Child Care HELP!

[ExitTwoEighty 7]

Hey guys,

So I work in this after school program. I plan activities and help kids with their homework and such. What's the best way to get kids attention and to be quiet? I'm taking care of the 1st and 2nd grade group. I nearly found myself losing my voice on the first day from the constant yelling, especially during play time when everyone wants to do their own thing.

[DDude26 0]

"Anybody wants a cookie?!!?!?"

simple but effective

;)

[sdcopp 1]

you have to earn their respect, which takes a while. I did 5 yrs in B&A programs during the schoolyear and summer camps with school agers. The best thing to do is not lose your patience, if you do they will work you over until you're fried. The best way I ever found to get large groups quiet is to speak in a low voice and play this little game:

"If you can hear me, clap once. If you can hear me, touch your nose. If you can......" The have fun with it, it quiets them down and you don't go crazy. Once you have their attention, you've got all of two minutes to give them pertinent information before their off on their own thing again. Got a problem child? Tell them they get to be your shadow for a bit.

good luck

[ExitTwoEighty 7]

you have to earn their respect, which takes a while. I did 5 yrs in B&A programs during the schoolyear and summer camps with school agers. The best thing to do is not lose your patience, if you do they will work you over until you're fried. The best way I ever found to get large groups quiet is to speak in a low voice and play this little game:

"If you can hear me, clap once. If you can hear me, touch your nose. If you can......" The have fun with it, it quiets them down and you don't go crazy. Once you have their attention, you've got all of two minutes to give them pertinent information before their off on their own thing again. Got a problem child? Tell them they get to be your shadow for a bit.

good luck

What about the problem kids during homework time? it's difficult because the room is too small to send them to another corner to work alone. They always disrupt the other groups.

[sdcopp 1]

you have to earn their respect, which takes a while. I did 5 yrs in B&A programs during the schoolyear and summer camps with school agers. The best thing to do is not lose your patience, if you do they will work you over until you're fried. The best way I ever found to get large groups quiet is to speak in a low voice and play this little game:

"If you can hear me, clap once. If you can hear me, touch your nose. If you can......" The have fun with it, it quiets them down and you don't go crazy. Once you have their attention, you've got all of two minutes to give them pertinent information before their off on their own thing again. Got a problem child? Tell them they get to be your shadow for a bit.

good luck

What about the problem kids during homework time? it's difficult because the room is too small to send them to another corner to work alone. They always disrupt the other groups.

my best advice on that one is change the groups around a bit so the ones that work well by themselves are in groups together and the disruptive ones are together. It's easier to get the disruptive ones working when you have them all in one spot and can keep a closer eye on them.

[oggy_3 0]

I think a huge thing is not ever kid takes well to yelling at them some you have to be there best friend that they want you to have supper with them and then others you have to be hard on there ass and then you'll get 2 or 3 kids who just wont talk that you wont have to worry aobut to much

[ktang 34]

How many kids, and how many supervisors?

Out of the number of kids, how many are hard to control?

I'm curious to see if things have changed over the years. Our 1st and 2nd grade teachers were nice older ladies who knew how to use the yard-sticks to scare us silent.

[hockeymom 2]

"hands Up, mouths closed" works... as they see other kid's hands go up, they all eventually comply. Alternatively, you could 1) ask the teachers which method they use in class so you are using the same "trick" or 2) ask the kids "what ideas do you have to get everyone to be quiet and pay atteention?"... grade 1 and 2 still want to be liked, get attention and follow rules. Well, for the most part, there's always one or two boys...lol

[Eazy_b97 1]

I used the clap your hands, touch your nose, etc stuff alot this summer. I'm not sure if you do songs, but randomly getting a camp type song for the kids when they aren't listening usually helps get their attention and they focus on you as a group. I usually shadowed the problem children in the class, there's only so much you can do and it really depends on the child. In playtime, you can try and do a few group games. Our Kids really liked "Silent ball". Have the kids in a circle, give them a 3 count then the room is dead silent. Any noise and they sit down. They should be tossing the ball to someone in the circle, if it's a bad toss or a dropped ball, they also sit. Usually best to play a few games of it. Make sure you let'em yell a bit after though, make some noise, etc..

[ExitTwoEighty 7]

well second day was today. I wrote rules and names down and made them all put their head down when they were in trouble. It was definitely more quiet, but still not dead silent. I'm splitting up seats tomorrow hopefully it works out better. So hard to play games with 1-2 graders because they forget the rules really fast.

