Ideas for a Preschool Schedule

Hi K.,

1st of all, the most important thing for your kids right now is play--that is the way that preschoolers learn. Provide lots of opportunities to play in different environments--home, outside, etc. The public library is great to include as they have lots of books to encourage the love of reading and to assist with vocabulary growth. They often have other resources to use with some of the books that you can check out.

Naps are also very important and should be driven both by what works for your kids and your schedule.

For your 3-year-old, you could look for a quality preschool program, which focuses on learning through play rather than an academic program. My kids all went to preschool 2 mornings a week as 3-year-olds & loved it. That would also give you a precious few hours of 1-on-1 time with your baby each week.

No matter what you decide, please try to fight the urge to "over-schedule" your kids--it is stressful for them & for you. They grow up so quickly...enjoy them while they are little & everything is new (even a trip to the grocery store can be educational!) Best of luck!

K.

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I taught 3-year-old preschool using the A Beka curriculum (you can purcahse online, but it's a bit pricey to do on your own because you'll need the teacher's stuff, too). Most preschools for that age are 2-3 days a week for about 3 hours. My class schedule was:

8:45 – 9:00 AM Drop Off and Playtime
9:00 AM Bible and Music Time
9:30 AM Bathroom Break
9:45 AM Snack
10:00 AM Alphabet/ Phonics/ Numbers
10:30 AM Outside and Physical Ed
11:00 AM Language Development/ Art/ Spanish
11:30 AM Lunch
12:00 PM Clean-up and Playtime
12:15 PM Pack-up to go home
12:30 PM Pick-up

The bare bones basic goal of the 3yo program is to have the kids recognize all upper case and lower case letters, know what sounds the letters make, recognize the basic rainbow colors plus black/white/brown/pink, recognize the numbers 1-10 and count to 20.

My daughter (now 6) was on the computer at 18 months. My son (now 4) was on the computer at 2 yrs but didn't really get it until 2 1/2. My baby loves to watch now (10 mo.) I use www.sesamestreet.com to start and then go on to sites like www.noggin.com, www.pbskids.com, www.nickjr.com, and so on.

Good luck and have lots of fun with it!

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Read, Read, read and have conversations with your children...talk about colors..count things..role play (like you be the baby and she's the mommy)...cut paper or pictures out of magazines, glue, color...paint, play dough blocks.. computer games do not foster social skills or vocabulary ....read read read!

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K. you will thank me and remember my name for a lifetime with this site I'm about to give you.. It is simple and fabulous... www.starfall.com so easy to navigate, my daughter has been on it from birth.. I mean obviously.. I was with her :) but now-- and since she was 1.5-- she navigates it on her own.. loves it.. It is SOOOOOO cute with stories, abcs, everything interactive... cute little characters.. and I've been a fan of it for6 years now and am still discovering new stuff with my new kid! You will love it.. Man-- who knew I'd get so excited! :) L. oh yeah and its FREE

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K.,

I teach pre school in my home full time to 2 3 year olds and 2 two year olds. I follow the cirriculum by "Highreach". It is wonderful. A lot of the Fairfax CO. Pre Schools also follow this program as I have also taught out of the home, too. The program is set up so it's simple to follow if your a teacher or a parent. You would order the 3 year old program since your daughter is 3 which is what I teach from. If you go on-line go to www.Highreach.com and you can see everything on their website. On the website they have their 800 phone # so you can call and talk to customer service and you can also request a free catalog which has so much more than just the cirriciulum programs. I love this program because they follow the school year and plus have a summer cirriculum as well. Each year they have a theme and then a theme each month and the lessons for each week of the month are around that monthly theme. The daily lessons cover pretty much every area for your pre schooler that she needs to learn and grow from. I place an order each month and since they are in N. Carolina I receive it in just a few days and then after receiving it I then send them my payment for it. It is great. Check it out.

