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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 329 340 PS 019 441 AUTHOR Dodge, Diane Trister; Colker, Laura J. TITLE The Creative Curriculum for Family Child Care. SPONS AGENCY Administration for Children, Youth, and Families (DHHS), Washington, DC. Head Start Bureau. REPORT NO ISBN-0-9602892-7-5 PUB DATE 91 NOTE 250p.; For a companion trainer's guide, see PS 019 442. AVAILABLE FROMTeaching Strategies, Inc., P.O. Box 42243, Washington, DC 20015 ($29.95; discount on orders over 10 copies). PUB TYPE Guides - Non-Classroom Use (055) EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS Child Development; Curriculum; Early Childhood Education; Educational Environment; Educational Philosophy; *Family Day Care; Learning Activities; Parent Teacher Cooperation; Program Development; Program Imp.Lmentation; Teaching Methods IDENTIFIERS *Creative Curriculum for Family Child Care; *Curriculum Implementation ABSTRACT Designed to provide practical and comprehensive assistance to family child care providers in a range of settings, this curriculum consists of two parts. Part 1, Setting the Stage, helps caregivers formulate a philosophy of child care, understand child development, prepare their homes, and plan their programs. It includes many ideas for making the home environment safe and inviting, selecting the right kinds of materials, managing the day, guiding children's learning and behavior, and bui.,ding a partnership with parents. Part 2, Activities, offers ideas on ways to select materials and plan experiences that help infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children grow and develop. The nine types of activities described in Part 2 are: dramatic play, blocks, toys, art, books, s2nd and water, cooking, music and movement, and outdoor play. (RH) ****************************************************************%****** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * *********************************************************************** AREATIVE CURRICULUM® FAMILY CHILDCARE U 5 DEP4RTMENT OF EDUCATION Office ot E Chic Shona: ReatiarCri ItnO Improvement EDUCATIONAL RE SOURCES INFORMATION CE NTER /ERIC) XTnIs document ries been reproduced as received from the person or organization Originating II 0 Minot Changes have been Made to improve reproduction Quality Points ot view Or opinions stated in Ihis docu ment do not neCeSSahly lepresent Oboe. OERI position or policy "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIALIN MICROFICHE ONLY HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) REST COPY AVAILABLE Pio Diane Trister Dodge Laura J. Colker The Creative Curriculum® for Family Child Care Diane Trister Dodge Laura J. Colker Illustrated by Julie Headland Design and Layout by Elisabeth Hudgins Teaching Strategies, Inc. Washington, DC Developed with funds received under an Innovafive Head Start Grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to the National Child Day Care Association, Inc.,Washington, DC. Copyright 01 9 9 1 by Teaching Strategies, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of Teaching Strategies, Inc., except by the Department of Health and Human Services for use in Head Start programs. Published and distributed by Teaching Strategies, Inc. P.O. Box 42243 Washington, DC 20015 ISBN: 0-9602892-7-5 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 90-071845 Acknowledgments This effort was made possible through an Innovative HeadStan Grant from the Adminis- tration for Children, Youth and Families, U.S. Departmentof Health and Human Ser- vices, to the National Child Day Care Association, Inc. (NCDCA).We are deeply in- debted to Helen Tkykr, Executive Director, and Manic Jackson,Education Cooniinator, who believe in the importance of high-quality programs inboth center and home environ- ments. They saw the value of having acurriculum for their family child care program and supported our idea so that others might also benefit from theresults. We initially proposed the idea of adapting our center-basedcurriculum, The Creative Curriculum for Early Childhood, for use by Head Start grantees that wereoperating fam- ily child care programs. Several of these grantees hadexpressed a need for practical cur- riculum materials that would be appropriate for infants,toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children.In designing our approach, we have tried to preserve thespecial characteristics of a home environment, not turn family child carehomes into mini-centers. We wanted to show how children's growth and devlopment canbe nurtured through de- velopmentally appropriate activities and caring relationships. We have been assisted in this effort by numerous individualsand agencies, each of whom