Originally Posted by lollipop101:
I am interested in either using MGT or FunShine Express this coming school year for the kids in my in home daycare. The ages of the kids in my care this fall that would use the curriculum are PT 15 month old, FT 2 year old, PT 2 1/2 year old, PT 3 year old, PT twins 4 1/2 years. (only have 1 FT child)
If anyone has used either of these curriculums what are your opinions on each? Also, If I used Funshine should I order Buttercups or Fireflies? Ordering both would be too expensive so I would just order one for all of them but I feel Fireflies would be too old for my 2 year olds but Buttercups may be too young for my 3 and 4 1/2 year olds.. :/ Maybe MGT would be better for me but IDK if it is geared for the younger 2 & 3 year olds or not.
If I have 2 part time children can I order for one child from FunShine/MGT since both are only part time?
Do any of you that order a prepackaged curriculum do a curriculum fee? I have a few part time families and I was thinking of charging part time families $10/month and full time families $15/month. Thoughts?
Also, if I charged a curriculum fee, do you think it's fair to charge all families the same even if some families have more than one child?
Please don't give me a link to other questions like this. I posted this question because my questions aren't the same as others and I would love a personal response from a daycare provider 
I know I have a lot of questions but I would really appreciate it if one of you took the time to answer them
I have used Funshine before. I think the Fire Flies is a lot more advanced than it needs to be. I ordered it for my 3-5 yr olds and only my 5 yr olds were able to do ALL the craft work themselves. Not many of them were that skilled with scissors and most the arts/craft projects required ALOT of input on my part.
IF I were to order it again, I would probably order the Butter Cups version and just modify it for anyone too advanced for the activities.
Either that or I would order BOTH for each of the age groups. It makes more sense to me to do it that way as you can't really force that big of an age group to blend without a little adaptation to either Fire Flies or Butter Cups.
I also just did the activities and crafts on the days they were suppose to get done and didn't worry too much about whether my part timer's were there that day or not. That's one of the perks of being full time....you don't miss anything. kwim?
I personally wouldn't charge a curriculum fee but if I did, I would charge PER child.
I stopped using FunShine as it became costly as well as task-heavy on MY part.
Now with my state (Minnesota) implementing QRIS/Parent Aware for child care providers we have to use a curriculum that is pre-approved and FunShine Express does not meet those requirements.
I know you said your questions are different and not to post links to other threads about curriculum but you really should take the time to read those threads, they have a wealth of knowledge, input and information in them.
.....and your questions are pretty much exactly what everyone else has already asked....
- what age group to buy for
- opinions on the curriculum
- costs/provider or parent paid
...........so the other threads about this topic could be very helpful.