“What will my child actually do here all day?”
We hear this question on tours a lot.
The daycare daily schedule is easy to explain: breakfast, activities, outdoor time, lunch, nap, more activities and another trip outside. But that’s usually not what parents are really asking. They’re trying to picture their own child here between drop-off and pickup.
The morning starts with getting settled
One child walks in and immediately looks for friends. Another needs a minute to look around. Someone else heads straight toward the toy they were playing with yesterday.
Then come the ordinary things: jacket off, belongings put away, hello to the teacher, find something to do. After a while, children know the room, the people and what happens next. The morning becomes familiar territory.
For young children, that predictability goes a long way.
There are lessons, but learning doesn’t stop when the lesson ends
With younger children, we work on language, movement, colors, shapes and early concepts through books, songs, art, conversation and age-appropriate activities.
In Pre-K, children move into more structured work with letters and sounds, early writing, numbers, attention and following directions.
But a four-year-old is still four.
They need to move. Talk. Play. Try things themselves. Get something wrong and try again.
Our Pre-K program in Fairfax prepares children for what comes next without turning their entire day into a miniature version of elementary school.
Sometimes the project comes home crooked
A sun ends up in the corner of the page. One arm is much longer than the other. A letter takes four attempts before it finally looks right.
That’s okay.
At Nuances, adults don’t finish children’s projects just to make them look good at pickup. A teacher can demonstrate, answer a question or help a child figure out what to try next. The work itself belongs to the child.
So yes, sometimes it’s crooked.
But it’s theirs. And sometimes that little piece of paper represents several attempts and a surprising amount of determination.
Then we go outside
Our children go outside twice a day when conditions allow.
The playground has swings, a sandbox, slides and climbing equipment, with wood mulch underfoot.
This is where you’ll see a child climb the same ladder again and again. Someone fills a bucket with sand. Another child finally figures out how to get onto the swing with less help. They run, climb, balance, chase each other and invent games.
For young children, physical activity isn’t something squeezed in after learning. It’s part of the day their bodies need.
Lunch has its own surprises
Every once in a while, a parent looks at us at pickup and says:
“He ate THAT?”
Yes. Sometimes.
A food that gets an immediate “no” at home somehow gets tried when several other children are sitting nearby eating lunch. Children are also learning to use utensils, ask for what they need and do more for themselves.
Families at Nuances can choose our meal program or send food from home.
After lunch, the room gets quiet
It’s time for nap and rest. Afterward, children wake up, have a snack, return to activities and play, and later head outside again.
By pickup, a child has done far more than the printed daycare daily schedule can show. They may have asked a teacher for help, put something away without being reminded, worked through a disagreement, tried a letter four times, climbed higher than yesterday and sat down for lunch with friends.
Those small moments are where a lot of independence gets built.
So how do parents know what happened?
This is especially hard with toddlers.
Ask a two-year-old, “What did you do today?” and “Nothing” may be the entire report.
Nuances families receive daily updates with photos and videos and can stay in touch with our administrator.
Then, after a while, daycare starts showing up at home. Your child sings a song you didn’t teach them. A classmate’s name appears in conversation. Toys are suddenly lined up for circle time. Something they usually ask you to do gets a determined, “I do it.”
We talked about those little clues in “How Can You Tell If Your Child Is Actually Happy at Daycare?”.
They also tell you something a schedule never can.
Your child isn’t simply spending the day at a childcare center in Fairfax. They’re beginning to have a day of their own.
Marina Graetzer
Director, Nuances Childcare & Preschool
Early Childhood Development Specialist