Theme: Fall or Harvest
This month we will be teaching the kids all about Fall, farming, pumpkins and the way the world around us changes!
Letter(s): F or H
We will be making large paper letters to place up on the wall and emphasizing the sounds the letters make. We will talk about the letter, with intent, each preschool day and as it seems appropriate the rest of the week.
Number: 2
Same as with the letter above and we'll also learn how to show two fingers and talk about it being MORE THAN one.
Color: Orange
Chrissy has a great day each month that's "COLOR" day at her house! Everything is about a single color for one full day! Their clothes, their food, any craft. It's COLOR IMMERSION!
Shape: Circle
Cut out circles and talk about what things around us are made up of or look like circles. My son (who just turned 3) is amazingly good and quick at this! He even sees the shapes in several dimensions which suprised me!
Bible Theme: Seasons and the World Around Us
I have seen several (hundred) sites with preschool level bible stories and lesson plans. My favorite so far is KidsSundaySchool.com they have a selection of FREE information and the majority of the site is pay for access. It's not a bad price but still - it's a price!
We'd love more bible resources for this age group...if you have them please pass them along so we can link them on the blog!
I also plan on reading some of the verses about food and the land
- Creation: specifically Gen 1:10-11.
- "No Rain, No Food" I Kings 16:29 through 17:16 (I have a children's book with a much condensed version of this story)
- "Seeds and Dirt" Matthew 13:3-23 - this is a good dual purpose story (I have a children's book with a much condensed version of this story)
Activities we are planning that should be basically free!
- apple picking (click here to find an orchard/pumpkin patch near you)
- pumpkin picking (a MUCH more educational and enjoyable way to get your pumpkins)
- working crops visit (a local farm would be more than happy to let you tour while they are harvesting! - check this link and this one for a farm near you and give them a call!)
Crafts we are hoping to complete
- pumpkin patch made up of CIRCLES!
- paper farm crops (seed garden) - this is a good one for spring planting as well. We use dry beans, sunflower seeds and corn for the crop rows
- Farm scene with cut outs to glue on!
Chrissy's Tip: Try to steer away from coloring pages. Most kids this age don't get anything out of coloring pages and you are wasting your paper!
As the month progresses we will post any great ideas we come up with or something that just didn't work out!
Please add to the exchange here...send us your ideas or leave a comment so we can start building a resource fpr anyone who wants to teach their children!
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14 comments:
How often do you plan to actually structure out pre school time in a week? Every day, or just a few days? And for how long do you think a three year old can focus on the tasks at hand?
Sounds like you have a great plan in place for next month! :)
I have done the color immersion day before and the kids have loved it!
In finding shapes around us, you can do the same with colors.
Something to do with apples and circles is "stamping" with apples. Cut apples in half the short way where you end up having a star shape for the core, dip in washable tempera paints and then stamp it on orange paper. :) My kids loved doing this!
Also don't forget to do leaf prints! My kids loved putting leaves under paper and then coloring on the paper to make the leaf show up in a different color on the paper. :)
And to answer gerolami19's questions....when I have done preschool time with my kids it usually ends up being only for a 1/2 hour each day. They stay focused for that amount time with no problems. I have also found that when I am doing fun things with them they will stay focused even longer. I also had a couple of my four that I have schooled so far to do their 1/2 hour time and come back to me later in the day wanting to do more! I find that doing fun things with them in more of a relaxed atmosphere rather than stressing about getting a certain amount of time is 10 times better for me and my child.
When I taught Kindergarten, we "walked" the letters. Draw the letter on the sidewalk with chalk. Say the way that you actually write the letter as you walk it or you can say the sound the letter makes as you walk it. This really gets the shape in their heads for the "hands on" learner.
Hi Iam teaching my 3 year old son in home, this is my first time and have a little girl ( 6 months )
We have differents activities during the day.
We talk about apples and we did a mobile with apples, we eat apple sauce, we drink apple juice, we make a little book of apples and the differents colors of apples, read a book about apple and others things, he love evrething.
I think that if you make the teaching fun they learn better and enjoy it.
i'm so excited! ok, so how to you recommend we go about the themes (yes, i need my hand held on this at first). do a little of each theme each day? or stick to a theme for a week? or alternate themes daily? by theme i mean color, number, etc. sorry to be so needy.
We are only spending about 30-45 mins on a focused activity. The rest of the "teaching" is disguised as play time! We only do the focused activities 2 days a week.
Today we happened upon a good lesson at the park. We sat and watched 3 ants wrestle a HUGE piece of food around for about 20 mins. We talked about how they were or were not helping each other and how amazingly strong they were! How God made them so fantastically!
My son enjoyed that and he had no idea Mommy was teaching him anything.
Ok, I'm so excited about this that I had to start right away. We got on the computer and copied clipart starting with the letter F to one sheet. We then printed it and hung it on the frig with the F magnet from the Leapfrog alpha. The pics include Fish, Friend, Family, Farm, Fork, Fireman, Fire Engine, Flag, Fly, Finger, Football, Football Player, Football Helmit, Flower, Fawn, and Frog. I can already imagine some F themed days in our near future. :) I can't wait to track all this on my blog as well. You guys are great and a total answer to prayer. Hope I'm not scaring you with my excitement.
News Flash Jamie...I was just like you and am pretty sure Chrissy thought I was a little psychotic that day...she's the calm one of the two of us!
This is awesome! So glad to run across this. While my little girl is only about to be 2, I have been giving this type thing a lot of thought. Will be checking back often!
I am the same as Leah, My daughter will be 3 in April. I was thinking about enrolling her in Preschool at the Mom's Day Out that she goes to now, but homeschooling is another option. We are thinking about homeschooling next year. I am so excited about this blog!! Lots of encouragement and prayers come yalls way!
ok, i will have to remember
jamie=kristen
jamie does not=crissy
got it.
i am even more excited because i sent your blog link over to my hubby at work today. if it were not for our food allergies, i think my DH would be against homeschooling. he comes from a very social, athletic, musical, overall talented, rule the school, homecoming king/queen kind of family. but his response back was that it sounded really cool and that he would love to help out with it too when he is home. i told him he could be the bus driver for our field trips, ha, ha. i really think this will give us a good taste of homeschooling before we have to really decide come kindergarten.
ok, i don't mean to dominate the forum here. sorry.
We are SO glad you are all excited about this! Can't wait to share ideas!
You have some great ideas. I just wanted to give you another resource to look at www.letteroftheweek.com. These are free lesson plans and lots of great book lists for birth through school age.
Good luck in your adventure.
Hi, I just found you through the money blog. I wanted to drop my 2 cents in as far as another resource.
I too, used to be a preschool teacher - now teaching my own preschoolers at home.
I've started a blog and curriculum guides found at www.Sonbeams.com.
My main basis for wanting to homeschool is giving my children a foundation built on the Lord and His Word first and foremost.
That's where SON-beams was born - tying in the Scriptures with the basics of learning.
I'd love to have you drop by and visit!
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