Add environmental print to your preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten classroom with these free, printable road signs for your block center.
Check out this free printable pack where your get to Create Your Own Monster! Download monster body templates and monster body parts!
Create a Math Block I can't say this enough. An effective math block will help you tremendously! It creates routine and structure that you need to make sure everyone is on task. This is what I include in my math block: Engaging Mini Lessons Math centers Independent practice visuals throughout the classroom Use A
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
15 color activities your toddler and preschooler will adore. Hands-on activities to learn and explore colors!
One of the things that I love about being in Virginia in the fall is the trees. I love seeing them change colors, seemingly before your eyes. Those trees inspired this Fall Colors Printable for Preschoolers with three fun fall activities for preschoolers just perfect for exploring autumn with activities on color words and more. Teaching colors this fall can go way beyond color worksheets. Pair it with one of my color sensory bins to create theme activities that last all fall. It's the perfect season for color sorting, color mixing, pumpkin seeds, and cider!
Science was the last subject area I taught during our day in the classroom. After a morning of literacy, lunch, recess and math, it was finally time to teach some science lesson plans. Honestly, I was usually exhausted by the time science rolled around. Overwhelmed with Science Setting out a ton of materials and making
Need the perfect song to get children moving? These are sure to be a winner!
This page may contain affiliate links. Activities Paper Chain Pythons | Clothespin Layers of the Rainforest | Craft Stick Crocodile | Printable Toucan Craft | Layers of the Rainforest Flipbook | Origami Poison Dart Frogs | How to Draw a Lemur | Paper Sloth | Rainforest Bingo BooksWhether you are purchasing online or creating your
These occupational therapy midline crossing activities are quick and easy to use. They're great for all young brains, bodies and eyes!
These simple bean bag activities are great for toddlers, preschool and kindergarten kids and will build their gross motor skills.
A few weeks ago our little daredevil had her first x-ray due to a little jumping on the bed incident. Yup 1 little monkey jumping on the bed, she fell off and bumped her head… broke her clavicle. Well ever since, she has been fascinated with the bones inside her body so there couldn’t be […]
A few weeks ago our little daredevil had her first x-ray due to a little jumping on the bed incident. Yup 1 little monkey jumping on the bed, she fell off and bumped her head… broke her clavicle. Well ever since, she has been fascinated with the bones inside her body so there couldn’t be […]
What is a ten frame? Ten Frames are awesome for preschool math and developing number sense. A quick and easy preschool math activity!
15 color activities your toddler and preschooler will adore. Hands-on activities to learn and explore colors!
Learn how to make a parachute by following a few easy steps. Post includes a list of materials can you try plus ideas for setting up a parachute experiment. Which parachute design is best?
Free printable summer tracing worksheets for preschool or toddlers. Easy to download and print. Perfect summer boredom busters.
Practice writing letters with summer tracing worksheets! These summer handwriting worksheets A to Z are FUN summer activity for preschoolers.
Experiment your way around the world with these 50 science experiments related to different countries and cultures around the world
Tips to keep kids active this summer with Change4Life and Disney, plus get your free pack
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
15 color activities your toddler and preschooler will adore. Hands-on activities to learn and explore colors!
An Autumn/ Fall tree fingerprint counting activity for kids. Download our free leaf counting printable to help preschoolers work on counting skills and number recognition.
Grab 11 free printable community helper hats for jobs including Firefighter, construction worker, police officer, chef, nurse, mail carrier, soldier, and more. What a great send-home activity!
Sometimes a transformation of a humble object is just beyond creative and that is just what today’s idea is. The soft, white Q-Tip can be used to make a spooky skeleton! I never would have th…
A map game can help your child learn the important life skill of map reading. This fun activity combines following directions with map skills activities.
Discover how to create stunning bubble art with your kids! Our step-by-step guide to bubble painting makes this fun and easy activity perfect for young artists. Learn the best tips, tricks, and
Anya, the founder of Montessori From The Heart, is an educational coach, a blogger, an author, a digital creator, and an influencer.
Scientific method for kids no longer something that is impossible. kids should be accustomed to resolve all the problems with using the scientific method. Find out more here.
Fire safety is important for everyone to learn but have fun while you teach, learn and practice anytime with these fireman activities for preschool.
