 others sorted children art work , letters etc and placed under their chair. This way the children all had their belongings and the staff could be on hand to deal with any issues with as little disruption to others doing show and tell. We had a large foyer for parents to wait and then each child was called and sent out only when responsible adult/parent was visible. worked well but at times could be a little chaotic if we needed to chat to a parent. At my setting now children were being seated and then all parents let in ( small waiting space for parents)whilst member of staff is at door for safefty. We have tried to adopt the seated on chairs approach and feed back from parents so far they seem to prefer it , less choatic and saves time collecting childrens belongings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Thanks everyone for great replies. We are on the carpet for around 11.40 so it is only supposed to be 10 minutes however we get a 'trickle' of parents which means that children are 'waiting' with no real quality carpet session happening. I like the idea of simply letting all parents in and a member of staff placed at the door for safety. Can I just ask do the children cope with this ok? What happens to children whose grown up hasn't arrived? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panders Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Thanks everyone for great replies. We are on the carpet for around 11.40 so it is only supposed to be 10 minutes however we get a 'trickle' of parents which means that children are 'waiting' with no real quality carpet session happening. I like the idea of simply letting all parents in and a member of staff placed at the door for safety. Can I just ask do the children cope with this ok? What happens to children whose grown up hasn't arrived? Bearing in mind we are pre-school - my parents know that I open the door at 12.15 and they are expected, as mentioned in our arrival and departure policy to be there reasonably promptly!!! All adults and that can be up to 4 others whilst I am at the door are dotted about with the children sitting together. The children do not know any other system other than to wait - for newcomers they have their dedicated adult to sit with until their parent arrives. The children quickly get used to sitting and waiting and if a parent is particularly late obviously they still have at least one adult sitting with them whilst the others are doing other jobs. This adult reassures them and would read a story or just talk to them until their parent arrives, very occasionally, they may join the other children who are staying on for lunch club at the lunch table and we would give them a small snack to eat while waiting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 We are on the carpet for around 11.40 so it is only supposed to be 10 minutes however we get a 'trickle' of parents which means that children are 'waiting' with no real quality carpet session happening. clarew82 - what is your official finish time? why only a trickle? as panders our children soon get used to the system but because the line of parents is constant they are constantly watching for theirs and you get to know the late ones so you tend to place adults accordingly. ( hope i have done the quote right have never tried before!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 ours on a chair in hall, only sitting for 5 mins we sing goodbye song and parents come into hall to collect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumperrabbit Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Ours sit on the carpet in their key groups with their key person and all the parent/carers collect from the mat. Leader is positioned on the outside door to prevent any escapees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 we sit ours on the floor and sing a story and good bye song I have introduced an earlier leaving time for the 2 year olds 10 minutes as they were getting restiless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumperrabbit Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 we sit ours on the floor and sing a story and good bye song I have introduced an earlier leaving time for the 2 year olds 10 minutes as they were getting restiless Do you charge less for these 2 year olds then?? It is something we thought about, especially since the move to 3 hours, our 2 year olds really seem to struggle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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