[sdcopp 1]

well second day was today. I wrote rules and names down and made them all put their head down when they were in trouble. It was definitely more quiet, but still not dead silent. I'm splitting up seats tomorrow hopefully it works out better. So hard to play games with 1-2 graders because they forget the rules really fast.

simplify the games then. At 6-8 yrs old, you can't give them too much in a game or it'll never fly. And don't expect dead silence, just don't let them get above a roaring whisper. Sounds like you have your hands full, just remember to breathe and not lose your cool and you'll be fine.

[Eazy_b97 1]

It is very difficult to play games with that age group. I found basic soccer and tag games are easiest, but even tag games like Octopus (where you plant your feet after being touched) can be challenging since they love to cheat. They know the rules, they just don't like them.

[chk hrd 164]

sounds stupid but watch Kindergarten Cop with Arnold. You let the little So an So's know you are weak and they will eat you alive. Kids that age need and like discipline, but you have to give it correctly. Also remember thier attention span is that of your average hockey player, so don't go into to long of details.

[shute 4]

Hey guys,

So I work in this after school program. I plan activities and help kids with their homework and such. What's the best way to get kids attention and to be quiet? I'm taking care of the 1st and 2nd grade group. I nearly found myself losing my voice on the first day from the constant yelling, especially during play time when everyone wants to do their own thing.

don't want to be mean but if your asking us these questions and yelling at little kids then maybe this isn't the right job for ya.

[ExitTwoEighty 7]

if I don't yell, the kids won't hear my voice over everyone else's voice. The yelling isn't directed at any particular kids anyway, it's towards the whole group to grab their attention. I was generous with writing names and making them put their head down the other day but today I laid down the law. Kids were silent and some were crying, apparently they don't like time outs. All they want to do is play parachute tag, rules are too much for them to understand.

[sdcopp 1]

if I don't yell, the kids won't hear my voice over everyone else's voice. The yelling isn't directed at any particular kids anyway, it's towards the whole group to grab their attention. I was generous with writing names and making them put their head down the other day but today I laid down the law. Kids were silent and some were crying, apparently they don't like time outs. All they want to do is play parachute tag, rules are too much for them to understand.

Not to sound offensive, but maybe you're not in the right line of work if you feel you have to yell and make kids cry to law down the law. Those disruptive children will burn you out in no time if they see you straining that hard for control. Working with kids is one of the more thankless and underpaying jobs around and if you keep stressing and straining like this you won't last 6 months. I wouldn't get to know people until they had been working around me at least 4-6 months because I'd see people burn out. If it's something you enjoy doing (working with kids) I'd highly recommend toning down. If it's just a job for some money, I'd start working on plan B pronto.

[ExitTwoEighty 7]

The problem is I didn't have any formal training or got to shadow any of the other leaders who have been here for a while. I don't know the right techniques for getting their attention and the most efficient ways to do things, I'm learning as I'm going. This isn't my fault. I thought of becoming a teacher but obviously I don't want to teach elementary school kids.

Let me restate this, Kids don't cry when I"m yelling to get their attention. And when I'm yelling it's more like "Quiet down","Attention" and "here's what we're going to do next".The kids are crying because I told them to put their head down because they kept on talking. It is not my fault that some kids are so dramatic.

[sdcopp 1]

The problem is I didn't have any formal training or got to shadow any of the other leaders who have been here for a while. I don't know the right techniques for getting their attention and the most efficient ways to do things, I'm learning as I'm going. This isn't my fault. I thought of becoming a teacher but obviously I don't want to teach elementary school kids.

Let me restate this, Kids don't cry when I"m yelling to get their attention. And when I'm yelling it's more like "Quiet down","Attention" and "here's what we're going to do next".The kids are crying because I told them to put their head down because they kept on talking. It is not my fault that some kids are so dramatic.

Gotcha, that makes much more sense. Like I said before, remaining cool, calm, and collected is the biggest key. That's really shitty that they didn't give you anyone to shadow a little bit first. First and second graders are great once you get into the swing of things, third and fourth graders are usually a bigger problem (in case you're looking at any sort of elementary education type jobs) I didn't mean to sound harsh before, but I saw a lot of really passionate people burn out and swear off teaching of any kind.