As far as my schedule when my kids come we have breakfast around 7:30 - 8:00am. I let them have have some free time for puzzles, books or blocks or sometimes a morning cartoon. We then have a morning snack around 9:30am. At 10am I do circle time with them which includes reviewing our colors, shapes, ABC's, singing songs and doing the weather for the day. I then go right into what ever lesson or activity I have planned for the day which also sometimes includes a project or arts and crafts. We then go outside to the playground for a bit if the weather is good, if not then they are free to have free play for a while. From 11:30-12pm they can color or play with what they want while I am making lunch. We then clean up and are eating lunch by 12pm. After lunch I do story time and nap at 1pm to 3pm. After nap we have an afternoon snack and then do table activities which could be playdough, coloring, puzzles, blocks, etc... If the weather is good we then go outside for the afternoon but if not then we have inddor structured play and find things to do inside, play games or whatever. Then the day is over and they start going home. Anyway I hope this helps some. Good luck.

C.

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Well I MAKE my daughter take at LEAST a hour nap each day,w/o it she is unbearable(she's 2 1/2).We do a lot on the computer(she WILL NOT watch t.v.-this is good and bad)Afew sites we go to are:
1.PoissonRouge.com-yes it is a french site,but may even keep your littlest one amused
2.Readysetlearn.com
3.Starfall.com-GREAT for LETTERS(it's a teachers site)
4.Nickjr.com-Dora,Blue...videos,printouts,games....wonderful(and if you start the videos from the beginning,you may be able to have a little time to yourself)
This being said,momma still needs to be there to work the mouse!!!Good Luck and enjoy,R.

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Hi,
I am a reading specialist in Balt. Co. (Not a mom yet, but I want to be). My friend referred me to this website. I thought that I could help you out. I work with a few students in prek. A really good website is www.starfall.com It is an interactive website with cute stories and animation. It helps the children hear the sounds and words. Children love stories with rhyming words and nursery rhymes. Read to your child everyday. Take him/her to the library to choose books. Sing songs together.

I hope this helps.
A.

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Hi K.!
If you're not putting your little bit in a daycare, I think that whatever works in your house is what you do. A good way to help your daughter learn words is to tape index cards on different things around the house. A lot of children by sight instead of the dreaded phonix (sounding out words). For example if you put LAMP on the lamp, your daughter will see it every day & then she will be able to identify that word when you're in the store or in the newspaper, etc. It's a good starting point. Also for the ABC's my son loved Dr. Seus's ABC book. We used to recite it going through the grocery store or in the car. My son is now 19 and I can still recite "Big A little a what begins with A ...". Read to her when she'll let you but let her pick the book (even if it's the same one every day). I think just going with the flow is good - don't make her read or make her spell, make it fun. Oh, another fun thing buy some instant pudding (different flavors) & finger paing with it. You can draw your letters in it & lick your fingers when you're done.

