What's Inside
Here is an overview of what you will find in The Creative Curriculum® for Family Child Care, along with sample excerpts from each of the chapters. Follow the links to view individual chapter excerpts, which will open in a new window (requires Adobe Reader).
The Creative Curriculum for Family Child Care is organized into two volumes.
Volume 1: The Foundation offers an explanation of the theory and research behind the curriculum, outlines the five components of the curriculum, and provides all the information you need to set up your family child care program.
Volume 2: Routines and Experiences explains the daily routines and experiences that are an important part of every day in family child care. Each chapter includes a letter to families describing related LearningGames® and what they can do at home with children.
The Foundation
The Foundation outlines the theory and research that support the curriculum's focus on the importance of individualized learning, safe and healthy environments, partnerships with families, learning through play, and interactions with the environment.
"Knowing How Children Develop and Learn" describes how children develop across the core domains, explains what makes each child unique, and introduces seven children who appear in stories throughout the book.
Excerpt: Illustrations and Descriptions of the Seven Children
"Setting Up Your Home and Planning Your Day" offers guidance on how to organize space and materials, create a daily schedule, and make weekly plans in ways that give structure but allow flexibility.
"What Children Are Learning" demonstrates how the responsive relationships, daily interactions, and experiences you offer become the building blocks for successful learning. It also identifies the knowledge and skills that children acquire at each stage in literacy, math, science, social studies, technology, and the arts.
"Caring and Teaching" offers strategies for building positive relationships and guiding children's learning and development of self-regulation. It also explains the role of ongoing assessment in learning about each child and his or her progress.
Excerpt from Chapter 4: "Guiding Children's Behavior/Supporting the Development of Self-Regulation"
"Building Partnerships With Families" explores the benefits of partnering with families in the care of their children and shares strategies for effective, respectful communication.
"Routines" (Volume 2, Chapters 6-9) includes all the routines that make up an important part of the day: hellos and good-byes, mealtimes, diapering and toileting, and sleeping and resting. Strategies for involving children in routines, partnering with families, and helping the day go smoothly are also included.
"Experiences" (Volume 2, Chapters 10-20) describes how a wide range of play experiences can support children's development and learning. Each chapter suggests appropriate materials for different age groups and offers strategies for interacting and engaging with children of different ages.
Excerpt from Chapter 18: "Cooking, Engaging Children of All Ages"
LearningGames
The Creative Curriculum for Family Child Care includes 68 LearningGames: award-winning, interactive games that family child care providers can share with families and use in their own programs. The LearningGames series is validated by over 30 years of rigorous, independent scientific research showing positive gains for children that last through school-age and into early adulthood.
Each chapter on routines and experiences describes four or five LearningGames, one for each age group from birth to 5, along with suggestions for sharing them with families.
Excerpts from LearningGames: