I am an FCC and have been going back and forth on whether to purchase a curriculum or not and have been researching the different curriculum's that are available. I have decided that I am not going to purchase a curriculum, but do my own. Here, you don't really get paid more for doing one and to me, everything that you said from purchasing to planning to implementing and everything in between is not worth it. And also, my families all said that they chose me because I am not a preschool and they like the fact that we don't just do preschool activities all day, that we actually do things according to what the children like and it's more of a home atmosphere.
With that said, I am mostly play based, but some activities are minimumally (sp?) led by me. I do have some structure because I believe children need some structure. I also have a schedule, but if something goes over, we don't immediately stop to do the next thing.
I do have circle and this is my "preschool" part of the day-which is only 15-20 minutes. In circle we:
Have a weekly theme and have Fun Friday's, usually corresponding to the theme.
Have a letter, color, and shape of the week
Count to 20
Read books
Sing songs
My children are all 2.5 and under and usually they will sit at first, but then they go off and do something, but I continue to do circle. I have had parents of children remark on how their child just started counting at home, and the child rarely will sit in circle. They do get things even if it seems that they aren't listening!
We do art a few times a week, sometimes it corresponds with the theme, sometimes not. And my art is usually process art. Sometimes I will cut out a shape, but they glue, paint, etc. things where they want them to be.
We also work on self help skills, which to me, are so vital for kids to practice/learn!
Other than that, we play and learn through our play. I observe some of the time and I interact some of the time.
Anyways, with all that said, IMO, I don't think that to run a great ffc you need to have a curriculum that is made for you. I think that you can make your own, specific to your group, and it can be just as good, or even better than some of them out there! I'm not saying that some of the curriculum that you can buy is bad, but I don't think you really need it, especially if you want to run a fcc that isn't labeled a preschool per say.
Some parents are looking for a preschool environment, and some for a more home-like environment. It's possible to mix the two, but you are always going to have parents who want one or the other. You can't please everyone.
