PRIMARY SCIENCE UNIT 1 - THE HUMAN BODY We are so excited to dig into Unit 1 in our science sequence! We kick off science this year with My Body and My Five Senses . It is the perfect place to start science with our primary kiddos. This year we are going to explore and learn about the
I think it’s safe to say that ALL toddlers love a trip to the zoo. We are lucky to have a pretty fantastic zoo close to where we live so we take full advantage of that and visit every few weeks or so. Madelynn always loves seeing what the animals are up to, so I knew this […]
Play Through The Bible is a super fun series chronicling all the activities we did as we worked our way through a children’s bible at a toddler level. Here are all the posts in one spot! Play Through The Bible Introduction Old Testament Creation – Week 1 Adam and Eve – Week 2 Noah – Week 3…
Everything you need to plan preschool rock theme activities for your kids. Preschoolers love collecting rocks and learning about them!
Disney movies have some very deep lessons to teach kids. Zootopia lesson plans are perfect for teaching kids about bias vs. sterotypes.
Learn how to make preschool lesson plans easily. This lesson planning process is fun and perfect for homeschool preschool or in-home daycare.
Preschoolers will LOVE learning about animal habitats with these lesson plans! Full of easy-prep, engaging, & hands-on activities for all subjects.
How is school already around the corner? Summer has seriously flown by. I love having the kids at home, having no type of schedule and hanging out at the water park all week. However, I'm ready for a little more consistency in our life. I think my kids are ready for it as well. I
Introducing the letter a to your class or child? Check out this free letter a lesson plan with lots of crafts and activities!
Engage your class in an exciting hands-on experience learning the five senses!
Looking to teach yoga for preschoolers? We’re here to help you create yoga lesson plans for preschoolers and t
Two Points: This is MY method, and not necessarily right for you, your teaching or care philosophy, your set-up, or your students. Curriculum participation by my students is VOLUNTARY. I invite them to participate, but if they choose not to, then that is fine. I usually offer them a choice of a few of the activities and let them decide where we start and where we go. An engaged child learns, a dis-engaged child rebels. The 3-year rotating curriculum is theme based. Some times we stick to the plan, but usually I observe what they are interested in learning about, what they are asking questions about, and suggest up to three different themes they can choose from for us to study. I make my own 3-year rotating curriculum for many reasons: Packaged curriculum is often only one year. Since I teach for 3 years, this would be redundant. Most packaged curriculum focuses on skills my students master early. My 2s count to 20, know 11 colors, know most of their phonics, uppercase and lowercase letters, 10 shapes and some of their numbers and I still have 3 years of curriculum to teach them. They often are worksheet intensive. My students usually are cognitively advanced from their fine motor skills. I have 4 year olds that still can't write well. If I had relied on worksheets for the last 2 years, there is no way they would have the skill sets they have. Worksheets are also not considered Developmentally Appropriate Practice [DAP] for children under the age of 8. We use them here for writing practice starting at age 4. [Yes, worksheet-intensive public schools are not using DAP for kindy through 3rd grade!] They can be expensive. If you are purchasing worksheets, why would you spend even $1 a week/$52 a year when you can purchase a 400 page Scholastic preschool workbook from Sam's Club for $8 that covers probably more material, is most likely aligned with the public school expectations, and is colorful. Colored copies are NOT affordable to make from packaged curriculum. Most [ALL!] preschool learning should be interactive. Pinterest is a better source for ideas. My students change every time I do a theme. I have to be able to tweak it to the interests and capabilities of those currently in my care. Plus, I'll find more interesting activities on Pinterest, have an idea for a new game, etc. It's a constant evolution to keep my curriculum relevant to our current group, situation and resources. However, curriculum planning and creation is very time consuming. Even with older curriculum I spend several hours going over it prior to teaching - updating, creating new materials, purchasing and setting new classroom decorations. While I have had my 3 year curriculum, this year I found myself wanting a more specific schedule to focus on specific skill sets for this particular group of children. Most of these skills can be incorporated into our themed curriculum, or they take 5 minute sessions to pop into our day. I have two groups, the younger preschoolers are 2-3 years old and the older ones are 4-5 years old, all at the same developmental and skill set level within their group. This makes it easier, as I can tailor everything to just 2 groups. If I were to have additional levels of children, then it would be tailored to each level. Children here are taught at their developmental level, not age. Asychronastic development is normal, so I may be teaching a child at various levels depending upon the subject matter. For the younger preschoolers, I came up with this structure. For the older pre-k students, I came up with this one. For instance, both of them have Measurement & Comparison on Friday for Reasoning. However, for the younger students, this would be a more/less, longer/shorter, big/little, etc. activity, while the older students would be measuring with rulers, yardsticks, tape measures, measuring cups, unit blocks, foot steps or themed units, and graphing the measurements to compare. Same skill set, differentiated at vastly different levels. Even this needs conditional tweaking. All the pre-k's know how to spell their last names now, so that is no longer a relevant skill activity for music and will be changed out. In another post I'll get into the curriculum components and the importance of each. For instance, how counting on Friday teaches 1-to-1 correspondence and creating method processes for counting groups of objects. CLICK PICTURES TO VIEW LARGER I use this MS Word template, available for FREE on TPT, for curriculum planning. Often, the daily skill sets above are either already incorporated, or can easily be incorporated, into the theme planning. For an example of a completed curriculum unit, check out our Owls Theme. Each monthly theme is broken down into 4 sub-themes. For instance: SPACE Astronauts & Rockets The Universe Our