What is Your Curriculum and Goals with Children?

[QueenBee]

I am a family daycare that operates more like a preschool, with children ages 2 years to 5 years old. I've developed my own curriculum over the years which is a combo of play-based and themes that consist of art/craft and preacademic stuff.

I'm considering updating my curriculum to play-based, focusing mostly on social emotional and looking for ideas on how to do that while still teaching the ABCs, letters, shapes to prepare them for kindergarden.

What is your approach? And can you share your daily schedule as I'm looking to update that too.

[Michael]

Here are some Play-based Curriculum posts from our archive: https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.p...m+-+play+based

Daily Schedule: https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.php?tag=schedule

[JaeB]

Good morning, I'm a home daycare that set up like a center because that's where my background is at and working at centers but the dynamic of the center is why I decided to include a curriculum. I use the old school high reach materials but add my own ideas objectives ( colors, animals, shapes, numbers, all about me) activities, and crafts. Having a curriculum has helped me and enhance the children's abilities in all areas that without a curriculum may not have otherwise learned. We are mostly play based but because the statistics for the children in my area for education are on such a low level that I felt it was my duty to make sure that the children are here learn their basic skills. We only have teacher based instruction for about 30 minutes a day one worksheet a day permitted that they know how to complete a worksheet use marker crayon or colored pencil and two crafts a week. But it's all in which you feel comfortable with

[QueenBee]

@ JanB...what does your daily schedule look like?

[Annalee]

I offer play-based with (hopefully) the environment teaching focused mainly on social skills but also attempting to interact in cognitive opportunities as academics are really pushed here. I don't do worksheets and we do alot of 'process' art so rarely does it make it home. We offer crafts around holidays but I have even slowed up on these. Social - emotional skills are lacking greatly so this is my main focus with the crew I have. I use alot of Consicous Discipline with Frogstreet EXCEL. I do love the open-way of implementing the Frogstreet. I have a stiff routine with meals, nap; but the other part of my day I am flexible with emergent curriculum added in at times.

[BeeNature]

In my daycare the kids are the curriculum and I off the environment to allow them to do their work (play). I teach self help skills and offer opportunities for them to develop their gross and fine motor skills. I have 1 infant, 3 toddlers, and two 3 year olds...so a very young group.

[Blackcat31]

I operate very much like Annlee. I have 12-14 kids enrolled. 2 spots are part time while the rest are full time M-F. I am play based and believe children learn best through play. I do not offer worksheets nor any type of paper curriculum. We follow a daily schedule but the children do the "work". My role is to set up the environment to support their learning and developmental growth, observe and intervene when necessary.

The children instinctively learn through the centers and play areas that I set up each week to match a theme or whatever we are learning at the time.

For example on today is Monday Math so once the kids arrive, they choose an area or center to play in. Today's options are:
weights and measurements, which is an area set up with a balance scale, a weight scale and manipulatives to weigh. There are also measuring cups, teaspoons and "recipes". The recipes are picture cards showing the "recipes" or how much of one item to mix together to get an end result. For example, they can measure 1 cup of red sand to the bowl and 1/2 cup of blue sand to make a soft purple. Or they can mix colored rice together to make different combinations of colored "confetti". Another center has pre-cut yard sticks (in 1 foot, 6 inch and 18 inch sizes). The kids must use the yard sticks and cut a certain number of different colored ribbons to length. The last center has Duplo blocks and pattern cards. The kids must use the Duplo blocks to make patterns matching the cards they have.

I also offer stations where the kids can practice writing numbers through various options such as wipe off boards, sandpaper tiles and playdough mats and good old pencils/paper.

I set up the center areas to correlate with whatever letter, color and/or number we are working on. This months focus is on the letters D, E, H, & I the numbers 4, 5 and 6 and colors black and white along with the themes of community helpers, wiggly worms (spiders, snakes, and other wiggly, jiggly creatures) and of course our monthly shape which is a rectangle.

Next month I switch the letters, numbers, colors and themes out to something else and set up the centers to match those themes.

The kid choose a center to play in when they arrive and work in that center until they don't want to anymore and there is another center space open.
I limit the amount of kids in each center to 3. I use colored bracelets to designate who is playing where. The kids have to take a bracelet to play in each center. When they are done in one area, they hang their bracelet on the board and take another color. If a center is full they have to wait until someone returns a bracelet to the board, which frees up a space in that center.

The kids clean up all the items and maintain the centers on their own. Every day they have options of playing things like blocks or reading books or art. I do the same with those centers and switch out the materials to match our themes.

My littles ones play in a separate room and pretty much just play all day. They have play options that I change out to meet the big kid themes but on a more toddler level.

I don't have to do alot of hands on with the kids and they seem to play pretty well independently but there are times I do have to intervene and break up the spats...more so this year as I have ALL girls so the drama level is higher than usual.

[Annalee]

Yes, very much the same except my crew of 12 are all in the same room.....smaller manipulative, play materials, etc. can be challenging but we work on a 'role model' way of thinking where the older kids share in the 'keeping kids safe' idea and learn some empathy....sometimes it works smoothly, sometimes I have to interact....

[QueenBee]

Thank you for your response and including details. This is what I want to transition to.