Mountaintop Family Childcare

01/24/2025

Mountaintop Family Childcare is hiring for spring 2025.

We are a NYS licensed Family Childcare Program using a child led, nature based learning curriculum! If you love to be outdoors, have a passion for caring for children, and don't mind getting messy, we have the perfect job for you!

Qualifications:

⭐Must be over 18 years old

⭐Must be fingerprinted and pass a background check.

⭐Must have a physical and TB test

⭐Must be CPR & First Aid certified (will help with obtaining)

⭐Must complete required start up training (paid)

⭐Must have a minimum of 2 years experience working with children 6 weeks - 5 years of age

⭐Must enjoy being outdoors for extended periods of time year round and in all seasons/weather, be ok with hiking through forest areas and interacting with farm animals, and come prepared with appropriate gear/apparel for weather related and messy play.

⭐Must enjoy working with children, have a basic understanding of Developmentally Appropriate Practices and child development, and a tolerance for high energy and noise levels.

⭐Must be willing to perform all tasks related to family childcare including cooking, cleaning, diapering, paperwork, and ongoing required training.

⭐Knowledge of and passion for play based, child led curriculum and RIE philosophy a plus.

Good starting pay for the right candidate.

Interviewing now until Spring 2025.

01/17/2025

We made the local newspaper!

“We spent the following week exploring the nest and learning all about wasps. The children were eager and excited to see and touch the nest and, with a magnifying glass and head lamps, could even see way down deep inside of it. We also read books about wasp homes, and studied the body parts and li...

12/20/2024

Today we read books about the winter solstice, baked sun bread, and went on a nature walk to look for animal prints. ❄️

12/20/2024

We had someone donate a paper wasp nest, so this morning we explored and investigated all about wasps!

12/17/2024

10/04/2024

September highlights. 💚

09/08/2024

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08/23/2024

That's a wrap for summer 2024! ☀️

See you in September! 🌻

07/15/2024

Cynthia Keever from The Peck and Crow - Happy Birds for Happy People stopped by to show us some frizzles, quail, ferrets, and hissing cockroaches! 🪳🪳🪳

Thanks Cynthia! 💙

07/08/2024

We're a couple of weeks in to summer, and we've welcomed new friends and welcomed back old friends, had a few birthdays, and are having a great time playing outdoors! 💚

06/17/2024

I totally copied MK Hunt who covered her panel trellis in her garden in twinkle lights. 🤣😍 We have this old playground climber we use as the "entrance" to the garden and are growing gourds on. I added twinkle lights to it tonight and it looks super cute!

06/12/2024

https://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2024/06/why-hazel-couldnt-sit-down-for-circle.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1JSqTaoEJew7lI-YSFJn7taX96gF9FnAgRmsELZTlG-XPFC-9hkRHiQyk_aem_AaTwqfYB_YXlPmxEbKBLVJqM-48dnUM9KP_bslcsSzCERbNcy-dDW80OYcg2ki8g-I7UKoy318zew1H6oHzbsR3R&m=1

When we sat down for circle time, three-year-old Hazel didn't sit. Or rather, she would lower herself to her knees until she...

06/08/2024

We are super grateful that Ms. Nealis came yesterday to talk about kindergarten readiness! I wanted to share some of the key points we talked about, if I remember them all. :)

#1 was a sense of curiosity and wonder. I loved that. 😍

~ toileting independently
~ ability to tie shoes, and if they can't, don't send tie shoes.
~Dressing, especially outdoor gear
~being able to open and close lunchbox stuff
~other "fine motor" skills were mentioned.
~conflict resolution skills: handling and working through problems/disagreements with their peers
~can handle emotions well, especially frustration
~Can follow directions
~Can handle being told "No". (Not that being told no happens a lot, but in a group setting it's bound to happen occasionally)

It sounds like social/emotional skills and self help skills are top of the list, and we were happy to see that we are aligning with those expectations, as those are our priorities here as well. :)

Thank you again to Ms. Nealis for joining us, and I'm sure if anyone has any more questions about kindergarten, she would be happy to answer them for you!

06/07/2024

Our 2nd "First Friday" was a success and we were able to dodge the rain drops!

Thank you to Ms.Nealis (one of our local Kindergarten teachers) for coming and talking all about kindergarten readiness with us! And thank you to the parents for joining us for Strawberry Shortcake! 🍓

We were so happy to see one of our past families as well! (and she was super excited to hold a baby chick! 🐣)

Next months "First Friday" will be on Wednesday July 3rd (due to the holiday) and we'll be having s'mores at the fire pit, playing in the forest, and handing out copies of the book "Simplicity Parenting".

06/06/2024

Mountaintop Families:

The weather looks pretty rainy tomorrow. If it's raining hard in the afternoon, we might reschedule our "First Friday" on the playground with Ms. Nealis, and send strawberry shortcake home to go.

Stay tuned for an update tomorrow around 3 pm.

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05/10/2024

Thank you to our CCR&R for the lovely Provider Appreciation Day gifts! We love the planners and pens and can't wait to plant the seeds!

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