I do not use a formal curriculum in my daycare. Instead, I put together my weekly themed lesson plans myself. This is more work for me, but I enjoy it.
I do not believe in making lesson plans for colors, shapes, numbers, or stuff like that. I think those basics should be part of each and every day. There are several opportunities in a normal day to explore such concepts naturally and informally. Some examples: counting the different colors of food we picked from the garden, using different shapes in a craft project, announcing what color crayon I'm going to use to draw something, talking about our favorite colors, etc. I believe learning that occurs naturally is more effective than a forced curriculum.
The themed lesson plans that I've created so far are about classical ballets, foreign countries, and different animal habitats. These may sound like advanced subjects, but part of the advantage of designing the lesson plans myself is that I can tailor them to the children in my care. I believe that even very young kids get something out of these subjects. It gives them a foundation to build on in the future and it gives them exposure to words they may not be likely to hear otherwise.
Last week we did a basic geography review. This week we are learning about Japan. The main things I hope D takes away from this week's activities are: Japan is a country far away. Life in Japan is both similar and different from life here in the USA. Lots of things we use in our daily lives come from Japan.
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