Advice for working in a daycare/preschool?

As soon as possible you need to set up a schedule so that you have structure and purpose for your days. Find out what the goals that the school wants to see accomplished and then break that down into manageable portions. Maybe Monday could be letters and numbers, Tuesday could be colors, Wednesday could be animals, Thursday could be healthy/active living and Friday could be story and song.(this is just off the top of my head, you may have more or other activities than what I have here) Create activities that center around each day. Pinterest is AWESOME for activities for everything from pre-k right through to high school. If the kids are going to be there for the full day, you will obviously have to have lunch, and unless you are in charge of getting them their meal, the time they are eating will be a good time to set up for the afternoon's activities. If they nap, then you can make entries into a journal or log book as to how the day is progressing, who needs help, who is doing well, any incidents, and so on. Make sure that you give each child a task to do so that by the end of the week each one has had a turn at feeling important. Take note of when birthdays are so that you can all sing 'Happy Birthday'. have a show and tell time where they all sit in a circle with their feet facing into the circle, and the one showing something can stand in the middle and tell about their item. Tell them that they cannot go any closer to the one in the middle than the tips of their toes, that way there is no crowding. You could have different stations around the room such as dress up, sand play, blocks and beads, paper and crayons, and so on, so that there are plenty of activities for them when they do have a bit of play time. If you need to discipline, have a 'happy chair' where a child who is acting out has to sit until they can smile a happy smile back to you when you look at them and smile. Give them a couple of minutes to sit there without looking at them so that they catch on that they are being put in a time out. See if you are allowed to have people from the neighborhood come in, such as a postman, police officer, fireman and so on, and have them come in during relevant times of the year such as fire safety week for the fireman and Halloween for the officer, and so on. Always use every opportunity to teach something, no matter how small. For example you could hold up a shape that a child has cut out and ask the others if they could guess what it was, hold a crayon up and ask what things are that color, show your lunch to the children and see if they can tell what they think each thing tastes like, ask 'what would you do if....' type questions that would give them an opportunity to stretch their imaginations, give them opportunities to show good manners by praising them when key words are said such as please, thank you, may I, and so on, maybe have a scavenger hunt that relates to what day it is, such as simple clues that will help them find a treasure chest that has a new activity related to that day's theme, play any of the old fashioned motion games such as 'mother may I', 'simon says', and so on, so that they have an active time. Kids that age are all about imagination and if you tap into that while you are teaching them you should have no problem. Good luck.

Ask the class teacher what she expects you to do in the room. She might want you as more of a clean up person, or she might want you to take a role in class and assist with lessons. The teacher will be your best resource.

As for dumping you off in a classroom with no real experience? Welcome to the world of daycare. You are breathing and have a pulse, therefore you are qualified.