The daily schedule for day care in each classroom here at Kids’ Care Club looks a little different to best support your child in their stage of development. Each child, regardless of age, requires a specific balance of free play and structured activities that support their growth. Here at Kids’ Care Club, our nurturing teachers are experts at honing in on this balance. While each day presents new, exciting learning opportunities for your child based on a given week’s theme, each class follows a daily flow to provide your child with the structure to support their learning.
Morning
Arrival and Center Play: Open – 9:00 A.M.
The day is fresh and new! Your child will arrive and play quietly and/or eat breakfast. Open center play is the perfect warm-up for the day, allowing your child to get engaged with the classroom in whichever way feels best to them: playing with blocks, dramatic play, or reading a book. The choice is theirs before the day’s activities commence.
Snack: 9:00 A.M. – 9:20 A.M.
Before we embark on a morning full of learning and fun, we have to fill up with a nutritious snack. Every day, a wide array of healthy snacks, such as oatmeal and fresh fruit, are served on a rotating basis. Explore the options served on our KCC menu. KCC provides morning and afternoon snacks to all children except for infants.
Circle Time: 9:20 A.M. – 10:00 A.M.
Circle time kicks off the day every morning as our first structured activity. During this time, children and their teacher sit in a circle and engage in various activities or discussions. Each and every circle time looks a little different. Children will greet each other by name, review the calendar or weather, sing songs, read a story, discuss the theme of the day, and so much more. Circle time is when all of those creative juices and the day’s possibilities start flowing.
Learning Centers and Outdoor Play: 10:00 A.M. – 11:30 A.M.
The day’s possibilities are shining after circle time, and it’s time to divide into groups and tackle the fun! One group of children will focus on heading out and enjoying the fresh air on the playground, where they can concentrate on sensory and science activities, participate in group games, test their green thumb in the garden, or simply have fun in unstructured outdoor play. Outdoor time is fun and shaped by whatever your child is feeling like on that specific day.
Group two will engage in activity centers inside the classroom, usually in the form of organized small group activities. Activity centers look like many things based on a day’s theme but can consist of mixing and matching, age-appropriate math or writing, and art activities.
Halfway through, at 10:45, group one will head out for some fun in the sun, while group two goes inside for some group activities.
Music & Movement: 11:30 A.M. – 11:50 A.M.
Music and movement help children learn a wide range of words and concepts through diverse activities. This can be creating sounds with small instruments, singing songs to learn animals or the alphabet, or even singing rhymes. These activities typically coincide with the theme of any given day or week.
Hand Washing / Bathroom / Prepare for Lunch: 11:50 A.M. – 12:00 P.M.
Time to transition because it’s lunchtime! We’ll solidify our daily practice of good hygiene and set up our tables for a healthy and nutritious lunch.
Lunch Time: 12:00 P.M. – 12:30 P.M.
If your child is at Kids’ Care Club over lunchtime, you have the choice to either bring a bag lunch to the center or a catered meal is available for an additional charge. Make sure to pack enough – state law requires that your bag lunch provides ⅓ of your child’s daily food requirements.
A healthy lunch includes a source of protein, fruit and/or vegetable, and some source of calcium, such as dairy. Please remember that Kids’ Care Club doesn’t allow certain foods that pose allergy and choking hazards, such as nut/nut products, hot dogs, popcorn, hard pretzels, raw peas, and raw carrots.
Afternoon
Self-selected Book Time: 12:45 P.M. – 1:00 P.M.
Lunch is done and it’s time to unwind. Each child, toddlers and up, is encouraged to take some time to select a book of their choice and read before transitioning to their afternoon nap.
Nap Time: 1:00 P.M. – 3:00 P.M.
Shhhhh… it’s nap time. The pace of the day has slowed down after lunch to help promote relaxation. Teachers comfort children in this routine by talking softly, dimming the lights, playing relaxing music, and continuing their warm and caring relationship with each and every child.
Clean up / Hand Washing / Bathroom: 3:00 P.M. – 3:15 P.M.
Time to wake up! Each child does their part by putting away their sleeping cots and kicking into gear for an afternoon of activities. During this transition period, children continue to practice their daily practice of good hygiene and potty training.
Afternoon Snack: 3:15 P.M. – 3:30 P.M.
The second snack of the day. Examples are whole wheat pita bread and hummus, celery sticks and soy-nut butter with raisins, and fresh, organic fruit/vegetables rotated on a seasonal basis. Once again, we invite you to explore the options on our menu.
Learning Centers: 3:30 P.M. – 4:15 P.M.
The children are well rested and energized for an afternoon of learning. The children return to the learning centers to play and explore on both their own, as well as through teacher-guided activities.
Outdoor Time: 4:15 P.M. – 5:00 P.M.
Time to head outside again! Children will play on their own or participate in a group activity. Some of our favorites are sensory exploration with water tables or dancing to favorite songs.
Story Time & Learning Centers to Close: 5:00 P.M. – 5:30 P.M.
We wrap up the day typically with story time, and then it’s time for pick up! After a busy day together, the children are given the opportunity to have a free place at learning centers to explore and play on their own terms. While we close at 5:30 P.M., parents can pick up their child at their convenience on their own schedule.
We hope by now you get the typical rhythm of the day that takes place here at Kids’ Care Club. We invite you to explore the daily schedule for all of our other classrooms: Infants, Toddlers, Two-Year-Olds, Preschool, and Transitional Kindergarten/Pre-K.
Schedule a Tour
We invite you to visit our center and see the daily schedule for day care in action! Tours are the perfect opportunity to explore whether Kids’ Care Club is the right fit for you and your child. You’ll get a program overview, observe the numerous free-play and structured activities taking place in our classrooms, visit our outdoor playground and garden, and ask any remaining questions you may have to our administrators. We look forward to showing you what a day at Kids’ Care Club truly looks like.
