Preschool Curriculum Program Our preschool program is made for children 2.5 up to 5 years old. Our program includes (five days per week) a circle time, story time, song or rhyme, craft, learning time, letter/number time and a fun special activity each day. In our program we focus on one theme each week by using songs, stories, crafts, games and other fun activities. we also work on teaching the children their shapes, colors, upper and lower case alphabet and numbers, science activities and so much more. We will have the children trace their letters, numbers and shapes plus play games where they will match up the colors, shapes, numbers or letters. Each month the children will learn three letters, one number, one shape and one color (September - May). Through the summer months we do a review where the children will review certain letters, numbers, colors and shapes each of the summer months. Children will be involved with a lot of fine motor activites which require "eye to hand coordination" such as sticking straws through a small hole in a piece of paper, pushing craft sticks into slots in a shoe box, cutting play dough, ripping up paper to do a craft, gluing the paper after, learning how to cut and trace and many other fun activites. Children will be invovled with learning social skills, sharing and waiting for their turn, pre math, pre reading, and science. Some of the simple science projects would be sorting fruits and vegetables, growing grass, watching an ant farm and so many other exciting activites!! We also have younger toddler (12 to 18 months) and a toddler program (18 months to 2.5 year). These programs are available for every month of the year. Our toddler program provides lessons on teaching the children their colors, shapes, numbers up to 10, and some of their alphabet. These lessons are for children beginning to paint and glue. We also provide the words to songs/finger rhymes along with other fun activities. Our toddler curriculum is sold seperately, please click here to view our toddler program or click here to view our younger toddler program. Getting Ready For School. We have found that when children are having fun and enjoy what they are doing, they learn quickly, which is what our program is all about, teaching the children through fun activities. Our program is like providing a mini nursery school and preschool program in your own daycare. Parents like the idea that their child is having fun participating in daily activities, art projects, songs, finger plays and games, which is teaching them and getting them ready for school. Weather Chart Our preschool curriculum includes a circle time, story time, song or rhyme, art or craft, learning time, letter number time and a special activity for five days per week. We begin our day with free play and then we have breakfast. After breakfast we begin circle time. As you begin your circle time it's a good time to discuss with the children the weather outside. We have the children look out the window and then we ask them "what is the weather outside?" If you have a lot of younger children they may not be able to answer correctly, then we give them hints; such as, (do you see any white clouds in the sky, do you see the yellow sun?) Look out the window with the children and point out the weather such as "oh look, the trees are blowing back and forth, do you think it's windy outside? Or oh I see a puddle, how do you think that puddle got there? Do you think it's raining outside, lets open the window and listen and see if we can hear or or see it. If it's snowing outside point out the white flakes of snow coming down. It's nice to have a weather chart and have the children take turns each morning showing the weather on the weather wheel. Have one of the children move the arrow to the correct weather for that day. The weather wheel is included in our toddler or preschool curriculum. Calendar Time. I will ask the children "Does anyone know what day it is?" If no one knows what day it is, I will tell them, "Today Is Thursday." I made a felt calendar with numbers that have Velcro on their backs to stick to the calendar. The children take turns putting up the numbers each day to show that days date. The Toddlers are too young to understand what a calendar is but they still have fun sticking up the numbers. After the number for the day is put up, we start at number one, on the calendar and I will point to each number and have the children count with me, to the new date that we just placed onto the calendar. As they say the numbers I point to the numbers on the calendar to help to teach them their numbers. Circle Time - We begin our Toddler /or Preschool Program off each morning with circle time. We try to get all the children to sit together in a circle on the floor. We never force any child to participate, but we do try to encourage participation. You will find in our daily lesson plans which activity to do each morning for circle time. Our lesson plans are set up to be very easy to use. Our circle time activities are sometimes a short talk or discussion about that weeks theme but usually involves a game or some type of fun learning activity. Seven Days Of The Week Song There are seven days in the week, seven days in the week. There are seven days in the week. (Hold up 7 fingers) And I know them all. (Point to self) Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Saturday is the last one. Saturday ends the week. (Teacher will point to each day on the calendar) Repeat song. Singing Songs And Reciting Rhymes - Each week we teach the children a few new songs or rhymes for that week's theme. Sing the songs the children like, over and over, children like repetition so don't be afraid to sing any song the children really like on a daily basis, but try to add a few new ones each week. Don't expect the younger children to sing with you but they really enjoy music so please sing. In time they will be able to copy the hand movements to the songs and nursery rhymes they hear often and before you know it they will start to sing a word or two. Be sure to include some of the children's favorites each week. Some of our children's favorites are listed below. ABC Song The Wheels On The Bus Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star If You're Happy And You Know It Old McDonald Had A Farm One, Two, Buckle My Shoe The Itsy Bitsy Spider Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed Five Little Monkeys Teasing Mr. Crocodile Plus others. Weather Chart - The weather chart is included in every monthly curriculum package. We start our morning program off each day with circle time. To begin our circle time, we discuss with the children the weather outside. We have the children look out the window and then we ask them "what is the weather outside?" If you have a lot of younger children they may not be able to answer correctly, then we give them hints; such as, (is the sky white with clouds or just blue?) if its white does anyone know what that means? (It’s cloudy) "Is it raining outside?" "Is snowing outside?" "Is it cloudy outside?" "Is it windy outside?" We have a weather chart and each day we have one of the children move the arrow to the correct weather for that day. Art Time - There is a daily art project (craft) for the children to do each day that goes along with that weeks theme. After circle time we have the children come to the table and sit down and get ready for art time. Look in your Toddler or Preschool lesson plans to see which craft you will be doing that day, and if you need to print anything out for that days craft. If we are going to use glue I place the glue into tiny plastic cups such as the kind you get with the sample play dough. I only put a small amount in the cup; just enough for that days project. I give the toddlers large brushes to use and the preschoolers smaller ones. If we are going to paint I make sure each child has some type of paint shirt on. If you do not have enough paint shirts, you can always use an old sweat shirt and cut off the arms. Anything will work. We use our old and stained up wash clothes for paint rags. I just wet the paint rag and it keep it handy for spills or for a child who is done before the others, or we may keep a dish pan with a small amount of water in it for the children who finish early to rinse off until they can get into the bathroom to wash up with soap and warm water. Preschool Learning Activities - Above are a few examples of some of our preschool learning activities. These activities are made from easily accessible materials and provide a fun learning experience for the children. Our program also offers learning activties can be a work sheet, coloring page, a game, puzzles, bug hunt, ant farm, nature walk and other fun ideas. These activities are to teach the children about sharing, numbers, alphabet, shapes, colors and much more! The activities shown above may not be available for the month you are purchasing but similar activities are available for each month. Special Activities - Our preschool program also provides special activities for each day. Please view the examples above. The first picture the one with the flowers is an activity where the children will go on a flower hunt and collect plastic flowers. The next picture show an activity where the children will feed the puppy some bones and the picture shows an activity of putting hair scrunches onto a card board base. Each monthly program has different monthly activities. The ones shown above may not be available for the month you are purchasing but similar activities are available for each month.