Preschool teachers where did you get your curriculum?

Question

im opening a preschool in may 2009. i want the best learning curriculum out there. where did you get yours? or make it from scratch?

Answer 1

You're trying to give those little darlings as many experiences as possible in language (letters & sound recognition; listening, speaking, writing words & stories...), and math (number & simple pattern recognition; comparatives - more than, less than, same as...).

Additionally, you want to help them develop fine motor skills (cut & paste, color with crayons or map pencils - not markers, playdoh is good too.)

Check out this site: National Assoc. for the Education of Young Children

http://www.naeyc.org/

Good luck in your venture!

Answer 2

There are many "curriculums" out there for sale...but please be careful of them...many that aren't nationally known such as Creative Curriculum and High/Scope are often not complete curriculums...but more of a curriculum supplement.  Anything you purchase through the mail are going to be mostly "paper" projects.  Remember in your decision making that our goal in early childhood is the process not the product.  

Personally, I find that purchasing a curriculum such as creative curriculum is too expensive for small childcare/preschools.  There are curriculum classes available, I'm sure...through continuing education or a community agency that works primarily for child care.  I would suggest one.  I went online to our State's website and downloaded the Kindergarten standards and created my own.  Good luck.

Answer 3

The best learning curriculum for preschoolers, imo, is emergent curriculum and the Project Approach. It's how I've always taught, toddlers through preschoolers and kindergarten.

Emergent Curriculum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergent_cu...

http://www.silvertonfamilies.org/SFLC%20...

http://www.coopchild.org/emergent.htm

http://www.cccf-fcsge.ca/practice/progra...

Project Approach

http://www.projectapproach.org/index.php...

Answer 4

When I taught preschool, I looked at the kindergarten standards for my state and worked backward so that my students were prepared for kindergarten.

Answer 5

A very standard curriculum in our area is the Creative Curriculum.  It is extremely similar to the Early Reading First/No Child Left Behind "Curiosity Corner" which extends into some Kindergartens.

What is good about Creative Curriculum is that it leaves opportunities for teachable moments.  It is not so rigid that you MUST get everything in at a rushed pace.  

Another curriculum that I have used is POCET.  It is GREAT for keeping portfolios - which is a must if you are aiming for accreditation.  

Here is a link from the POCET blog:

http://pocet.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_arc...

It is distributed by Discount School Supply:

http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/Comm...

I highly recommend that you look up your local Child Care Resource and Referral office to see if they have a lending closet so you can preview before you buy, and they may even have entire copies to loan out for use.  Search for your CCR&R: http://www.naccrra.org/

You will likely want to stick with whatever curriculum you start with and add activities and components down the road, so research, research, research!

Do a search on Amazon.com for preschool curriculum, not only will you get editorial reviews, but you will also find reviews from real people who have insight from actual use!

Major suppliers of preschool supplies and curriculum include (in no particular order!):

http://www.discountschoolsupply.com

http://www.kaplanco.com

http://www.lakeshorelearning.com

https://www.schoolspecialtyonline.net

I am sure I have probably missed one or two that we have used, but that is the short list!

Hope this helps!