Curriculum Nannies?!

Okay, so this is a couple months late. I just read that "Nannies must devise a “curriculum” that provides “evidence that programs provide specific, planned learning experiences” and that supports “school-readiness” ." Are you kidding me?! According to the Department of Early Education and Care in Massachusetts, daycares are now required to implement a tooth brushing program that helps the little ones practice excellent dental hygiene. In return, those same workers are now referred to as "educators". Oo la la. Along with that, those who are nannies have to write a curriculum. What happens if the family does not want a curriculum...that they just want their child to be a kid without the structure of predetermined activities. Sorry, little buddy, it's 11:00 a.m. we can't paint right now. The scheduled curriculum states that we must go outside right now. We'll be exploring with paint three Tuesdays from now.

I was a preschool teacher. I was a before and after school care teacher. I was an assistant teacher in a special needs facility. I know that plans do not always go the way they are planned. I just think it is preposterous for nannies to have to come up with a curriculum. What's next? Will all parents have to come up with a curriculum if they are not going to send their kid to preschool? This country is so obsessed with how our little ones are doing, despite the knowledge that children develop at different levels. My four-year-old is doing first grade math. He's bored with coloring-in worksheets and finger painting. Would a nanny have to start writing school-aged curriculum?

I have no problems with nannies teaching or leading the children they are caring for. But, it is not the place of the state to mandate that this be required of them. It should be an agreement between the family and the nanny.