Friday, September 25, 2009

Seasons and Apples

This week we talked about the four seasons on Tuesday. We read The Turning of the Year by Bill Martin and dressed up in different clothing for each of the seasons.

We also took turns decorating a paper tree for each of the seasons (colored leaves for fall, snow flakes for winter, flowers for spring, and green leaves for summer). We matched different pictures (like a sun, lemonade, leaves, flowers, snowman, etc) with the season they fit in.

We read a second book called Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. The boys made their own leaf men from things gathered from my yard.


On Thursday, we focused on Apples. The kids loved singing the song "Apples and Bananas". We played Pass the Apple (basically hot potato with an apple) while we sang each verse. We read The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall and recited the rhyme Way Up High in the Apple Tree with actions.

Way up high in the apple tree,
Two little apples smiled down at me,
I twisted those apples as gently as I could,
Off came the apples, ...Mmm, they were good!

I told the boys the story of The Little Red House with No Doors (about half way down on link) and they were totally captivated! We then cut open an apple to see the star inside and used them to make apple star stamps on our paper with paint.

We played a game of Worm through the Apple, where the boys stood in a line with their legs spread apart. Each boy took a turn crawling through the legs (like a worm through an apple). Then we painted apple cutouts that had a worm hole in them and put little smiley faces on our fingers to pretend they were worms poking though the hole.




Wednesday, September 23, 2009

S is for Seasons

After reading "Four Seasons Make A Year", we dressed up in the different seansons.


Maylie and Simone wearing their Spring dresses and a light jacket with their sunglasses.


Ellie and Rachel wearing their swimsuit and shorts for Summer.


Gavin wearing a sweater. Just enough warmth for Fall.


Matthew and Daniel wearing their jackets with hats and gloves for the Winter.

After our seasons fashion show we watched Signing Time. We learned to sign flowers and rain for Spring, sun and clouds for Summer, tree and leaves for Fall and snow, coat and boots for Winter.

We finished up with practicing our names, circles and 1 and 2.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Sept 17th-- Manners

Today we talked about Manners. We made happy faces and sad faces on paper plates. I asked them about different scenarios and they had to put up their happy face or sad face depending on whether the action was good or bad. They got all the answers right :)




Here they are practicing writing the numbers 1 and 2, their name and tracing circles. They were very intent...







































Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Welcome to Preschool

I just wanted to tell each of you how grateful I am for all of your support in making these preschool groups so wonderful! Without your time, talents, and creativity in teaching these sweet kids, this wouldn't be the marvelous educational/growing opportunity for our children that it is.

It was fun to meet with our group to plan our schedule for the year and I look forward to getting to know the kids and moms in Mina's group through activities and field trips. I'm thinking it's going to be a great year!

I look forward to the new friendships that our children (and us Moms) will be forming and for the fun opportunities for learning that they will have in your homes. Thank you again for your patience and understanding as I worked through some of the hairy details getting started.

Here's to another great year of co-op preschool!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Designing Your Own Co-op Preschool Curriculum

So now you have a group of willing moms ready to tackle your very own co-op preschool. What now? What will you teach? How can you make sure that everyone doesn't teach the same topic? How can you ensure that the curriculum is well-rounded and will prepare them for kindergarten?

Here are a few things that I've tried (in order from least to most effective):

1. Purchasing a pre-made curriculum, like Joy School or Mother Goose. I personally am not a fan of pre-made curricula. While the concept sounds great to have your whole lesson plan provided for you, I felt like it robbed me of spontaneity and creativity. While paltry in comparison to community preschool programs, I also have always balked at the dues that these programs charge. While I acknowledge that the dues are for the time and effort in creating the curricula, it's still us moms doing all the work going to the craft store and library, coloring flannel board figures, singing and dancing in front of the children, and cleaning up afterwards. It just doesn't seem right to pay just for the ideas when I find that the average mom interested in participating in a co-op preschool to be just as creative in their lesson planning than any professional curriculum designer.
Pros: No brain power required. You still have to do all the work of teaching, but you don't have to think about what to teach or how to teach it.
Cons: The biggest reason of all that I choose co-op preschools over community programs is for the greater part I get to play in my kids' education. They grow up and go off to the big school soon enough, I don't want some paid preschool designer telling me what I have to teach my own kids. The second thing is money. I love to think of all the money I've saved over the years by not sending my kids to a community preschool and I have no desire to pay someone just for their ideas while I still do all the work.

