What Purchase Curriculum Do You Use?

[melskids]

[QUOTE=kareng;74856]

I'm surprised so many have said they don't like Mother Goose Time. I have done it for a few months now and love it!

The problem I have with Mother Goose Time is that it lacks creativity on the kids part. There is basically one way to do the craft. I prefer child directed projects where they can use imagination and create what and how they want....and when as well. I worked at a program where they used MGT and after a few months the kids didn't even want to come to the table to do the craft. As far as the themes go.....they were good, but what happens when a child wants to learn about spiders and not what Mother Goose Time (or other canned curriculums) has in mind? I just find it much easier and child directed when I set the environment up in a way that gives kids many choices and we can learn what they want because that's when their interest is the highest. It's hard to explain. I know everyone has their own ways.....but this is just what works for me.

i agree. And since i've been using Creative Curriculum, i've noticed that it's not only is less money , it takes less prep time as well.

our day, if anyone is interested, looks much like this....

say our theme is Valentine's. (which by the way, i dont pick themes, i let the children decide what they want to do)

the dramatic play area will be set up like a DR.s office (for heart)

the block area is always open, but i may put out just the red blocks

cozy corner has tons of books about valentine's, friendship, and doctors

for fine motor, there will be red playdough, red hearts to lace, hearts to cut out or tear, a homemade heart shape puzzle, etc.

math center has red counters in it, and hearts in different colors and shapes (made from construction paper and laminated) for sorting by size or making patterns

science center might have picures of real hearts, mixing red paint, red cellophane to look through, etc

writing desk has red crayons/colored pencils. (i dont make the kids do worksheets, but there are always ones there if they want to do them, so maybe a few letter H ones, a heart maze, that sort of thing) i would add hearts cut out of sandpaper for rubbings, and letter stencils to make valentine cards.

cooking is heart shaped cookies or sandwiches, friendship fruit salad

the sand table has heart cookie cutters

for gross motor, we hop on hearts made from construction paper. i might put shapes or letters or colors on them, and play games to incorporate that..."hop on a pink heart." or " everyone hop on a heart with the letter H on it".

for art, the easel has red and white paint. i might put heart shaped paper there, or heart stamps. the table has materials put out, and the kids are free to choose what they want to create. (paper of different types, crayons, markers, glue, tissue paper, bingo dabbers, etc) i would probably add heart stickers or foam shapes and paper doiles (i always find at the $ store).

prepackaged crafts are great for fine motor and learning how to follow directions. And i LOVE them for days when the SA are here. keeps 'em busy. but in my opinion, they are not art.


so for me, it only takes and hour or so to change out activites, and look up a couple of songs for circle time. good storage is key, and so is laminating everything so it lasts longer.

[countrymom]

I love the prepackage stuff and bought mgt for a while, but its so expensive for me. I tried making my own, but i found that I had to do it the night before get everything ready. My kids are too young to decide what they want to do so I have to do it for them, but I love prepackaged stuff.

[Unregistered]

I really like Itty Bitty Bookworm! You can either purchase a CD or download the curriculum at a very affordable price. It focuses on a book each week and you can use it over and over again. I sometimes purchase the book of the week, if I don't already have it, or reserve it at my local library. It find it easy to substitute a similar book if necessary. I find this curriculum simple and easy to follow, and I can can change it around to suit our needs.

[Blackcat31]

I do Funshine Express and LOVE it! I was thinking about Mother Goose because it looks awesome, so I'm surprised so many people don't like it. For me, it's just too expensive at this point. I've done my own curriculum before and it just takes too much time and I'm constantly running out to get more craft supplies, etc. The cost of Funshine is more than worth it for me (and I have the added shipping and customs cost of sending it Canada).

Not all of the parents appreciate it as much as I would hope, but I can see the progress the kids are making and I know prospective parents are very impressed by it during the interview. It also keeps our day structured and productive, which is good since I have a natural tendency to slack off .

If you save the curriculum books I have used them again before because each child gets somehting new out of it each time it is repeated since they are older the second time around. You just have to purchase the supplies yourself but the layout of the daily curriculum book is easy enough to repeat year after year.
I have also used Reach for the Stars curriculum where you purchase the CD and just print off what you need. Each day is laid out for you much like the Funshine Expres stuff...look into it and let me know what you think http://www.reachforthe-stars.com/rft...hoolthemes.htm

http://www.rftstoddler.info/

...I have Toddler and Preschool curriculums in all three series.

[DCMom]

I have used Funshine Express for years. They are on a three year rotation with very little change from year to year. For the first 6 years I kept all the curriculum books and a master of each of the projects; I note in the curriculum books the consumables that each project used (ie: pom poms, stickers, google eyes, whatever). I also keep one master copy of the letter, number, concept worksheets. Now I make my own copies from the masters and replenish the consumables as necessary. I also laminated the color/letter/number/calendar items and use the same ones from year to year. I use magazine files for each month to store them on a bookcase in my office; as each month rolls around I grab the file and start planning the month.

