Pre school curriculum means different things to different people.

To me, a Bank Street graduate, it may mean something very different than the traditional, kindergarten public school teacher.

I am presenting here just one way of planning curriculum that I found works and is very enriching for the children.

Aside from the planning around a theme, unit or topic, I also add into my curriculum other activities and skills that we are working on througout the year.

If you have any questions on it of course feel free to comment below.

1- Master Plan

Under my master plan these are the basic curriculum and skills that I would want covered in a given year.

1. Literacy , reading goals and activities
2. Reading readiness goals and activities
3. Math concepts goals and activities
4. Music goals and activities
5. Sciences goals and activities
6. Holidays and specif concepts need to cover

This is very basic and will differ for various ages.

The next step is to branch out from this master plan that will have lots of papers and notebooks and book on.

2- The Unit

The Unit is the topic you are covering for a particular week, month or unknown time period. In the project approach it would be the topic that you have discovered the children are very interested in.

The point of starting from the child’s point of view is that the children will be more interested in topics that come from them. But the concepts are the same in that everything we want children to learn can branch out from any topic or unit.

We don’t compartmentalize knowledge, by saying now we learn math and now science. We incorporate everything under the banner of this unit and learn through that topic. (Except for specific skills)

A unit can be a holiday, a season, a social studies concept

You should NOT base a unit on something like colors or shapes, those are very limited, are very common in traditional classrooms and shapes and colors can be incorporated into any unit. It’s also not exciting to learn about shapes or colors in a vacuum.

3- List of activities for unit

1. Concepts you want to cover in unit
2. Activities and games for circle time to reinforce concepts
3. Visual aids you may need to help with reinforcement
4. Math concepts to tie in to unit
5. Reading and pre reading activities
6. Art activities and projects
7. Science
8. Trips
9. Centers and changes you will make to them based on unit
10. Music and movement

4 -Other activities not related to the unit

• Outdoor, physical games and activities
• Any math, acience, reading or music activites not tied into unit
• New centers for work period
• Individual children that need working with and on what

5- Putting your plans into a chart

I actually find that I need 2 charts for planning. As most of the day in an early childhood classroom follow mostly the same pattern every day you would need charts for circle time, work period and quiet activity time , as those are the blocks of time that need filling in every day.

Circle time and quiet activity time can go on the same chart with days of the week next to them an what you plan on doing in those times on those days.

The next chart would be the one for work period, which is the bulk of the learning time in a progressive Bank Street like classroom.

The classroom is set up with centers depending on whats going on in the unit is what you would put into those centers to facilitate learning.

Some of the centers you may want to have.  (No need to use all, and eve if so, not at the same time.)

• Blocks
• Art
• Dramatic Play
• Manipulatives
• Science and Math center
• Sand/ water
• Library
• Easel
• Computers

A good progressive classroom is always looking to make changes to various centers in the classroom to enrich the unit the children are working on.

In a further post I will give you a sample curriculum.

Do you remember story time when you were in preschool? Or maybe you remember one of your parents reading to you before bedtime?

It does not matter if you are a home school educator or a preschool teacher, story time is an important part of any preschool student’s educational experience.

Story time can be as simple as reviewing popular nursery rhymes or as extensive as a story soap opera. Depending on the preschool student’s leveled abilities and/or interests, story time can include the ever popular Humpty Dumpty or the divisional break down of popular books such as The Three Little Pigs. The reading item should be chosen based on attention span and actual interest of the preschool student.

Preschool leveled students have limited attention spans and the love of reading can be encouraged via fun activities. Include attention grabbing props such as a story time hat, a special story time pillow or chair, a story time flag, special made story mats, a special story time march around the room, a song or even a drum chant.

Some of the items can be made by the preschool student. The pillow could be decorated with hand prints using fabric paint. The flag could be made of card stock and pictures collected from old magazines or discarded books. The preschool class could even make up their own song and dance for use during transition to story time. Involving the preschool students encourages their love of reading.

Preschool leveled students will also respond to special activities related to the story. Examples include: A story show and tell; Announce the story of the week and ask the students to participate by bringing in an item that relates to a part of the story.

Incorporating Sign Language;  Teach the students special signs that relate to the story line.

A story treasure chest; Fill a small box with surprise items related to the story. Prior to removing an item from the chest to share with the preschool students, provide a brief verbal description of the item, then have the class guess what the item could be. The variations are extensive and are only limited by the vision of the instructor.

Story time excitement can be created in the preschool classroom with a student made book. At the beginning of the preschool year the student could create an ‘About Me’ styled book. Include pages about their favorite foods, family pets, favorite color, a hand drawn family portrait or even a self-portrait.

Add the books to the preschool class library to encourage not only the love of reading but individual familiarity. A book extension activity will also encourage the understanding of the book being read.

Many extension activities include the creation of a ‘mimic’ styled handmade book produced by the student. It may also include activities / worksheets based on the book being introduced but are inclusive of the basic concepts introduced in a preschool classroom. Again, the limits are only set by the vision of the instructor.