Solar System Aliens & Robots We also have a musical component, often classical, and an art component, often a master, and Spanish vocabulary component that we incorporate. This planning form may not include all games, file folder games, manipulatives, room-set up, etc. that I utilize. For those of you trained in curriculum creation, I do NOT do a full curriculum development for each activity. With having these children usually from infant to school-age, I keep an internal evaluation of progression and plan out only weekly learning objectives. Since I am creating the activities for my personal use, I do not need to create written procedures and evaluations. My curriculum is stored currently in file folders in a large office bookcase unit. I would like to get it into boxes so that I could have EVERY theme-related item, including dress-up, room set-up, manipulatives, etc. together for an easy pull. File boxes will most likely be the easiest, but they do take up a lot of space. In each file some of the things I probably have: Completed planning sheets All the books I own for that theme Flannel board Sentence and word walls File folder games Samples of previous crafts DVDs CDs Coloring pages Mini-book(s) Build-a-[theme item] game Curriculum creation is one of my great joys. I love the research and compilation, the creativity and excitement of bringing something fun and educational to my students. Learning is rarely linear. Children take developmental leaps, sometimes in odd directions. As a teacher, it is important that I keep each one challenged without pushing or inhibiting their growth, and that takes constant evaluation and a good eye for when those leaps happen so that we can move on to a higher level of instruction. When we do an activity, I constantly question if they WANT to do another round, another activity, and I usually cut them off while they are still engaged. I want them wanting more, and they will usually ask if they can continue. One of the most important desires and abilities I can instill in them is that of self-directed learning. So as they choose to go off with their rulers after we've spent several minutes doing a measuring activity, conferring between themselves as to procedures and what to measure next, I step back and let them. They know I am here as a resource, rather than an intrusive director. It is my job to ensure that when I invite my students to learn, they glow with excitement and anticipation of a fun, interactive, playful time. The results, so far, have been astounding. A few of my complete curriculum units are available through my TPT store. Apples Dental Ice Cream Penguins Rainbows St. Patrick's Day Valentine's Follow Connie -'s board Classroom on Pinterest. Tags: preschool, child care, pre-k, curriculum, development, teaching, education, homeschooling, homeschool, home, school, preschool curriculum development, planning
Reduce, reuse, and recycle.
After-school programs should provide activities that are fun and that capture the interest of students. Since they will be tired at the end of their school day, kids will need activities that are compelling but not too strenuous.
ATTENTION PE TEACHERSDownload 3 Free PE Lesson Plans for Kindergarten to 8th GradeEach lesson is on a printable 1-page template with simple instructions and ful
Rock activities to teach young kids about rocks. Includes hands-on rock activities for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners.
It doesn’t matter if you have upcoming lesson plans that includes teaching about the ocean or it you just want to show your kids a neat science experiment, this Ocean Zones in a Jar craft wil…
Try these fun Space songs for kids. These songs can be used with Preschool, Pre-K, Kindergarten kids during a Space theme. These songs are collected from
Save time using these ready-made forest school lesson plans, including outdoor learning lessons in math, science, literacy, wellbeing & more
All about teaching preschool! Great ideas for preschool activities, standards-based curriculum, preschool assessments, and documentation.
Grab our free, clickable Mega List of Themes and Skills for Pre-K & Kindergarten Lesson Plans to see what themes/skills I cover in my classroom all year!
Scripted SCIENCE lessons for kindergarten - Engaging, easy to prep, and includes everything you need! Nonfiction read-aloud books, PowerPoints for every lesson, student activities and workbooks... Kids LOVE this program! NGSS and TEKS aligned.
I have a house full of music-loving kids! Pumping up the music and breaking out a dance party is a regular occurrence in our kitchen! So I thought that a music lesson plan for kids would be so much fun! We will do music STEM projects, like discover how to “see” sound and why jars […]
Find over 200 of The Best Preschool Themes and Preschool Lesson Plans, Whether you need ideas for alphabet activities, 100th Day of School. All About Me, Apples, Transportation Theme, Beach theme, Fall Theme, Spring themes, Fall Leaves. Farm, Feelings. Use thematic unit studies to engage children in learning. Themes for Preschool and Kindergarten, Tons of Pre-K activities and Preschool Topics
Complete April Lesson PLans PDF - Waldorf Enrichment Members Read more about crafts, thistle, henna, clouds, ripple and fairies.
Creative Curriculum Toddler Lesson Plan Template from lesson plans for toddlers template, image source: pinterest.com
Learn how to set yearlong plans, plan for a unit and daily topics, and create lessons plans.
Creating a play-based lesson plan for speech and language therapy is easier than you think! Here are some quick ideas to get you started.
Creative Curriculum Toddler Lesson Plan Template from creative curriculum lesson plan template, image source: pinterest.com
Learning about the changing states of matter is so fun, and sometimes delicious! Did you know you can make ice cream in a bag? Check it out!
An elementary teaching blog sharing K-3 curriculum resources, teacher tips, fun activities, and inspiration for the lower elementary primary grades.
Engage students in science for September on topics like magnets, apples, matter, and fall through science experiments and integrating science and literacy.
Fun and easy composition game for third grade and beyond with die cuts from the dollar store! Simple to make and use!
If you want to know how to teach kids about germs and the importance of proper handwashing, this collection of germ activities for kids will not disappoint!
Learn how to homeschool preschool with simple hands-on activities, fun activity books, and the most manageable open-and-go curriculum on the market!
20 Preschool thematic units with fun and creative activities based on books. Step-by-step lesson plans that are done for you and perfect to enhance your preschool curriculum!