Good luck
1

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*LEARN SELF DRESS/HYGIENE (child learns buttoning, zipping, choosing clothes, brushing teeth, etc.)
*BREAKFAST
*CLEAN UP
*BATHROOM BREAK
*FREE PLAY
*(At 10 am, my family starts w/BIBLE STUDY and character development): being quiet when someone is talking, manners, importance of obeying parents, etiquette, honesty, family rules of conduct, sharing, behavior, friendship, kindness, etc.)
*ABCs/PHONICS/LANGUAGE ARTS (I like A Beka series for 4-5 year old because it's so repetitive; however, it's not great if your child hates seatwork. (daily)
*LET'S EXPLORE [SCIENCE (nature, planets, animal habitats, trip to farm, birds, water play or sand, five senses, nutrition, parts of the body, anything he/she can explore, etc.) or HISTORY or SOCIAL STUDIES (community helpers, safety, careers, historical figures, etc.), MUSIC, and FOREIGN LANGUAGE APPRECIATION--these can change daily (I love the Baby Einstein series for music). But, you can teach new songs as well as different instruments, attend musicals, listen to classical music, etc. I like variety, so one day is SCIENCE, one day MUSIC, etc. I stick with topics throughout the month or until my 4-year-old can repeat what she's learned.]
*ART/CRAFT (theme around the season, color identification, scissors, paste/glue) I didn't realize that these activities can strengthen your child's hand muscle by using playdough, drawing circles with markers and crayons, use shaving cream to trace letters, and letter magnets. I like using the letter magnets when they grow weaker and playing in the playdough with them. I've also made playdough from scratch (Science) and had preschooler mix food color into the batch. Also, help child learn to use scissors and glue at this stage. Coloring is also age-appropriate. It's normal to start with light strokes, then scribbles, then curly ques, etc. They have to learn to color in the lines, and then they start to imitate what they see by using different colors. I also like using dot-paint, which you can get from an educational store.)
CLEAN UP
FREE TIME
SNACK
BATHROOM
NUMBER RECOGNITION (count to 100, recognize them)
FREE PLAY (outdoors if weather permits)
CLEAN UP
LUNCH
STORYTIME
BATHROOM BREAK
NAP or QUIET TIME (for mom to recover)
BATHROOM BREAK
SNACK
I did not put times beside any of these suggestions. Preschoolers have very short attention spans. At least my preschooler does. Most preschools only operate for 3 hours with formal instruction, even if they have before and after care. At that time, they do more creative things, like dance, gymnastics, languages, motor skill development (bike riding, skating) whatever can fill up the time until the parents pick them up. So, do not make this rigid. I believe it should be fun for everyone.
Throw in maybe one or two fieldtrips to the park, library, museum, zoo, games (Uno is great to teach color and number patterns, but my 4-yr.old is just getting the hang of it. Cranium has great games for preschoolers, like Cariboo and Hullabaloo. Old favorites like Candyland and Chutes and Ladders are good for rainy days) and maybe one playdate monthly with another mom (to reinforce those social skills) and you should have a great preschool program that nourishes you as well as your children. For variety, most museums offer free or lowcost classes for preschoolers! All libraries and most bookstores have free storytime for preschoolers. Nature Centers also have preschool programs for as little as $1 or $2. Consider that your breaktime, though sometimes it's just as tough getting the babies packed for a fieldtrip.
Make sure you stop whatever schedule you adopt about 1-2 hours before Dad comes home to straighten house, begin dinner, and put your feet up. You might even set up this schedule for 3-4 days per week and plan day 5 for administrative tasks, like household accounting, scheduling drs appts., laundry, groceries, etc. Let sibling read (or pretend to read) to the baby, play peekaboo, dangle soft toys in front of the baby and that will help build their bond. Pace yourself to avoid burnout. Maybe put the children down for the night at 7 pm and take an extra hour to do something you enjoy.
You can also search online for Maryland, Virginia and DCs scope and sequence for preschool literacy. Hope this was helpful. Enjoy your family!

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Hi K.,

If you have any preschool schools in your area, go to them and ask about some ideas for what you seek. Hope this helps. D.

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When my kids were that age I got A Giant Book of Basic Skills from (walmart or bookstores) and a book for the little one ,then we would have school time -make it a time when your 3 yr old is most awake then I would do the calender, sing the weather song and do as many pages in the workbook as they can do without getting grumpy:) Also i tried to work on one letter a week focusing on things that start with that letter sound throughout the day.We have learned a lot of our Spanish from cds and videos you can borrow from the library -songs have been the most fun way(cause u can play them in the car or just during the day.)Those are such sweet ages really I suggest reading ,painting , puppet showing ,coloring , cooking and just interacting as much as you can that's where your kids can learn the most.Be careful not to miss the FUN!!!!
Blessings to you!!!
L.

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Looks like you have great responses... but here are my 2 cents. I have a 4 1/2 and 17 month old, so our spacing is similar.

We get up and my oldest has a chart (pictures and words) of what she has to do to get ready before breakfast(go potty, make bed, get dressed, get her hair pulled back).

I tend to do concentrated reading/math time while my youngest takes her morning nap. We used "How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." Definitely not always easy, but an excellent basic method for learning to read, even if the child has no letter knowlege.

In our schedule, we do story time at the library for both girls, that includes walking there for exercise. After lunch is nap/quiet time so I can get computer work, etc. done in peace. Late afternoons include a walk, playground time or a bike ride. Dinner prep is usually during quiet time or a crock pot item so that I'm not in the kitchen much (that is a tough time in our house!) Fridays are a slow day for formal education - that is our cleaning day. Teach them how to help - they can dust, pick up toys, fold some laundry - they love to do big kid work.