2. Random: My first few years after breaking out of a pre-purchased curriculum we tried the random approach where everyone just taught whatever they felt like teaching. At the beginning of the year you would just come with a list of ideas of things you might like to teach, then during the scheduling you would call out what week you wanted and what topics you were taking.
Pros: No fuss. No one has to put a lot of time and effort into preparing anything advance and because people were choosing their own topics the teachers tended to choose things that were meaningful to them or to their child.
Cons: No rhyme or reason or guarantee of well-roundedness. It was also discouraging when someone else would "steal" your topic ideas.


3. Letter-of-the-Week: This is a fun, straight-forward curriculum I prefer to use for 2-3 year olds. Each week has a letter assigned to it (in order A-Z, or in your own pre-determined order) and teachers find topics based on that letter. An apple lesson for A, a bird lesson for B, cars for C, etc.
Pros: It's easy to find ideas on the internet. It's easy to reinforce at home and you always know what's coming next.
Cons: Diversity--because each letter is so open-ended, it's quite likely that you will get a whole lot of science based lessons and not much else (since that's what people tend to choose on their own). While this isn't a problem per se, it is the reason why I recommend this approach for 2-3 year olds and not for a Pre-K curriculum.

4. Teacher Topics: Each teacher is assigned a topic (science/nature, heroes, character, music, art, geography, health) and they become the teaching "experts". Each of their lessons will be focused within their topic. For instance, I love to teach about heroes, so my lesson plans through the year were focused on different heroes (Helen Keller, George Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr., Christopher Columbus, etc.). It was fun for me looking ahead to different heroes I could teach about and the kids knew that at our house that's what they learned about.
Pros: I loved how the teachers were teaching to their passions and it showed in their creative, enthusiastic lessons. It's nice to know what your focus is and it's easy to get in a rhythm for teaching that topic. I also really like how it ensures a full diversity of topics being taught to the children.
Cons: I found that towards the end of the year it felt somewhat limiting to my creativity to only teach on that one topic.

5. Yearly Lesson Outline: This is when a specific topic is assigned to each day of preschool through the year. The planner who makes the outline (in our case, that would be me) makes sure that the topics are diverse, but with a semblance of continuity when possible. At the preschool planning meeting a calendar with topics is given to each teacher, then divided into 6-week segments (or however many students are in the group) and each person picks a week in each segment.
This is what we've been doing the last couple of years and I've been surprised at the positive response that it's received. I was worried that people would not want to be told what to teach about (after all that's why I didn't like the pre-purchased curricula mentioned earlier), but there are a couple of differences that make it a lot more palatable. The main difference being that instead of being told step-by-step exactly what they were supposed to through every minute of the lesson (like the pre-purchased curricula), the teachers still get to utilize their own ideas and creativity for teaching the topic without the stress of picking a topic (which is often the hardest part). I also think that people like that they're not getting assigned a topic straight up, but they still get to choose within each segment through the year.
Pros: People really, really like having the topic known in advance. Second, if designed such, it is ensured to be a well-rounded curriculum with a wide range of topics.
Cons: Someone has to do the work in advance of compiling the calendar and the topics. (You'd be welcome to use my own lesson plan outlines listed on the left, but you'd still have to go through and change the dates to accommodate your own group).

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Supplies You'll Need for a Co-op Preschool

First and foremost, you will want all of your supplies to be contained in a durable, portable container, so that they can be easily passed from house to house (along with the preschool board).


Crayons, glue (liquid and sticks), scissors, and markers are all necessities. In addition we have a counting box where we put a number of objects into each lesson and have the "Counting Box Helper" help us to count (and write the number on top of the box). In addition, ours contained the pieces to the calendar, chart, letters of the day, and songs from the Preschool Board , plus the mats for circle time (see below).

On top we have the mats that they sit on during circle time. This year it was dishtowels that the kids had decorated.

Last year it was laminated pieces of cardstock they had decorated with handprints and a picture. The dishtowels took up a little more room, weren't quite as cute, but were much more durable than the laminated mats. Whichever you prefer is great!


Here is what it looked like before the mats were added on top.

Making a Preschool Board

Making a portable preschool board is one of the best ways to give a sense of continuity from one house to another in a co-op preschool. Start off with a sturdy tri-fold board and go from there.

You can use your creativity as far as details and how it looks, but each board should include similar elements as to what you see here: Calendar, Behavior Chart, Job/Helper Chart, Weather Chart, and Letter/Word of the Day.

You will want to make sure that each portion is individually laminated and firmly affixed to the board. Sticky back Velcro definitely seems to be the best way to affix removable pieces to the board.

2008-2009 Preschool Board--made by Becca T.

