help!

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help!
By Jami

Amber,
It seems like you are in a tough spot. Is it the younger ones that have the most difficulty with redirection,etc?
I have some advice that may help you. Group time is always a trying time. You mentioned that
they only sit for a few minutes. Try having group time for maybe 4-5 minutes at first, and gradually increase your time each week, maybe. This helped me tremendously; by the time January rolled around, I had a figedty bunch sitting 15 min. I also had short games that I incorporated in group time. I would go around the circle and ask a question, like "What did you do over the weekend?" "What's

your favorite food?" "What are your parent's names?" (my little ones loved the parent question). I would also make up flash cards with colors and shapes, and we would go over that. There are quite a few books out there for group time activities -try Barnes and Noble or Borders. With your older ones, you could do the same, but pick more age appropriate activites.
Redirection can be tough, but it can work. Just be patient, above all, be consistent. I don't know if you set up centers where you are (such as art, science, reading, math...) but if you don't, try setting up different areas for the kids to wander to. Each center can have a few small activities that the kids are able to do with little help from you, such as puzzles, math games, small art projets. Set up rules, and limit the amount of kids in 1 center. Make sure that you let them know that if the rules are not followed in the center, they will have to choose another. (Redirection!) If you already do centers, you may need to put out a few more. This will make it easier to redirect, but it takes time. Good luck! I hope I helped. If you need any more advice, I'm here to help.