For the past couple of months I've been bored, and lost lots of motivation in my job... I mean, the kids are taken care of, and are happy, parents are happy too, but I'm seeing that I'm losing patience with certain ongoing behaviors, I feel disorganized (which makes things worse, since I do have a few OCD issues - lol) and I just don't feel like entertaining them as much as I used to do, a year ago... I have a group the ranges from ages 17 months to 4 years, if I do things with the babies, the older kids go crazy, and viceversa...

I would like to revamp my program, add something new, maybe re-do it all together, to see if I can get excited again...

I don't have a curriculum, but I'm interested in maybe having a small pre-school program, or introducing Montessori style? Or Waldorf? or...

Those of you that have a pre-school curriculum, do you have teaching degrees? Or you are you self-learning?

I have a B.S. in Psychology, and I'm working on my Master, and took some early childhood education classes as electives... I would hate not being able to teach as I should...

Those of you that use Montessori style, do you have hard time finding/buying materials, without going broke? Any tips on where to find the best quality at a good price? I see that toys from "Melissa and Dough" are widely used in Montessory teaching... but they are also very expensive ( we buy them for our son... I'm still afraid of bringing them downstairs to be shared with the crazy crowd...)

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Well, I have a preschool program. I do not have a teaching degree and I am not a certified preschool, and don't really care to be.

I homeschooled for 20+ years and all of my children except one went to college and are now going for their master's degrees. I feel they were well prepared for life, and so do they. I worked with children through 4-H and church youth group leadership for the entire 20 years. So while I don't have an education degree from a college, I feel I have one from life. I do have a BS degree, but honestly don't think it is necessary, especially not before teaching high school.

Sooooo.....

I have not used Montessori or the others, but have become intrigued by some of what they do. I am interested in finding out more.

That said, I basically use unit studies for my preschool program. For next year I will probably be using Ann Ward's Learning at Home for my base curriculum. From there I expand and improvise. I do use a minimum of worksheets in handwriting and math, along with other materials. I try to incorporate language and math skills into most everything we do.

Let me give you an example of what I teach: In science we had a unit on "color", so for our basic curriculum for the week I chose to do "rainbows". What a neat fit! They overlapped a LOT and the kids loved it! We had also just completed a unit on "light" and "lighthouses" which led into it very nicely.

That's how I'm doing it, but my program is always in flux. I do what fits at the time, keeping the basics moving ahead with whatever theme I choose to work on. That's the beauty of unit studies.

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I understand what you are saying. A preschool program might be a great fit for you. Are you sure there is enough demand for Montessori and Waldorf in your area? I know both of those programs would really narrow your parent interest. Just something to think about. I dont do a specific Waldorf program but I do consider myself Waldorf inspired. That keeps me from narrowing myself to much and i just take the best part of Waldorf (like the no media, no electronic toys) and there are definitely plenty of parents that want that.

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My undergrad is Psychology too. I posted the other day about wanting to know more about Montessori- there are some great links on that thread if its still around somewhere

Sometimes Amazon.com has the melissa and doug toys on special. I got a bunch for my own kids for 10.00. Also, try TJ Maxx and Marshalls, they often carry the toys there for a lot cheaper than retail.

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Michaels has them too and I have seen BOGO sales there

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Don't forget the thrift stores for purchasing Melissa and Doug items. I have gotten all of mine from the thrift store.

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Thank you

I know of some parents that are paying top dollar sending their kids to Montessori schools... I know of some that would like to, but can't afford it...
Here where I live is definetely publicized a lot...

I don't think I want to narrow myself to only one style, and I don't want to take away from these schools that have certified teachers and stuff.. but there are a lots of ideas that I love about these programs, and I would like to incorporate them into my daycare...also to give parents the opportunity to expose their kids to it, without having pay top-dollar prices...

Is there any places online where I can purchase pre-school lessons
plans? (not necessarily Montessori based...)
Maybe a homeschooling website?

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I am lucky enough to have a DH who is a wood worker and since so many of the thing Montessori uses are natural wood toys, I just have him replicate them for a lot cheaper. He will usually make the hard part and I am left to do the sanding and finishing work. I have a wonderful set of tracing lettters/numbers and all I had to give for them was a lot of time which is better than paying what they want for them.... They look kind of like these:

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