Is special care needed with "new management?

Day-care class for two-year-olds. Advice needed about classroom management.?

• I'm employed in the Deep South States with a large day care facility that serves primarily infants and toddlers. I work with eight "younger" two year olds and my co-teacher also has a group of eight who are the "older two's". My center director daily comes into our class and she puts eight to ten bins of manipulative toys down on the low book shelves. I've been placing most of these bins of manipulatives in the high cabinets so the kids don't see them and they can't pour them out. I'll place two bins of toys out so the children can pour them out and play with them on the rug or at the table. I believe that these are reasonable limits for play. The kids also can play in the centers and with the toy trucks, toy airplanes, and the little school bus toys. They have plenty of choices for free play time. Here's my question: My director keeps saying that the kids are supposed to be able to choose freely and it's my job to teach them to make a choice and leave the other boxes alone. I don't believe this policy of unlimited choices is appropriate. The kids pour out all the bins and we have a dangerous situation where kids can slip and fall on the sea of small toys covering the floor. On top of the slip-and-fall risk, I have to resort all those boxes to separate the blocks from the plastic connector toys and to sort the Lego's from the other manipulatives. It's a mess! The director said that the toys have to left our for the kids since it's a DHR regulation. My director comes in every day at least once to place those bins back on the low book shelf. The kids run over there to start pouring out all the containers. I'm frustrated and exhausted from picking up all these little toys! I'm also frustrated since I am toilet training several of my little charges and the effort can be quite exhausting! Fellow professional day care teachers out there in Yahoo Land: What are your thoughts on setting reasonable limits for two year olds without compromising developmentally appropriate practice? PS I don't have alot of experience working with children this young. Would some of the day care and child care teachers and professionals out there please share your wisdom with me? Thanks.

• Answer:

  Eight to ten bins is a lot of toys, even if they aren't that big of a bin. Maybe you could put half of them on the lower shelf and then switch them around part way through the day. Too many toys is not always a good thing. It leads to over-stimulation and having loads of toys on the floor isn't the best idea. I would suggest having the connector toys and the Lego ones be a teacher led activity at that age. Just sit there with them and play with them. You may have to just put all the bins on the floor. You're going to have to observe and document children hurting themselves from tripping on the toys, no matter how minor. The clean up is something you're going to have to deal with. Try making a game out of it with the children. In order to keep your job, you're going to have to do it the director's way for a little while. Unless you have some proof about 10 bins of toys being too much, your director isn't going to listen to your argument. One thing I have a question about, what is the ratio in your state for teacher to children. Everywhere I've worked, the ratio has been 1 teacher to 6 two-year-olds.