Top left: Song section--little squares with preschool favorite songs, laminated and with velcro on the back are drawn by the "Song Helper" and velcroed to the board

Bottom left:
Weather Chart--"Weather Helper" goes through teddy bear's outfits and decides which one is best for the current weather, then chooses a label (in this picture he's wearing a rain slicker and the label says "rainy")

Top middle:
Calendar--each number has been laminated and had velcro attached. The "Calendar Helper" adds the right number to the calendar and then the teacher reviews which MONTH, DATE, DAY OF THE WEEK, and YEAR it is.

Bottom middle:
Letter and word of the day: "Letter Helper" is told which letter is the letter of the day and a few letter choices. He chooses the correct letter (help if needed) and places it on the board. Have everyone practice saying the letter and its sound. If you have time you could practice writing it too. "Word Helper" places the word of the day on the board. Help the children sound out the word.

Top right:
Behavior chart--all kids start on green and will get moved to yellow, then red with disobedient behavior. I usually even give a warning before even moving them to yellow and that threat alone is enough to curb the behavior. I've only ever moved someone to red once in the two years we've been using this system.

Bottom right:
Helper chart--Jobs are affixed on one side and movable, laminated strips with each child's name are rotated through the jobs. (Communicate with the teachers how you want the names to move. We always just move each name down one job per preschool session, then the bottom name to the top.)



2007-2008 Preschool Board--by Laura B.

Left: Weather chart--"Weather Helper" picks the appropriately dressed child, a weather label, and then moves the thermometer to the approximate temperature

Top Middle: Word and Letter of the Day--"Letter Helper" is told which letter is the letter of the day and a few letter choices. He chooses the correct letter (help if needed) and places it on the board. Have everyone practice saying the letter and its sound. If you have time you could practice writing it too. "Word Helper" places the word of the day on the board. Help the children sound out the word.

Bottom Middle: Calendar--each number has been laminated and had velcro attached. The "Calendar Helper" adds the right number to the calendar and then the teacher reviews which MONTH, DATE, DAY OF THE WEEK, and YEAR it is.

Right: Helper chart--Jobs are affixed on one side and movable, laminated strips with each child's name are rotated through the jobs. (Communicate with the teachers how you want the names to move. We always just move each name down one job per preschool session, then the bottom name to the top.)

Bottom across: Behavior chart--inside each pocket contains a card with four sections (2 on each side) Green, yellow, orange, red. All kids start on green and will get moved to yellow, then orange, then red with disobedient behavior. I usually even give a warning before even moving them to yellow and that threat alone is enough to curb the behavior. I've only ever moved someone to red once in the two years we've been using this system.

Here are the little song circles that the kids would draw from.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

May 2010

Skills to work on this month (work it into the lessons): Recognizing and writing the #11, Fiction or Non-fiction (what's the difference), continue cutting out shapes, hop on one foot, practice songs for assisted living center performance

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Adelia (Group A) Karen (Group B)
 
T-May 4th: Butterflies--their life cycle, (here are some ideas, more ideas)

Jana P (Group A) Karen (Group B)

Th-6th: Honoring your parents (Mother's Day is May 9th)--talk about obeying parents, and a parents' love, make a special present for mom

All
Preschool Groups---Deanne
F-7th: Muffins with Mom--all the moms come and enjoy muffins with their preschool children and the kids present their special gifts to her
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Heather (Group A) Andrea (Group B)
T-11th: Outer Space/Astronauts-- (books, ideas) do something fun with glow in the dark paint, make space helmets, make a planet mobile that they can hang up, shoot off into outer space (your backyard)

Katherine (Group A) Andrea (Group B)
Th-13th: Hickory Dickory Dock (learning the basics of telling time)--learn which is the hour hand, which is the minute hand, at this age just basically being able to tell what hour it is, looking at digital clocks and mechanical clocks, use the rhyme to have fun

All Preschool Groups--Heather
F-14th: Field trip to Eakin Park--look for tadpoles and frogs in pond, explore the brook, play on the play ground, bring a picnic lunch

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Jana P (Group A) Jana F (Group B)
T-18th: Jungles--where are they in the world (find on map), what kinds of animals, (books, craft ideas)go on a safari (with binoculars) and look for wild animals (stuffed animals hidden around the house) and take pretend pictures of them, have them each pretend to be a jungle animal

Alex (Group A) Jana F (Group B)
Th-20th: Volcanoes--where some are in world (on map---emphasize that they are very far away from Virginia), watch some exploding volcano videos online, talk about the parts of a volcano, make your own volcanoes (using baking soda {make sure the baking soda is fresh} and vinegar)

All Preschool Groups--Adelia
F-21st: Preschool Pancakes in Pajamas (combined): come in your pajamas to preschool and eat pancakes and other P words with your friends (pineapple, pickles, punch, plums, peaches)

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Lara (Group A) Kylee (Group B)
T-25th: My Country/My Flag--talk about the blessings of living in the USA, showing respect for the flag, find on a map/globe, what language we speak

Katherine (Group A) Kylee (Group B)
Th-27th: Showing Respect for our Elders--talk about grandmas and grandpas, make a special present, practice your songs (2-3 they know well), talk about respect

All Preschool Groups---Karen
F-28th: Visit an assisted living center--bring them presents and sing songs (??)


