I provide mixed age care in a warm, nurturing home environment.   The older children see me taking care of the younger ones, and they are my helpers.  It means a lot to them to be given responsibilities. 

It is satisfying to me that the children become a family.  They are all friends and often they will all play together. 

There is a rhythm to the day, to the week and to the season.  We are usually inside in the first part of the morning, although in autumn and spring we can be outside most of the morning, working in the garden.  Depending on the day we will prepare our food, have watercolour painting, make seasonal crafts or clean.  There are simple, natural toys that bring imaginative play.  I sing through the day and bring rhymes and verses.

We tidy up and have snack at 10:15 am, which I provide.  Most of my food is organic, and I can accommodate most dietary needs.   We wash our dishes before we go out to play.

Outside we wash our napkins, hanging them on a small line, and empty the compost bucket.  The compost pile is a work in transition, but the children see the cycle of growing and giving back to the earth.  There is a small vegetable garden, fruit trees, and herbs in pots that we tend.   Often we jump rope and ride in the wagon, and build fairy houses.  

We come back in at lunchtime and before we eat I tell a story, usually with puppets and based on the season.  I serve lunch to the children.  I like that we all eat the same thing and that during the morning we prepare parts of our meal together.   We shuck corn, shell pecans, chop vegetables, and we take what we can from our garden.   The children see the whole process.   

After lunch it is rest time. 

I hold a safe, loving and calm environment.  It matters a great deal to me how we as human beings treat each other and I know clearly from my own children and the children who come here that the more warmly and gently I speak to them, the more warm and gentle they are with each other.