we would like toacknowledge and thank. Dr. Trellis Waxier, GovernmentProject Offi- cer, was an enthusiastic participantin all our meetings and meticulously reviewed and commented on all products. We feel most fortunatc to havehad the opportunity to work with her on this project. We are especially grateful forthe support we received from E. Dollie Wolverton, Chief of the Education ServicesBranch of the Head Start Bureau, and Dr. Mary Lewis, Program Specialist, who attendeddesign team meetings and re- viewed many of the materials under development. INvo colleagues with extensive experience in the family child carefield deserve special mention, as they ass,sted in the writing of the curriculum.Marilyn Goldhammer was part of our initial team and workedclosely with us in designing the format and ap- proach. She also prepared original drafts of several chapters inthe curriculum. I ater in the project, we were fortunate to meet Leanne Sponsel, afamily child care trainer in St. Paul, Minnesota, who reviewed the curriculum, used it inher work, gave us invaluable feedback and suggestions for improving the content. She alsoagreed to write the vi- gnettes for each of the activities in PartTwo that realistically portray the challenge of involving children of all ages in activities. An effort of this magnitude benefits from the input of expertswho bring a range of xr- spectives. We therefore convened a design team that met overthe course of the project to review drafts and field-test the materials. Three Head Start granteesin addition to NCDCA, along with a community social agency, wererepresented on tnrs design team. We are particularly indebted to the following people whopiloted the materials with their providers and evaluated their effectiveness: Helen Taylor, Executive Directec Manic Jackson, Education Coordinator National Child Day Care Associadon, Inc. Washington, DC Beverly Unfold Thomas, Executive Dim .tor Linda McKay, Director of Home-Based Programs District of Columbia Public Schools Head Start Program Washington, DC Cynthia Davenport, Family Child Care Coordinator Catholic Charities Model Cities Center Washington, DC Renee Rib let, Director Cindy Perez, Family Child Care Cocrdinator Northwestern Ohio Community Action Committee Head Start Prognmi Defiance, Ohio Nels Andersen, Director Rhonda Robson and Rhonda Schroeder, Family Child Care Supervisors Saginaw County Child Development Center Saginaw, Michigan Over forty family child care providers reviewed and triedout many of the ideas in the curriculum. They generously gave their time to share their experiencesin using the cur- riculum and to validate its usefulness. Several members of the the design team made contributions thatwere invaluable to us in producing The Creative Curriculum for Family Child Care, Dr. Joan Lombardi,an in- fant/toddler and Head Start specialist, ensured thatwe consistently addressed the needs of all age groups and that our materials conformed with the Head Start ProgramPerfor- mance Standards. Linda Smith, Deputy Director, Office of Family Policy and Support for Child Development Programs, United States Department of Defense, shared theperspec- tive of the military, which operates the largest childcare system in the world. Ruth Uhlmann and Barbara Andrews, who at different times servedas the family child care co- ordinator for the National Child Day Care Association, reviewed all drafts andalso as- sisted us in preparing the videotape Caring and Learning that accompanies thecurricu- lum. All the materials developed during this project reflect theexpert advice of each of the members of the design team andwf... deeply appreciate their commitment to this effort. Finally, we would like to thank several people who assistedus in completing the final document: our colleague, Deny Gosselin Komlelc, who reviewed and critiqued theclose- to-final draft; Martha Cooley, our editor, and Douglas Alexander and Kenneth Gradywho produced the camera-ready document It is our hope that The Creative Curriculum for Family Child Care willsupport provi, crs in offering developmentally appropriateprograms and that it will further our goal of achieving high-quality programs foryoung children wherever they are served. p. - The Creative Curriculum for Family Child Care Introduction 1 Part One: Setting the Stage Understanding Child Development 7 Setting Up Your Home for Child Care 18 Managing the Day 31 Working with Children. 37 Building a Partnership with Parents . 48 Part Two: Activities Overview and Goals 61 Dramatic Play 63 Blocks 81 Toys 103 Art 121 Sand and Water 143 Books 163 Cooking 193 Music and Movement 213 Outdoor Play 7 237 Introducfion Family child care is a growlng and =portantprofession. Today, more than half of all children under six years of age