About a month ago, I started working at a local preschool. I cover teacher lunches at nap time, assist with snack, and help supervise a 2.5 hour outdoor play time.
The center has some questionable practices (I've already communicated them and other concerns to state licensing) regarding nap time to keep ratios low enough to get by with bare minimum staffing. This means that the children are made to lay (not sit, they must be laying) on their cots for the full 2 hour nap window. No toys. No quiet activities. No alternate activities for non nappers or children who wake early. The other teachers YELL at the children to "keep your head down," "LAY DOWN!"... etc. ...quite frankly, it's hell. There are also children with special needs who cannot just "lay down" and "be quiet" but there is no support system for them in place.
Tuesday I walked into the 2-3 year old classroom and had 12 students to supervise. 8 were not napping. Of course one child demonstrates mistaken behavior and the rest of them all do the same and I am not an octopus so chaos ensued. This is a daily occurrence. I refuse to yell and when I do raise my voice to a stern tone, the children do not respond. The other teachers just pull students to their rooms to nap which I feel like undermines my authority since they aren't backing me up.... and this leads to the children continuing to disregard my guidance.
I've been scouring the internet for tips and tricks but since I walk in as naps start and the afternoon is meant to be "unstructured" I can't lead lesson plans so I feel like my hands are tied. I can't teach yoga and self regulation skills. I try to teach empathy in the moment on the playground but as you can imagine, it's not a learning goal the other teachers are interested in pursuing. I try to do guided meditation with some of the more rambunctious little ones to get them calm and help them fall asleep but with up to 7 others needing attention, I can't use that either. Naps are right after lunch with no transition (they finish eating and are sent to their cots) so the children do not have a chance to wind down. It's like they're being set up to fail.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I know there are a lot of limits in this situation, but there has to be something worth trying.
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Sarah Quest
Long Beach CA
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