First Day

So today was the first day of our preschool.  We have been talking it up with the kids so everyone was very excited for school today:)

We choose the theme animals this month.  So here is what I planned...

Book/story time - Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear?
Singing Time - Old McDonald and then let them choose the other songs
Movement - I made a dice (out of a wood block) and taped piece of paper with animals on it.  They got to take turns rolling the dice.  Whatever animal it landed on they got to act out that animal.

Alphabet/Letters/Colors/Shapes - I choose to work on the alphabet today.  I pulled out our Elefun and wrote the Alphabet on the butterflies (there just happened to be 26 butterflies).  I put the upper case and the lower case.  To start off we went over the alphabet and showed them each letter on the butterflies.  Then we played and played and played.  They actually did not want to stop:)  After each time they had to name the letters on the butterflies they caught.  They loved this activity!

Art/Craft - I pulled out some animal foam stickers that I had and let them get to work sticking them on paper.  Simple but fun and working those fine motor muscles!

Games - Hungry Hungry Hippo

We had some extra time today so we pulled out some scraps of tule and had a dance party!  Super fun!

We seriously had such a fun day today.  I am so excited to keep this going and to keep learning with the kids.  Being a stay at home mother and having the option to do this is wonderful!

Getting Started (I know its summer but we are excited)

This is how we decided to do our preschool so please no negative comments.  To each their own!

I went to school and graduated in early childhood/special education so I had some resources I was able to pull out.  I went through my bin full of resources and found a developmental checklist that I have used many times in my career and can now use it at home.  It felt good to pull this out and be able to use what I have learned at college in my home and with my kids:)

Here is the checklist for 3-4 and 4-5.  

I went through the 3-4 checklist and marked the things Clifton still needs to work on.  And my friend went through it as well and a marked what her daughter needed to work on.  We then have decided to center a lot of our activities around the things they need to work on/have not quite mastered yet.  Along with the basics like alphabet, numbers, shapes, days of the week, routine, etc...  Where else can you get someone to teach your kids the things they personally need to work on besides home:)

The routine we are going with is pretty simple and basic.  We will start with circle time working on the calendar, days of the week, months, weather, and season.  Then we will do story/singing/lesson time.  Next we decided we would have movement time, get up and get those wiggles out.  After that we would work on alphabet/numbers/shapes/colors (choose one per day to focus on).  Next snack time!  After snack we would do arts/crafts and then end the day with games of some sort to learn to take turns and work together.  For right now we will get together twice a week from 9:30-11 or 11:30 (depends on the day).

Again this is what we have decided to do for our kids.  Each child and family is different.  So do what routine and schedule works for you!