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Alex, Adelia,  Andrea
T-June 1st: Preschool graduation


April 2010

Skills to work on this month (work it into the lessons): Recognizing and writing the #10, days of the week, continue cutting out shapes

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March 29-April 4: Spring Break (No Preschool)

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Jana P (Group A) Deanne (Group B)

T-April 6th: Rain/Clouds/Weather-- basics of the water cycle (try a demonstration), make a chart, (some ideas, more ideas)

Th-8th: Rainbows--(one of my favorite lessons of the year)make fruit loop rainbows, make rainbows with prisms/mirrors/water, whatever many different ways you can (I got cheap plastic prisms at Michaels so that I could just send them home with their own , tie dye shirts, talk about the colors in the rainbow (see last year's recap for lots of ideas)

Tara (Group A) ??. (Group B)


F-9th: Rainy Day Fun (even if it's nice): Watch a movie (or play games), eat popcorn, and just pretend it's raining (maybe have everyone bring an umbrella or rain coat to go for a walk in the "rain")

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Lara (Group A) Andrea (Group B)

T-13th: Farms/Farmers--where does our food come from? , what do farmers do?, what kinds of things come from a farm, some more ideas, great puppet templates (color or black & white--at the end of the web page),  fun ideas,

Th-15th: Little Red Hen (working hard)--have everyone help grind wheat (with hand wheat grinder), make bread, talk about working hard and doing their part, masks, more visuals, make your own butter, lesson with visuals


All Preschool Groups---Karen

F-16th: Frying Pan Park

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Adelia (Group A) Mina (Group B)


T-20th: Tadpoles/Frogs--"Growing Frogs", talk about the changes they go through, play leap frog, (here are some ideas)

Th-22nd: Flowers and other plants: What do plants need to grow? what are the parts of a plant (show a real plant if possible), have them plant their own seed

Jana P (Group A) Kylee (Group B)

F-23rd: Plain old fashioned playdate!

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Tara (Group A) Kylee (Group B)


T-27th: Transportation/Traffic Lights--how do we get around, compare it to the olden days, what do the colors of the traffic light stand for, maybe have car races

Th-29th: Auto/Street Safety--using seatbelts, sitting in car seats, not bothering parent while driving, crossing street safely, play red light/green light, make traffic light treats (with colored candy)

All Preschool Groups--Lara


F-30th: Field Trip to Pizzeria Uno--9:30 at the Uno in Merrifield. (small pizzas for each of the children are part of the trip, we need to decide if we want to get a pizza or two for the adults and whether to order the kids' drinks). I talked with Kelly (a manager) 703-645-9590


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March 2010

Skills to work on this month (work it into the lessons): Recognizing and writing the #9, opposites, continue cutting out shapes

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Katherine (Group A) Karen (Group B)

T-March 2nd: Peter and the Wolf--recognizing different instrument sounds (show pictures or actual instruments), watch on Youtube (preview first and be sensitive to those who might be scared), match musical instruments to animals, make stick figures so they can tell the story at home (***NOTE: be very sensitive not to scare the children with the wolf eating the animals, I completely glossed over this and they didn't even catch it, the kids LOVED this lesson) --(read last year's recap)

Th-4th: Music and musical instruments--different types (woodwinds, strings, percussion), have someone come and play a real instrument, musical chairs, freeze dance, experiment with water/glasses and the sound it makes, let them try a real instrument (like a recorder or harmonica) (some craft ideas, book ideas, activity ideas, scientific ideas)

All Preschool Groups---Deanne & Heather


F-5th: Preschool Marching Band--Either make instruments (out of spoons/pans/lids and march around the neighborhood or house or coordinate with Thursday to have teacher have the kids make instruments that day, end up back at the house for some healthy snacks
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Alex (Group A) Deanne (Group B)

T-9th: Dinosaurs--Learn about different kinds, read fun stories about them, talk about truth/fiction (in general and in reference to dinosaurs), emphasize that they lived a very long time ago, use opposites to talk about them

Th-11th: Fossils--discover what fossils are, go digging for "fossils", create your own "fossil", prepare them for field trip to Natural History Museum (the kinds of fossils to look out for, etc)

All Preschool Groups-Jana F. 

