Are you planning to start a daycare business? Getting into the early learning industry demands more than securing a good location and encouraging parents to enroll their little ones in your center. To ensure your venture’s success, you must find a way to help children learn while having fun.
Hiring staff with the proper credentials is one way to ensure that the kids in your daycare center learn something new every day. A study found that three and four-year-olds learn the most when their teachers have degrees and specialize in early childhood education. However, having a good curriculum also matters since it plays a vital role in the success of a school. Here is a step-by-step guide to crafting the perfect early learning curriculum for your daycare business.
Why Should You Develop a Good Curriculum?
When choosing a daycare center, most parents look for a place that not only looks after their kids but also teaches them real-life and academic skills to help them thrive as they grow. To help you develop a curriculum, you must ask yourself a few questions to know your goals and what you plan to accomplish in your center.
For instance, what are the expectations of parents in your area? Are they fine with a tailor-made curriculum for your center, or would they prefer that you follow traditional methodologies to teach their children? What are the children’s needs, and what do you wish to avoid when developing a curriculum? Also, can you add anything to your program to help set you apart from other daycare centers? Knowing the answers to these questions will bring you to the next step: writing the perfect early learning curriculum.
Developing Your Daycare’s Curriculum
At the very least, your daycare should teach kids reading, basic math, science, and art. It should also encourage kids to move or exercise, engage in nature or outdoor experiences, and, most of all, promote the development of communication and social-emotional skills.
To simplify the process, you can purchase a daycare curriculum kit that contains all the lesson plans for an entire year. These kits should list all the necessary materials for each activity so you can easily prepare for them. Feel free to change the prepared curriculum to tailor it to your daycare and the children’s needs. You can search for activities on websites like Pinterest or YouTube to get some ideas.
Make it Fun Yet Educational
You do not need to teach traditional lessons to help kids learn. Instead, take a fun approach when creating lessons. You can do this by assigning themes for the week. For instance, to teach the alphabet, you can do one letter each week and create activities that are relevant to that letter.
To teach the letter B, you can have the kids play with tiny beanbags and separate the brown, blue, and black ones from the rest. The next day, you can teach them the Baa Baa Black Sheep song and make finger paintings of butterflies. Meanwhile, to teach math and the letter B simultaneously, show them a picture with bees, butterflies, and birds and let them count how many of each are in the photo or printout.
For an outdoor activity relevant to the week’s lesson, think about letting the children blow bubbles outside or plant beans in pots and place them in the daycare garden. For recess or snack time, consider serving them snacks that will make them happy and satisfied, like butternut squash pizza, banana bread or pudding, biscuits, and blueberries. Doing so will help children remember the lesson even while having a meal.
Create a Routine
Having a routine at daycare will make children feel more secure since they will know what to expect at certain times of the day. Between lessons and activities, there should be a set time for meals, snacks, nap time, and free play. Also, sticking to your daily schedule gives kids a predictable day and makes them feel safe and comfortable.
Creating a curriculum for early learning enables kids to learn valuable skills and lessons that will benefit them as they grow. In addition, develop a curriculum to help children reach their full potential while enhancing your daycare’s reputation. Sandra Chiu works as Director at LadyBug & Friends Daycare and Preschool.