Originally Posted by DBug:
I started using Funshine Express a few months ago (thanks to OriginalKat's advice!), and I love it. I was spending alot of time prepping before as well, but now it's sooo much easier! I keep each day's worksheets, crafts & visuals in their own file folder, so I just grab the folder and the lesson book while the kids are eating breakfast. I grab whatever extra materials I need (glue, crayons, etc), and we're good to go! There are lots of activities to choose from for each day, and they can be scaled for each age group. My 8 month old does the craft about half the time, and always sits with us for circle/activity time, and the rest of the kids from 12 months and up, do everything, with varying degrees of help from me.
I pay extra because I'm in Canada, but it's worth every penny!
DBug and Original Kat, how to you go about payment for the Funshine curriculum? Do you have the parents pay upfront at the beginning of the year, or monthly or weekly for the cost of program? What do you do about the number of children when you get new children every so often added to the preschool class? Or are you already full and don't have to worry about additions during the school year?
Also, how easily could I apply the curriculum in my circumstance (I have 2 1/2 -3 yr olds 2 days a week and 4-5 yr olds 3 days a week). This works best for me as there'd be more children with a wider gap in age than I want to teach at one time (both classes combined would give me 12 children, without an assistant, since the owner would have to watch the toddlers). Would it even work to only do 2-3 days worth of curriculum each week? We also go by the local school district (no school there, no preschool either since we have school agers during the day on school breaks), so there'd sometimes be a whole week of no preschool (like Spring Break), and none at all in summers.