F-12th: Field Trip to Natural History Museum

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Heather  (Group A) Mina (Group B)

T-16th: Saint Patrick's Day (a day early)--wear green, eat green treats, have "leprechaun" play tricks, go on treasure hunt for pot of gold (treats), this is a great day to emphasize opposites (tall/short, fast/slow, sweet/sour, etc)

Th-18th: Honey Bees--learn about how busy they are, how they help flowers to grow (and give us honey), try some honey treats, teach them what to do around wasps and bees (to hold still), make them little antennas so they can pretend to be bees, read "The Bee Tree" Too scary.  Don't repeat. 


All Preschool Groups--Lara.

F-19th:  Jammin Java    Visit from Lazlo Bee Farm (combined)--call Mr. Lazlo (703-725-3818) 6-8 weeks in advance to schedule honey presentation visit.  Bee farm will come to visit next week at the end of the Easter party.  Alternate activities are being considered for this day.  Bee Farm visit was cool, but a bit too over their heads. 


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Tara (Group A) Jana F. (Group B)

T-23rd: Spring--go through the seasonal changes of Spring, review the four seasons, talk about flowers growing, (great ideas, an article with lots of ideas)

Th-25th: Ducks--Read "Make Way for Ducklings" (one of our favorite kids' books), (here are some great ideas, more ideas), "5 Little Ducks" song,

All Preschool Groups-Kylee/Lara

F-26th: Easter Celebration/Bee Farm Visit (combined)--with honey snacks


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March 29-April 4: Spring Break (No Preschool)


February 2010

Skills to work on this month (work it into the lessons): Recognizing and writing the #7, recognizing and drawing ovals, cutting out shapes, five senses (have them recognize which senses they're using through the day)

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Lara (Group A) Karen (Group B)

T-February 2nd: Groundhog's Day--have fun learning about shadows, fun tradition, make cute groundhog treats, groundhog craft (last year's ideas)

Th-4th: Introduce the five senses, focus on sense of touch--Make a five senses book that they will add to through the month as they learn about each sense (ask Lara), this page of the book will have samples of different textures for them to feel and a tracing of their hand, explore your sense of touch, recognizing objects only by touching, finger painting

Katherine (Group A) Jen (Group B)--going to Chuck E Cheese 

F-5th: Plain old fashioned play group

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Alex (Group A) Deanne (Group B)

T-9th: Sense of smell--talk about noses, have them smell things with distinctive odors (vinegar, lemon, chocolate, vanilla, etc), make page for 5 senses book (scratch and sniff stickers or pictures of things they could smell, picture of child pointing to nose)

Th-11th: Sense of taste--talk about tongues and mouths, taste test the four different flavors (bitter {unsweetened chocolate}, sweet {sugar}, salty {salt}, sour {lemon}), then combine the sweet and sour and make lemonade! make a page for five senses book (picture of one of the children sticking out their tongues, pictures of foods (have them practice cutting them out of grocery ads) )

All Preschool Groups--Jana P


F-12th: Field trip to Krispy Kreme (to use their senses of smell and taste)

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Heather (Group A) Jana F (Group B)

T-16th: George Washington (President's Day is 2/15)--learn about his bravery, what life was like in colonial days, make corn cakes (a traditional colonial food), teach that he could have been a king, but he wanted America to be free

Th-18th: Sense of sight--play I spy, play hot/cold with blindfold, look at colors, learn about the marvelous eye, light/dark, make page for 5 senses book (picture of child with finger glasses around eyes, pictures of items you can mainly just see (rainbows, clouds, colors, etc).

All Preschool Groups--Mina



F-19th: Belated combined Valentine's Party--take advantage of post-Valentine's sales and enjoy Valentine's snacks, exchange Valentines, etc.

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Adelia (Group A) Kylee (Group B)

T-23rd: Sense of hearing--talk about ears, play freeze dance (to use their sense of hearing), play loud/soft singing game, make page for 5 senses book ( a picture of child touching his ears, pictures of things you mainly hear (music note, alarm clock, someone whispering, etc)

Th-25th: Helen Keller--teach about all the amazing things she accomplished (all without 2 of her senses), try things that she did (finding your way around a room blindfolded, touching neck softly to feel vibrations of speech, sign language into hands, show them a Braille book), make the last 2 pages of the 5 senses books (their names in Braille (you make the dots with pencil onto cardstock page, then with thumb tacks have them punch through) and a page with the sign language alphabet)

All Preschool Groups--Alex

F-26th: Concert at Jammin Java (or somewhere)???

