If a child were running wild in my classroom during that time, I redirect them in front of their parent. If I'm speaking with the parent, I'll say, "Excuse me for a second." Then I'll say to the child, "Our classroom rules say we use walking feet" or "We are gentle with our toys". Then I go back to the parent smiling and jump right back into our conversation about their child's day. If it continues to be a problem, I would write a section in my newsletter about drop-off and pick-up expectations for our classroom. If that still didn't work, I'd speak to my administrator about it. She could write about it in her school newsletter or approach specific parents about expectations for parent and child. It might be something she considers adding to parent orientation and putting in the handbook if it is a school wide problem. In our classroom, we talk about the rules a lot at the beginning of the year- children have to understand the purpose of rules (they keep everyone safe and ensure our classroom is a positive learning environment). Additionally, my children help write the rules, which gives them ownership and helps to build a positive classroom climate. My children know that classroom rules apply anytime they are in our classroom- even when their parents are present. Parents are kept informed about this part of our curriculum, which gets them on board. They are always amazed at how smoothly things go in my room, that I can get 15 children to clean-up and listen at the same time, but its really about having those expectations from day one and following through when children aren't following them- even when it's uncomfortable.
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Mary McNelly
Lead Teacher
Macfeat Laboratory School
Rock Hill SC
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-24-2019 12:28 PM
From: Tammy Lyon
Subject: Policy for parent's
Hi Everyone,
I was just curious if others have policies for parents supervising their kids at pick up and drop off times? We have a couple of families that let their kids run wild during pick up and drop off times (mostly at pick up times) these kids are allowed to run through the rooms and throw toys around and mess up the room, and parents walk out without making their child pick up the mess they made. One of the children has even broken toys and the parents don't apologize or offer to replace the toys that were intentionally broken by their child. Any advice on this would be welcomed.
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Tammy Lyon
Director
Pillsbury Early Education Center
Minneapolis MN
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