DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM WITH PHONE OR TABLET Preface Since writing the first edition of this curriculum and working with providers who are using it, it has occurred to me that purchasing a curriculum is a great deal like purchasing a pair of shoes. It’s easy to see shoes on a shelf or in a maga- zine and imagine how great it would be to own them. Often the temptation to be styl- ish can be overwhelming. The reality, however, is that if the shoes don’t fit correctly or were never intended to be worn the way you would like to wear them, they will prob- ably end up in the back of your closet. The same holds true for curriculum. Any curriculum you decide to implement needs to “fit.” A curriculum that fits should be easy to implement, just as a good pair of shoes should be easy to walk in. If you choose to implement a curriculum that does not accurately reflect your environment, does not allow you to meet the developmen- tal needs of children in a realistic way, and does not correspond to how you actually feel about child care, it’s simply not a good fit. When the Family Child Care Curriculum was originally published in 2011, I intended to create a resource that family child care providers could easily apply to their programs. This was very important to me. The intention of the original curricu- lum was to provide a realistic framework that would be a good fit for a typical family child care environment. A short time after the publication of the curriculum, Redleaf Press issued a com- panion developmental assessment. The assessment booklet provided a wonderful addition to the curriculum. The information in the assessment, as in the curriculum, is presented in a straightforward and easy-to-use format. We wanted to provide tools that would allow providers to meet expanding expectations while maintaining the character of their family child care programs. xi COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL