Recently, another provider, who was frustrated, came to me and asked me "What do you do all day?" She went on to tell me how her daycare parents were not paying on time, expected her to do miracles, and always seemed to complain about the kids not learning anything and about not seeing their "work" everyday.

It got me thinking about what we really do do all day long and what I am teaching them. My philosophy has always been that kids learn more from playing and interacting with each other than from me giving them a sheet to cut and color. Don't get me wrong; fine motor skills learned from coloring are great accomplishments, however, it isn't something we do everyday. We practice cutting skills by snipping on scrap papers and playdough. We fingerpaint with pudding or shaving cream. We learn to appreciate music by singing and playing musical chairs. We learn to problem-solve by working out our own battles. Another fine motor skill is practiced using the computer mouse.

We act out stories; we play games to learn to handle winning and losing; we sort, count and classify everyday when we clean up our toys. We are learning to be responsible by deciding what and how much to eat as well as clearing our own dishes. Because of a new Christmas toy, we now know all about magnets and how they work. We even painted with magnetic marbles and used the paper for our bulletin board. We know how to match, we love coloring with chalk outside and we're all learning to become wonderful friends.

So, I told her not to worry. Parents may not physically see a project everyday,
but we ARE learning!!!