Originally Posted by Play Care:
This is my program as well, and to be honest I don't think it's over the top or inappropriate for the ages of kids in my care.
I do balk at the idea of having to use a formal curriculum (i.e. mother goose, fun shine, etc) or have kids sitting for long periods for formal learning activity.
I do the same except we rarely do Pinterest type crafts and we also have a weekly theme that activities and books are based around. The theme is more for me since it helps me organize activities, use all of the resources I've aquifer and makes sure I'm not reading the same books over and over. Circle time is mostly for the 4 and 5 yo.
The only times we do a craft that a parent would want to hang in the fridge is Christmas, Mother's Day and Father's Day and I still try to choose crafts that the child can do themselves for the most part.
I still get parents of the under 3 group asking what their child is learning. I've explained how children that young learn, I've posted articles and it appeases them for a while. I explain that when the 4 and 5 yo work on handwriting the younger children work on their fine motor skills and their ability to hold a writing tool correctly so they are working on their handwriting even if the scribbles on their paper aren't letters. My daycare kids that stay with me end up going to kinder ahead of the game but I can usually tell by the time the child is 2yo if the parent will end up pulling them to send them to formal preschool at 3 or 4.