Giggling Einstein's PreK Curriculum Presents, "All about ME Week!!" This is a week lesson plan for pre-k to Kindergarten students. This lesson can either be used as a curriculum or just be added to your curriculum. It is full of fun, hands-on activities that teach all the skills your students will need throughout the school year! These lessons meet all requirements for Early Childhood learning! These lessons help teachers and parents have more time to teach and less time worrying about the paperwork. Includes: Lesson Plan Activity instructions Science Examples and Instructions Art Examples Supply List Printable Table Activity sheets These lesson plans can fit into anyone's curriculum, it doesn't matter if you teach from home or in a classroom! Create, Inspire, and Have Fun!
An experienced early childhood educator shares the importance of preschool and discusses its benefits to overall development.
Printable "Question of the Day" cards for the Water Study, based on the Creative Curriculum Guided Edition version! These cards are aligned with the Creative Curriculum's Water Study Investigations, and contain both the question and visuals to support teaching and learning in your early childhood se...
Printable "Question of the Day" cards for the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Study, based on the Creative Curriculum Guided Edition version! These cards are aligned with the Creative Curriculum's Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Study Investigations, and contain both the question and visuals to support teaching and l...
In my play based classroom there are 10 essential learning areas. I cannot do without them. The provocations and resources offered in these areas change throughout the year dependent on children's interests and the curriculum intent. The placement of these 10 areas within the classroom is thoughtf
Learn what my preschooler & I loved, didn't love, & what made me cry in this Blossom and Root Early Years curriculum review for homeschoolers.
If you are familiar with the Walker Learning Approach, then you are no doubt also familiar with writing a Statement of Intent. This fortnightly planning document is vital to the success of your play-based learning program. Check out this blog post to see how we write ours.
Handing little learners a pair of scissors for the first time in a classroom can make teachers a little uneasy. Spend time focusing on how to cut with scissors, as well as, seeing what tool learners are ready to use is important. What Scissors to Use? There are many levels of development a child needs
A perfect addition to NAIDOC week or adding to your indigenous activities in your room. This pack includes 36 Australian Aboriginal Symbol cards in 2 different sizes and can be used for a variety of activities by a variety of year levels.
Printable "Question of the Day" cards for the Clothes Study, based on the Creative Curriculum Guided Edition version! These cards are aligned with the Creative Curriculum's Clothes Study Investigations, and contain both the question and visuals to support teaching and learning in your early childhoo...
Printable "Question of the Day" cards for the Balls Study, based on the Creative Curriculum Guided Edition version! These cards are aligned with the Creative Curriculum's Balls Study Investigations, and contain both the question and visuals to support teaching and learning in your early childhood se...
Family consumer science lesson plans for high school. These child development high school lessons and food and nutrition lessons are free for teachers. If you are teaching family and consumer scien…
Keep students engaged and check out this must-try collection of hands-on, educational, and FUN engineering activities for kids!
Creative Curriculum The First Six Weeks *Please note this is more of a focus on the GUIDED EDITION! Access everything you need for the Creative Curriculum: The First 6 Weeks unit! This resource includes monthly, weekly, and daily focus questions, unit vocabulary, unit visuals and language props, read aloud materials, data sheets and more! This was created to make your life a little bit easier - and more organized during this back to school unit! Teach your little ones all about classroom and school routines, people, rules, and more using the resources included in this printable! 170 pages dedicated to the CC First 6 Weeks! This resource is organized by focus question and includes: unit study focus questions questions of the day vocabulary daily read aloud visuals for books and focus questions *Please note that this is an outline of the study along with visuals and center resources you can incorporate into your classroom. This resource does not include breakdowns of each day or unit - just an outline and materials that may be needed.
4 Must Do's on the First Day of Pre-K. Worried you missed something while lesson planning for the first day of school?
The Empowered Educator - Analysis, Reflection and Evaluation in Early Childhood Programming.
What does it take to direct a preschool choir? How is working with preschoolers different from working with elementary-age children? What do you need to know? If you’re new to working with preschoolers or it’s been a while since you’ve been around this particular age group, here’s a quick guide to
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
Age of Montessori’s Elementary Curriculum Charts, color-coded by subject and year, show the progression of Practical Life, Math, Geometry, Language, Biology, History and Geography lessons from early childhood through grade 6. The Lower Elementary chart covers the preschool to 3rd grade curriculum and the Upper Elementary chart covers the 4th to 6th grade curriculum.
Providing meaningful documentation has many benefits in the early childhood classroom. Today I want to share some examples of meaningful documentation.
I am a rather inactive member of many Facebook early childhood educator groups — inactive because I read and look, far more than I participate. Many of these groups focus on Loose Parts and/or Reggio…
Discover the perfect All About Me preschool activity designed for young kids! Get a free printable worksheet that's simple, engaging, and ideal for emergent readers. Download now!
Planning is a task all teachers must do. You either love it or you hate it, and I LOVE it! I love it because my planning documents are purposeful. I refer to them and use them constantly throughout the term. No one wants to waste their time writing up planning documents only to file them away, nev
Whether you are doing a homeschool preschool program or are a teacher in a preschool, having a plan is essential. Every year, I begin with an outline for what I plan to teach throughout the school year. I created this resourceful, editable preschool curriculum to keep organized and easily change what I teach from year
Mountains are amazing! Click on this post for fun and easy ideas to teach kids about mountains! Learn zoology and botany while engaging your child!
Printable "Question of the Day" cards for the Light Study, based on the Creative Curriculum Guided Edition version! These cards are aligned with the Creative Curriculum's Light Study Investigations, and contain both the question and visuals to support teaching and learning in your early childhood se...
The Empowered Educator - Analysis, Reflection and Evaluation in Early Childhood Programming.
From developing fine motor skills, letter and number recognition, sight words, sorting, sequencing, reading, and math, these task boxes for autism tasks will help develop important life skills and beyond!
Getting little learners excited about science is easy with engaging experiments and thematic units. Teaching them to collect and organize data like scientists is accomplished with a Science Notebook.Here are 3 reasons why using a Science Notebook with your learners can help your classroom and curriculum. 1) Work Doesn't Get Thrown AwayWhether you are homeschooling or in the
At the Crafty Classroom, we have over 30 preschool themes with numerous printables and activities you can use in your homeschool or classroom!
Don't miss out on this free kindergarten prep worksheet! It's free and has over 20 pages for your child to use and learn from!
