Rethinking Nursery Children Care

The training brought so many things up for me about how I have been with the little ones for that past two years in my work.  I have been reading a bit of Steiner...talking to my lead teacher and just trying to watch and imitate her and the Kindergarten teachers.  I feel like I just couldn't find myself.  I wanted to remain authentic but "fix" myself so as to work on things...like the volume of my voice, the quality of my speech, the speed of my movements.   I just didn't know which way to go...should I be like this one or that one..who is the model that I should look too?   One teacher always whispers....another teacher sings alot...What is right?  

Now that I have completed Phase I of my training...which to me seems like Finishing School...I learned so much about walking and talking...and the various schools of thought on how best to BE around children (See the first post " Be Like A Madonna").  Now I feel I have solid directions for self-improvement.    Because the bottom line that I got over those two weeks was this...Where I am on the inside is what affects the children...and to be the person I want to be and need to be for the children on the inside...I have to authentically be this person all the time...and physically and spiritually support myself on this path.

Then there is the Nursery Setting itself at the school I at which I work.  Seeing the Sophia's Hearth Childcare Space was absolutely amazing.  Everything was designed to follow the Emmi Pikler Ideals with a melding of the Steiner Indications.   The childcare center there, I believe, can accommodate children that are crawling to 3 or 4 years old.

The area for the crawling children is not extremely large...It is just large enough to accommodate their toy shelf...play mat space and changing table....all so simple.

This space has a half door which leads to the walking children's childcare room.

Here is a close-up of the toys in the crawling children's room:

See here  a view of the crawling children's space as seen from their separate sleeping quarters. There is the split door in the background,

Here is the split (Dutch) door leading into the crawling children's childcare s pace looking from the walking children's room.

Here is the crawling children's changing table

 The walking children's childcare room is a much larger space, with cubbies, toy shelves, a toy kitchen, a sectioned off kitchen and a bathroom.   The changing table in the bathroom is a Pikler type where the children are diapered standing.  According to the Pikler method, once a child is walking they should be diapered standing up. Here is a view of the bathroom with a changing table that can accommodate a taller, walking child. The tub is there in case any children need therapeutic baths.

Here is the toy kitchen with some dolls and baskets.  I also have those colanders..they come from the montessori website.

Oooh.  What a grand idea.   The low hanging hammock.  It is very securely installed into the wall studs.  They prefer the non-nylon mesh kind as the full cloth variety gives a good amount of uniform constant pressure on the child's body...allowing an awareness of the body.

            
AAAh.  The cozy chair.  This is in the opposite corner to the hammock.  If you are sitting in this chair...to your left would be the play kitchen shown earlier.

 Those awesome wooden cubes are made by a local company in New Hampshire ( Whtiney Brothers) .  And the floors are cork.  The rugs are wool or cotton.  I really like the cozy chair idea...I personally find it hard to get comfy on a rocking chair.  Additionally, kids and cat's tails seem to get in trouble with rocking chairs.

A toy shelf for the walking children....wooden bridges and blocks. That's pretty much it for toys.

The walking children's room has two size tables and variable sized stools.  It is important that the children have their feet well-grounded while eating.

Here are the sleeping futons for the walking children.  These futons are about three inches thick and made of organic cotton.  I was told they are about $70 each and made by a company out west.   There is an additional duvet and sheepskin rolled up into each as well as a sleep toy which is made by the staff and is uniform for all the children.

 
I think it was a knitted kitty. About 9 children at present stay for rest in the walking children room. Tents are not made over the futons. They are simply rolled out and ready before lunch and the children just finish lunch and go to their futons.

Weighted blankets are used if a child has trouble settling down. These are relatively easy to make...with sand or beans filled into sewed up pockets in a blanket.

Here is a view into the kitchen from the play area. The kitchen is segregated from the play area according to New Hampshire child care facility guidelines.

What struck me...after I was struck by the wonder of what I was seeing...was what I was not seeing.    I did not see a rocking chair, dress up clothes, play stands, wooden houses with animals or people, push or pull toys, wooden clips, small rocks or shells.

They also do not require that the children bring lunch boxes...They cook lunch for the children as well as provide their snacks.

The simplicity of this perspective on Nursery age childcare was refreshing.   I am always a fan of decluttering or purging as I like to call it.    Maybe this is something to think about for the younger set.  At the Nursery age...i.e., 3 or less years...They really aren't small five year olds...we can't superimpose the trappings of a Waldorf Kindergarten onto a Waldorf Nursery...or can we?    I suppose that is the question I am holding.