January 2010

Skills to work on this month (work it into the lessons): Recognizing and writing the #6, recognizing and drawing rectangles, cutting on lines, working on their goals

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Adelia (Group A) Jen (Group B)

T-January 5th: Goals--Heber J Grant, help them set their own goal (writing last name, learning address, etc) or a group goal (like learning a song), make a chart so they can see progress, (read about last year's ideas)

Th-7th: Trains--(Little Engine that Could---ties into the Goals theme), make a train with a letter on each car, then string together to form their name (or other word), have fun with toy trains


 Jana F combined activity

F-8th: Preschool Indoor Camping Activity (Combined)--set up a tent indoors, "roast" marshmallows, kids bring pillows, flashlights, and sleeping bags, tell stories, sing campfire songs, if you have a fireplace then have a real fire

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Heather (Group A) Andrea (Group B)

T-12th: Horses--how important they were in olden days, taking care of them, have them pretend to ride them, learning "giddyup and gee", notice their teeth (and in preparation for the next lesson mention how farmers take care of their teeth)

Th-14th: Taking care of our teeth--talk about proper way to brush teeth, why we brush teeth, make teeth on yellow paper then have the kids paint them with white paint with a toothbrush for a paintbrush,

Adelia (both preschool groups)


F-15th: Field Trip to Dentist Office (Dr. Girish Banaji does tours on Fridays, but dates need to be reserved at least a month or two in advance)

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Jana P. (Group A) Mina (Group B)

T-19th:Martin Luther King (MLK day is 1/18)--what did he do?, learn about discrimination, his dream, white egg/brown egg demonstration, treating people with respect (keep working on goal)

Th-21st: Africa--find on globe/map, make mudcloth, African traditions, food, etc. (keep working on goal)

Lara (Group A)
Mina (Group B)

F-22nd: Color mixing--using colored water or paint have fun mixing colors, let them experiment, have them make a color wheel?

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Katherine (Group A) Jana F (Group B)

T-26th: I am a Child of God--everyone is unique/special, explore our talents, what makes us special (keep working on goals) (idea, idea, plus I have a cute FHE packet on this theme)

Th-28th: Babies--the special care they need, how they are made (hehe--just kidding), being gentle, teaching them, let them meet a real baby, role play with dolls (keep working on goal)

Andrea (all preschool groups)

F-29th: No Preschool (Fairfax County teacher workday) --Field Trip to Air & Space Museum

December 2009

Skills to work on this month (work it into the lessons): Recognizing and writing the #5, recognizing and drawing stars (simplistically), cutting strips of paper (not on lines)

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Tara (Group A) Kylee (Group B)

T-December 1st: Exploring animal habitats--exploring where animals live, why they live in certain places, (Animal Habitats is a book filled with beautiful photography of animals and where they live--more for looking than reading, All Kinds of Habitats looks like a fun preschool aged book about habitats)

Th-3rd: People's homes around the world--see different kinds of houses, locate on globe, emphasize gratitude for our own houses (Children Just Like Me is a great book that shows children around the world and their different lifestyles, including their homes {I own this book}), build with Lincoln Logs, make house snacks with pretzels

Heather (Group A) Karen (Group B)

F-4th: Make shoebox dioramas of a house (or a big one out of an appliance box)

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Jana P. (Group A) Andrea (Group B)

T-8th: Beautiful sky--have fun learning about our beautiful sky, including the sun, moon, stars (tie in the Christmas star too since it's that time of year)

Th-10th: Sharing/Service--Read Stone Soup and then make your own soup (with everyone bringing their own ingredient), have kids bring items to share (like show and tell or to actually share for real), talk about serving others (especially our families) and give them ideas of things they can do

Alex--all preschool groups

F-11th: Christmas program at James Madison HS (subject to scheduling, tickets must be bought at least one month in advance)

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Katherine (Group A) Mina (Group B)

T-15th: Winter/animals hibernating--learn all about the changes of winter, have them get dressed up in winter clothes (make a game out of it), what do animals do in the winter?, what people do in the winter

Th-17th: Christmas around the world--Either touch on several countries' traditions or focus in on one country and have the kids try some food, sing a song, or play a game that is traditional to that area, learn about Santa Claus' different names around the world, whatever is fun for you.

Tara (Group A) Kylee (Group B)

F-18th: Fun with Penguins -- be penguins, make penguins, have fun!

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December 21st - January 3rd--No Preschool for Christmas Break

Monday, September 7, 2009

November 2009

Skills to work on this month (work it into the lessons): Recognizing and writing the #4, recognizing and drawing triangles, practicing "fringing" with scissors and paper

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Alex--all preschool groups
T-November 3rd: National Zoo Field Trip (No school due to teacher work day)-

Alex (Group A) Karen (Group B)

Th-5th: Mammals: what makes an animal a mammal, examples of mammals, mammal matching game, (craft ideas) etc.

