It's different for different groups of people. My son is in a kind of hippie charter school in second grade. Most of the families from that group place higher value on having their child in nature, on the farm, camping and hiking. There are a couple of outdoor only preschool programs here. Parent pay big bucks to drop their kids off at parks with the teachers. No facility at all. So you can imagine how many flash cards they have. On the other end of the spectrum, in the same town, we have parents coming in to tour at the center (I no longer work there) where they asked about kindergarten prep, etc (and you better believe those parents had plenty of ideas, plans and resources lined up to provide teachers!).

This is why I never understand why providers get worked up about a 'curriculum'. A curriculum really just means you wrote down a plan. The plan can say the area of development intended (ex: large motor), what materials you'll use (ex: obstacle course), what goals you have for the children and perhaps a little info about what happened. So if parents say they want to know what the toddler curriculum is, you tell them. It's developing social, large motor etc by experiencing daily care and exploring materials, etc...

I know in this case you are saying they actually asked about flashcards. But I do see providers getting concerned about the word 'curriculum'. I think it's just a more organized and easier way to communicate what it is providers are doing with the children. Because you know the child is learning important skills, but the parents don't know. They dont see commercials for social skills and creativity and the progression of fine motor and the advantage kids have for the rest of their school careers from knowing how to communicate better with peers. They see commercials for ABC Mouse. They think oh, ABC Mouse does all this for 99¢ / month, I'm paying the care place $500/ week, the care place should be doing at least this much.

So in the situation when a parent (who truly doesn't know what's necessary for their child's optimal development) asks do you teach the infants and toddlers numbers and letters, I would tell them about the sort of activities they do, what they learn from them and that lessons on letters and numbers are not developmentally appropriate or useful and are in fact detrimental to an infant and toddler curriculum... I think parents don't really think people who work with children know what they are talking about. In their eyes, we are doing the babysitting job that they did when they were 12 years old and they know what level their understanding of child development was at that time. So, they think that's us. The only way to show them we know what we are talking about (and that what we are doing is correct and best for the kids) is to give them clear, factual information from reputable sources. Show them articles from the NAEYC about how children develop. Show them reports and studies from the psych community about the importance of play. Then ask them who is saying ABC Mouse is good for kids? The people who get paid for ABC Mouse- that's all. No one else. Why haven't any doctors, psychologists, or child development professionals said ABCs and 123s are important, good or healthy or best for young children? Because it isn't true. Why would any of those groups deny the benefits of flash cards if any benefit existed? It's not like its something we couldn't easily do, if it was proven to be a positive for kids. Anyone can put letters on a piece of paper and hold it up. But who here knows how to teach 2 two year olds how to resolve a conflict without a forced apology and a time out- I'm talking conflict resolution and teaching those toddlers how to work things out together. Some know how to, some don't. What about how to place the right materials in the right way to interest and intrigue toddlers to handle and experiment with the materials and learn its properties and how to predict the way materials will react or behave under different circumstances? How about how to take one step at a time, holding the rail on the patio because if they learn that first instead of just holding an adult's hand or having no stairs at all, they will develop a better spacial awareness and muscle control and will be forever physically changed by that development. Those are the things parents should be hoping to see in an infant toddler curriculum.

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