Over the years, as I run across other ideas I like, books that are theme specific, The Mailbox or Family Fun magazine (tons of great ideas in these!), etc. I file them with the curriculum. That way there are always fresh ideas from year to year without too much effort on my part.

For larger theme specific items, like plastic dinosaurs, fire prevention, holiday items, the butterfly hut, etc. I store those in clear Rubbermaid containers that are labeled by holiday or theme and store those stacked on a shelf.

It has taken some time to compile and organize it all (I've done this for 22 years!) but now curriculum planning take little or no time at all since it is right at my finger tips.

I hope some of these ideas help

[momofthree]

What Purchase Curricullum Do You Use?

During quiet time I make my own curricullum/themes for the next week.

I put them together then I make a folder and I can use it again maybe next year.

I do filefolder games, colouring pages, crafts, songs and so on up.
the kids I have in care are two years and under.

[DaycareMama]

I have used Funshine Express for years. They are on a three year rotation with very little change from year to year. For the first 6 years I kept all the curriculum books and a master of each of the projects; I note in the curriculum books the consumables that each project used (ie: pom poms, stickers, google eyes, whatever). I also keep one master copy of the letter, number, concept worksheets. Now I make my own copies from the masters and replenish the consumables as necessary. I also laminated the color/letter/number/calendar items and use the same ones from year to year. I use magazine files for each month to store them on a bookcase in my office; as each month rolls around I grab the file and start planning the month.

Over the years, as I run across other ideas I like, books that are theme specific, The Mailbox or Family Fun magazine (tons of great ideas in these!), etc. I file them with the curriculum. That way there are always fresh ideas from year to year without too much effort on my part.

For larger theme specific items, like plastic dinosaurs, fire prevention, holiday items, the butterfly hut, etc. I store those in clear Rubbermaid containers that are labeled by holiday or theme and store those stacked on a shelf.

It has taken some time to compile and organize it all (I've done this for 22 years!) but now curriculum planning take little or no time at all since it is right at my finger tips.

I hope some of these ideas help

Have you done the Buttercups? Is there something to do everyday?

[jen2651]

I am new to this and I am highly impressed to all those that do all their own curriculum. One question I have (and please don't take any offense to this) - my son did Funshine curriculum for 2 years and knows all his numbers and letters and colors etc. at the age of 3.5 (not from me...FANTASTIC daycare lady who closed; why I am starting!). Do you see similar type results with using your own curriculum? I agree with the poster who said they get ****ed in to spending too much time...I can hardly decide what color to paint a wall without doing days of research!

[kidkair]

I did my own curriculum for quite awhile but had a hard time keeping up with setting it up because I was basically setting it up much like FunShine Express. A couple months ago I gave up and bought FunShine Express. I've been laminating and storing master copies so I can do the same stuff next year as well. The kids like it and the parents love the crafts. I like that it teaches the kids how to use different skills to organize the materials into a specific outcome. Then when they are in their art area during free play they can come up with some interesting stuff on their own. I have my daycare set up in the centers as they describe but don't do circle time or structured activities like they kind of have set up. I instead set up the centers and travel around the room with them during the day to discover everything new or old and introduce all the concepts like that. I want them to explore their world not just have everything handed to them.

[SimpleMom]

I have used Funshine Express and Carol's Affordable Curriculum. Both are really good

[MommyMuffin]

I like the christian supplemental curriculum from Funshine.

[Unregistered]

I recommend doing your own. When I was at my former center I had Highreach Learning. The first few years were great. Then it started to get repetitive. I eventually made my own.

You can get great information online. Plus check out your local goodwill/thrift store. I can't tell you how many great school book bargains I found.

It maybe overwhelming at first. But trust me: it's really easy!

How does one even get started....i have lots of stuff but not sure how to pull it all together...is there a book or website that shows us how to do it?

[StarBriteLearning]

The Star-Brite Learning Program is a monthly pre-packaged preschool curriculum. It is laid out each day, 20 days, with over 100 hands-on craft and learning activities. All of your instructions and paper/craft materials are supplied for you!

[Cat Herder]

The Star-Brite Learning Program is a monthly pre-packaged preschool curriculum. It is laid out each day, 20 days, with over 100 hands-on craft and learning activities. All of your instructions and paper/craft materials are supplied for you!

It looks great but at $100 a month for 6 kids I don't think I can swing that.

45-60 take home projects a month is amazing, though.

[mom2many]

I used Home Preschool Program for many years. It was great when I was first starting out...simple and all of the materials and lesson plans came monthly.
I tried Mother Goose Time, but I didn't like it as well.

Now I use several websites...kids soup.com, enchanted learning, First-school.ws and DLTK are just a few of the ones I really like and use a lot! I have different themes for each month that correspond with seasons, holidays, etc. The kids love it!