F-6th: Reptiles--(ideas) characteristics of reptiles, where they live,

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Tara (Group A) Jen (Group B)


T-10th: My family tree--who is on it ?(watch slideshow), write letters to grandparent, have parents send in pictures and grandparent addresses, make your own family tree

Th-12th: Native Americans--(here are last year's ideas)--traditions, try some food (like popcorn), make teepees and head bands, make paper bag vests (this is a perfect activity to have them practice their "fringing" skills), bows and arrows

Lara (Group A) Deanne (Group B)

F-13th: Rhythm and Drums--make drums or maracas and have fun dancing around like Indians

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Lara (Group A) Deanne (Group B)

T-17th: Pilgrims--why they came, how they got to America, their struggles (have them eat hard biscuits or something else they may have eaten), learning to grow food, Native Americans helping them, make hats?

Th-19th: Gratitude/Thanksgiving--(last year's ideas)--what do we have to be grateful for, how should we show gratitude, why we celebrate Thanksgiving, do something special for someone to show gratitude

Jana F. --all preschool groups
F-20th: Combined preschool Thanksgiving feast--everyone dress up as Pilgrims or Indians and bring a snack to share with everyone else

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T-24th: Play Group (if desired)

Th-26th: No School (Thanksgiving Break)

F-27th: No School (Thanksgiving Break)


October 2009

Skills to work on this month (work it into the lessons): Recognizing and writing the #3, recognizing and drawing squares, tearing paper on lines (continue having them write their own names too)

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Alex (Group A) Kylee (Group B)

T-September 29th: Bodies, how they work, taking care of them (exercise, good food, sleeping, etc.) Click here for a very cute craft idea that we did last year and here for some other fun ideas.

Th-October 1st: Germs/healthy habits/hygiene, teach them about washing their hands properly, sneezing properly, etc. Here is a fun craft idea (the pictures) that is similar to one we did a couple of years ago (the kids loved it)

Mina's house (Group A & B)
F-2nd: Exercise & healthy foods "party"--come together to run, jump, and play (preferably outside) and share healthy foods (everyone bring their own to share)

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Katherine (Group A) Karen (Group B)

T-6th: Community Helpers--learn about and show appreciation for the people in our community that help us (fire fighters, police man, teachers, farmers, doctors, etc.)

Th-8th: Fire Safety, (click for ideas or here) dialing 911, stop/drop/roll, what to do in fire, have a fire drill, etc.

Tara O (all preschool groups)
F-9th: Field trip to fire station

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Lara (Group A) Andrea (Group B)


T-13th: Christopher Columbus (Columbus Day is the 12th), (Click for ideas) read books, make telescopes and take a "boat ride" in large box or laundry basket pushed around the house, make boat snacks out of half apples and fruit roll ups, earth flat vs. round

Th-15th: Basic world geography--(click for last year's ideas) show globe (earth round), teach them about recognizing the difference between land and water on maps and globes, give each child a earth shaped beach ball (??)

Katherine (Group A) Andrea (Group B)
F-16th: Make simple boats (even out of folded newspaper click for pattern ) and float them in bathtub or wading pool, do float/sink experiments with different objects

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Heather (Group A) Jen H (Group B)

T-20th: Oceans--(last year's ideas, other ideas) show on globe/maps, salty vs fresh water, sea life, recreate beach scene with blue jello with swedish fish and graham cracker crumbs for sand

Th-21st: Fish--go fishing (with letters/numbers on each fish), show a real fish if possible, what do they eat? (ideas)

Jen H (all preschool groups)
F-22nd: Field trip to National Aquarium (in Washington DC) (Adults $7, kids 3-11 $3, under 2 are free)

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Tara (Group A) Jana F. (Group B)

T-27th: Autumn--changes of autumn, go on leaf collection walk, (Clifford's First Autumn--cute book), make leaf people, make autumn tree (kids sponge paint leaves in autumn colors)

Th-29th: Pumpkins--make pumpkin treats, roasted pumpkin seeds, crafts and stories

Heather (all preschool groups)

F-30th: Combined Halloween party--wear costumes, play games, and eat healthy treats (maybe at the church or a park)

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Info to Discuss at Co-op Preschool Planning Meeting

Which days do you want to hold preschool? Tuesdays and Thursdays tend to be the best.

TIMING (include lunch?): usually 2-3 hours in the morning is the best…maybe 9:30-12:00 or 10-12:30. Lunch is fun to include. (We’ve done 9:30-12:30 the last two years and have really enjoyed that timing)

SICK GUIDELINES: It’s best to just get this out in the open so people don’t have to wonder. Usually mild colds are okay, but what about recent fevers and vomiting? Maybe wait at least 24-48 hours after the symptoms have passed to bring them again.