Story time, with its many facets, is an important part of any preschool curriculum. Encouraging the love of reading will not only span the ages but extend the imagination of the preschool student.

For additional articles, activities, worksheets and so much more visit www.freeabcschool.com Your preschool curriculum resource ….. Everything is Free or Almost Free!
About the Author

Promoting equal educational opportunities. Please visit http://www.freeabcschool.com Article resources: http://www.freeabcschool.com/articles/ and http://www.freeabcschool.com/articles/preschoolstorytimereadingactivities.htm

I just love children books. the really good ones are a joy and can be read to children over and over again.

Good books are the foundation of every preschool reading program. As a parent, you should not only be concerned with how often you read to your children, but also with the quality of the books you are reading. With so many books flooding the preschool market, it can be difficult to decide which books to use. Here are 3 tips for choosing great books for your preschooler:

1. Choose books with vivid illustrations. Look for books that contain beautiful drawings and illustrations that will help your children stay focused and engaged in the story. Non fiction books that contain diagrams and photographs can greatly enhance your child’s understanding of science topics.

2. Choose books that are interactive. Look for books that encourage your child to participate in the story. Books that ask your child to find hidden objects will help your child gain visual discrimination skills that are essential for preschool reading. Books that ask your child questions about the story help build reasoning and critical thinking skills. Lift the flap books and touchy feely books are great resources for hands on learners.

3. Choose books with classic storylines. Look for books that retell classic stories, fairytales and nursery rhymes. These books are not only morally sound and entertaining, they enhance cultural literacy. In addition to classic stories, look for books that relate to your child’s interests. Books with entertaining characters like princesses, pirates and cowboys are always a hit with preschoolers.

You can find book suggestions for your preschooler by speaking with your librarian or by looking at the book lists of popular preschool curriculum providers like Sonlight, Five in a Row and Winter Promise.
About the Author

Here are some additional ideas for teaching preschool reading , along with specific book recommendations. Visit Carletta’s website for more information about homeschooling preschool .

Preschool activities are of course not relegated to the classroom. They can be for homeschooled preschool children as well as the classroom situation.

It’s actually heartwarming to me when someone makes a comment about one of the activities or thoughts I have posted about. It also gives me food for thought for more posts.

As Sherry Bolan commented about how she found the calendar time activities useful it made me start thinking about other common activities that are done with children that can incorporate learning.

One simple one would be setting the table for lunch or snack. (Or at home that would be for dinner also)

There are many basic mathematical skills that children need to learn that they do not gain from worksheets. One example of a common kindergarten math activity would be one to one correspondence.

An excellent way to teach this and reinforce this is by letting the children set the table. They learn that for each place setting goes, 1 chair, 1 plate, 1 cup, 1 napkin etc.

There is nothing that teachers math concepts better to children  under the ages of 7-8 by giving them concrete examples and concrete materials. Children do not begin to think abstractly according to Piaget until around the age 7-8.

As a result the more you have children dealing with math concepts in real life the better they will stick.

And what better activities than using the ones they are most familiar with.

Traditional education does not believe in an integrated curriculum. Each subject in a traditional classroom is separated from each other. Math is taught as the math subject, science is science, reading is reading etc. Art is usually copycat arts and crafts projects that are made to commemorate a holiday.

Integrated curriculum, in this case integrated preschool and kindergarten curriculum ties all subject matter into a cohesive whole. (imitating life I guess)

There are a few ways that this is done.

If you doing the project approach you would begin by listening to the children as they are playing and follow their interests in choosing the topic or theme.

You would then tie all of the subject matter into the theme that you have chosen from the children’ s interests.

If you are following the Emillio Reggio apporaach, art is what is the connecting force of the whole curriculum.

Bank Street College which espouses the developmental approach to learning does it similarly.

Bank Street school usually begins with a social studies concept. The children will go on a trip as simple as going to the fruit and vegetable market. Sometimes  their beginning trip will be a bit more elaborate, but they use a social studies based curriculum and use which is what is most familiar to children. Local studies.

Based on this trip an entire curriculum is woven around it.

If they are doing a market study, after their trip to the market, they will create their own market in school, incorporating reading,writing, math, the arts etc into their market  by planning and creating it.

Math comes into play as they measure for the size of their stalls, buy the food to sell, tally up purchases and figure out what their profit is.

Science : Ass they discover the various fruits and vegetable, what happens to them, what can be done with them, predictions and observations.

Reading:  Making signs for advertising their market, signs for the market itself, reading other books about markets,  writing about the market.

Of course art ties it all together as they create the stands and the posters for their market and draw and paint about their experiences.

The whole curriculum comes alive as they pull their market together and sell fruits and vegetable to the other children in the school.

This is actually the most exciting and relevant way of learning as it brings learning close to home and extremely relevant for children.

When children learn in the traditional manner, where everything is compartmentalized, their learning is separated from life and does not have as much meaning.

Using real life experiences of the children and tying it to learning makes learning very meaningful, fun, exciting and enriching.

An integrated curriculum can start at many different points, however the basis for it, includes ALL skills and subjects into the theme or unit at hand so that the children can integratete their learning into a  whole.