If you plan on ordering materials, Rainbow Resource is the most reasonably priced and has the best selection. I really like the Kumon math, maze and cutting books they have.

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Hi K.,
I have a 3 year old daughter as well. I've taught Sunday school for 8 years I love to teach kids. One thing I've started with my daughter is teaching her from a felt board we do Bible stories but you can do shapes, colors, ABC's and numbers that way. My daughter loves it we do it before nap time. And books for learning coloring, shapes, and such you can go to the library or the goodwill sales books for only $.25. There is some good websites nickjr has games and blue clues is great for learning. I hope some of this can be of some help I feel like just learning to but I love to hear from other moms because that's where I've learned the most.

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K. -

I find that kids do best on a schedule. I used to own a small daycare and here is how we focused our day:
Breakfast
Circle Time (ABC's, 123's, a book or two or a theme, songs)
Math / Science
Arts and Crafts
Outdoor play, dramatic play or indoor movement
Lunch
Nap
Snack
Free Time
Outdoor play, dramatic play or indoor movement
clean up.

Our days went smoothly because the kids knew what to expect and got excited from time to time when we would change our schedule. Activities for each section are easy to find online. Here are a few links:
http://www.theteacherscorner.net/
http://www.first-school.ws/INDEX.HTM
http://www.teacherquicksource.com/preschool/default.aspx
Plus, be creative. For math and science go on a nature walk and collect pine cones. Count and sort them by size, shape, whatever characteristic you want. The next day cover them with peanut butter and bird seeds. The next day go on another nature walk and hang the pine cones. The next day practice staying very still near the pine cones and see if birds still come by to eat. You can get practically one whole week out of one project! Plus, the repitition really helps them understand the point of the activity.

Remember to keep your activities short. 15 minutes for circle time is plenty. You might need more time outside but typically we ran on a half hour schedule. Be sure to include tasks like setting the table for lunch, washing hands, going potty before and after lunch, even brusing your teeth. All these small tasks which we take for granted are great practice for the little ones.

Good Luck and enjoy your time with your children.
L.

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Check out www.abcteach.com. Also, www.starfall.com.

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Hi K.! I have a 3 year old and 2 8 month old girls!
In terms of schedule.....
Personally (as a former educator), I would not do a formal 'learning of words' unless your daughter shows a real interest. The best thing you can do for preparing her to learn to read is reading to her.Practicing writing her name is important and can be made fun but I wouldn't do it unless she really shows interest. My son really enjoys crafts so I cut out things for holidays and seasons so he can make cards (we are making St. Patty's Day cards right now) and we have all types of crafts supplies including stamps, stickers, foam pieces, markers, crayons and so on. Many are things he does independently which frees me up to take care of my girls.
PBS has games on line as do some of the other networks. My son doesn't watch much TV but the shows he likes (Dora and Diego) offer age appropriate games online. Anyway, our schedule is loose in terms of activities. He eats his meals at the same time daily and goes down for a nap around 1:30 or 2 and to bed by 7:30 or 8 (unless he doesn't sleep during nap time).
We have a playdate at least once a week and he goes to school 2x each week. We are also planning to put a trip to the library into our weekly routine. Good luck!

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Hi K.,

I own a pre-school daycare center

www.LittleRocketeers.com

We have a scheduled program with bi-lingual lessons in both English and Spanish, I happen to be spanish from Puerto Rico and that is why we teach spanish. Where do you live, if you live close by, I would love to set up an appointment and give you a tour and explain my program.

Thanks E. Infantes ###-###-####

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Hi K., the most important activities you can doing with your preschooler is READ READ READ! All kinds of books!! Letters and their sounds they make, counting to 100, by 1's, 2's, 5's etc...Just fill her head information even though she's too young to understand it. I LOVE starfall.com and pbs.com has some games as well. I did still have my 3 year old napping for 1.5 hours because I needed the break having another baby. I got a mazes book by Kumon to help wth pre-writing skills and a cut and paste book and a coloring book all hrlp with prewriting skills! I also have lots of fun CDs to sing and play instruments to the beat etc...