TEACHER CANCELLATION/SUBS GUIDELINES: Of course your kids can get unexpectedly sick when it’s your turn, but PLEASE take your teaching “job” seriously. Do whatever you can to find a substitute—even if it’s the morning of (someone could come pick up what you’ve prepared). My opinion is that a simple circle time and some books at someone’s house who is filling in is better than cancelling completely. Make sure you call everyone and let them know of any changes.

RULES: Set up some simple standard rules. Rules that are the same at everyone’s house—rules that the teachers AND the kids are aware of. Rules like: 1. no toys in the same room during circle time. 2. If the girls like to play dress up during free play they must keep their regular clothes on underneath—this prevents misplaced articles of clothing and a frantic scramble at pick-up time trying to get them redressed. 3. Never hitting or hurting another person (physically or verbally) Other rules to discuss may include picking up toys or not going outside without asking, etc., Mainly the rules need to be very specific so that they are clearly understood by all.

EXPECTED BEHAVIOR: Everyone should stay seated during circle time—if every teacher not only expects, but enforces it this can be manageable. With children who may not have been in preschool before this may definitely take some training, but again if the expectations are consistent at each person’s home I think that over time that they will learn to sit, participate, and not distract during circle time—which is very good preparation for kindergarten.

EMERGENCY CONTACTS: Gather a list of everyone’s email addresses, cell phone numbers, (for fun include everyone’s birthdays on this list as well) etc. You will want to know how to get a hold of the other moms for emergencies small and large.

CIRCLE TIME: Circle time will be the same set-up from house to house, and is usually held first thing during preschool time. Which things do you want to include in circle time? A helper chart, weather chart, song time, book time, topic introduction, letter or number time, a word of the week, etc????

CURRICULUM:

There are a few different ideas for what you can use for a curriculum, but the main thing is to make it fun fun fun! Use music, art, active movement, books, visuals, and participation as much as possible to teach about your topic. The more ways they assimilate it the better they will have learned it. The internet and the library are great resources!

There will be times that teaching preschool is challenging, but it is truly worth every minute you spend teaching these amazing children. I believe that the efforts we put forth now while they are so young will be great blessings in their lives. I am so excited to have you as one of my child’s teachers and I am grateful for this opportunity to get to know you and your little one.

September 2009

Skills to work on this month (work it into the lessons): Recognizing and writing the #1 and 2, recognizing and drawing circles, writing their own names on their projects

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Adelia (Group A) Mina (Group B)

T-15th: Welcome to preschool, explanation of rules, expectations, routine, friends, getting to know you, make preschool bags (we use canvas bags from Michaels, then let the kids decorate them with fabric markers, their handprints, or paint. One year I ironed designs on with iron on paper which turned out nice too--whatever you do make sure you get their names on there so you can tell them apart)

Th-17th: Manners (click here and here and here and here for some fun ideas about teaching manners), role play, relate it to preschool (Book recommendations: Dinosaur Days
by Linda Manning or Manners by Aliki)

Adelia (Group A & B)F-18th: Combined group Manners Party at Adelia's house. Drop off your child and have them get lots of practice on using their manners while having fun with their friends.

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Jana P. (Group A) Deanne (Group B)

T-22nd: Seasons (overview), learn about the changes of the seasons, (Book recommendations: The Turning of the Year by Bill Martin and Four Stories for Four Seasons by Tomie De Paola ) Click here for fun idea for a craft (half way down the page)

Th-24th: Apples, Johnny Appleseed, (click here (crafts), here (science), here (games), or here (books) for lots of fun apple ideas)

Jana P (for all preschool groups)
F-25th: 10:00-1:00 Cox Farms field trip (click here for your free hot dog coupon or here to join their email list and you'll get coupons for $3 off per person or here for directions)

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Alex (Group A) Kylee (Group B)
T-29th: Bodies, how they work, taking care of them (exercise, good food, sleeping, etc.) Click here for a very cute craft idea that we did last year and here for some other fun ideas.

Th-October 1st: Germs/healthy habits/hygiene, teach them about washing their hands properly, sneezing properly, etc. Here is a fun craft idea (the pictures) that is similar to one we did a couple of years ago (the kids loved it)

Mina's House (Group A & B)
F-2nd: Exercise & healthy foods "party"--come together to run, jump, and play (preferably outside) and share healthy foods (everyone bring their own to share)

Emergency Contact Info

As part of your planning meeting, make sure you get emergency contact information from everyone.

You will want to collect:
1. Home address
2. Home phone number
3. Mom's cell number
4. Dad's work number
5. Email address
6. Child's birthday

After collecting them, be sure to type them all onto one sheet and distribute to everyone.