Hope this helps!

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Children at this age do not have a long attention span. They can be easily distracted. Keep your learning schedule active and short. I would say no longer than 30 minutes for any activity. However, you should try to teach words through song or music. Noise tends to keep them attentive and busy enough to get through a learning session. If you are trying to introduce a foreign language, this is the optimal age. Reinforcement is key! Encourage them to say words in that language. If you want her to say "thank you" have her say "gracias". If you want her to say "please" have her say "por favor". You have to be consistent and flash cards do not work at this age...unless she can read! lol If your day starts early, then get them active and by naptime (usually by 11-12), they should be ready for a mid-day break and nap for about an hour or two. Let them do an afternoon activity, such as painting or coloring. They love to do stuff with their hands and are great helpers. This will keep them busy while you prepare dinner. By the time they have had dinner and start to wind down for their bath it will be bedtime. Remember, all activities should take place before dinner, otherwise it will be difficult to get them to wind down and go to bed. Too much excitement before bedtime means a longer period of wind down for bed and you don't get your quiet time before you go to bed. I hope this helps!

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Hi K.,
My 3 yr-old is in preschool and his schedule consists of circle time-where they learn days of the week, what the weather is like, etc.. usually that's followed by free play, then lunch, naptime from about 12:45-3pm, then snack and afternoon play/activities. Their integral part as children is to 'play', that is their job. If you can, find time to go to a book store like Borders, where you both can sit and read and don't have to worry about being so quiet like the library. For me on weekends with my son, I try not to overwhelm him since he gets lessons during the week but I do recap what he's learning. There are also places that do foreign language lessons for toddlers in the DC area. Hope this helps

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some very good website are akidsheart.com also nickjr.com ima preschool teacher and i use these sites all the time good luck

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I also have a 3 year old son and 9 month old son, and we are on somewhat of a schedule. We have "schooltime" in the late mornings (we do a couple of lessons in a pre-school prep book), then computer time in the afternoon. Naps occur in between (if he doesn't take a nap, he doesn't get to watch TV in the afternoon). A great website is www.starfall.com it's great for ABC's and reading. We also have a Disney/Winnie the Pooh interactive computer program that works on letters, numbers, phonics, colors, shapes...you name it! We borrow videos from the library for Spanish practice too. I'm not sure of any Spanish (or any other language) teaching ideas. Hope this helps!!

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Try www.risingstarlearning.com I got some cd's for my 4 yr old grandaughter. She love it. It has the abc's and numbers with adding and subtracting. It is recommended Age (2-7). It is no chalenge for my 6 yr old grandson. Let me know how you like it. Hope it helps.

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hi K.,
as a homeschooler my views may be different from most, but for what it's worth.....
don't overschedule. littles are suppposed to play. that's how they learn.
read. go to fun places, parks and museums and malls and playdates. make every day an adventure. sometimes have quiet adventures revolving around hot chocolate. make some of your naps in the car or on a blanket in a field. offer (but don't insist on) foods you don't usually eat. read some more. strew the path with opportunities to learn, but don't fret about letter-and-number milestones.
trust your babies.
khaire
S.

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From my own experience, I'd say start the day (after breakfast) with the 'learning' part of the day. Before the TV gets turned on, before other things come along to distract the little one, they are bright and more attentive in the earlier hours. From the very beginning, I worked with flash cards and they took to them quite quickly. By the time they were 2, both boys (they're twins) knew their shapes/colors/letters, etc. They're not super genius's but since I started early with them and we made it fun, they simply learned. Since they are young, their attention span will also be limited so you'll have to change things up more frequently. A must have is also 'physical' time, time for them to run around or play a more physical game. We often would turn on the music and dance like fools! Lunch, nap. After their afternoon nap time, I usually tried to get them to color or play with their toys, just allowing them to decide mostly. There are also loads of learning and educational videos that are very fun and wholesome that they'd be allowed to watch too.
Hope this gives some ideas!

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