Preschool Curriculum at Home

The most important things kids learn in pre-school is how to share, how to get along with others, how to quietly stand in line, and how to sit in a circle and pay attention to the teacher. Pre-schoolers need to play and be read to. The rest they learn in school.

When my kids were that age, I didn't use curriculum. Instead we went to the library alot. Rather than follow a set program, we did whatever interested my children at the time. We brought home tons of books, some were well read, some not so much. Art, music, crafts, games, activities, science. The children's librarian is a wonderful resource. She'd point out poplular books and hidden gems. We took field trips to go along with what we were learning: park, beach, zoo, museums. This is a time to explore, experience life together, observe, read, play. If your child knows her colors, ABC's, and can count to 100, she's more than ready for kindergarten.

There is absolutely no need for formalized learning with children under 7. Kids learn everything they need if you let the world be their resource. Join some play groups, have some fun. Don't "do," play.

Example:

this morning my children were playing with magnetic letters. My two year old wanted me to spell his name. My 4 year old then took the letters and spelled her name, and then a few other words. We then went to the Morton Arboretum. You live in Chicago. GO THERE. The Children's garden is wonderful fun. We go once a week. At the children's garden, we caught froglets (tadpoles that are growing legs), we saw a few frogs, climbed some tree houses, and then did an activity station on animals that live in trees --they made a cute tree house. We also did the maze and watched workers plant "annual" plants. My son and I also counted and then threw rocks into a little pond. He also found a bunch of his letters on signs and things, and my daughter read all of the signs we encountered.

We covered so many different topics this morning it isn't even funny. GO EXPLORE, use the world, and don't worry about a curriculum. The world is the only resource you need.

We also go to Brookfield Zoo at least once a month. Later this week we will be going to Cantigny to see more tadpoles and to explore bugs. So many places have great family backpacks you can rent for a few bucks or for free. Oh yes, and next week we are going on a Dragonfly hunt!

You live in one of the best cities in the world, with some of the best museums in the world, with some of the best play areas for children. Skip boring activities at the desk and go have some fun!

Do the same things they do at a quality preschool: blocks, puzzles, sorting, counting, beading/lacing, cutting, gluing, painting, cooking/measuring, singing, hopping, skipping, pretending and of course lots of reading!
All of these things prepare children for kindergarten. The fine motor skills (cutting, gluing, beading) prepare them for writing, the counting, sorting, building and puzzles prepare them for math and problem solving, the pretend play prepares them socially and the gross motor skills (hopping, skipping) help their physical coordination.
And when you read to your child, always stop and talk about the story. What happened, what do you think will happen, etc. That's what makes them good readers later on, the fact that they can not only comprehend but retell a story after they have read/heard it :)

My daughter was home this year instead of going to an official pre-school. We did a few routine activities and classes based on her interests (piano, dance and soccer). We did library trips, a lot of neighborhood walks (she likes to collect things like leaves, pine cones, bugs) and trips to the park, we attended two plays, a baseball game, and a ballet. We read a lot together at home. We do science experiments when something comes up that interests her (there are a lot of books and websites with great ideas for home science experiments). We took a marble copy book and turned it into an official "science notebook" so she could draw her observances and begin writing. We write with chalk, crayons, markers, pencils, etc. I invite her to make cards for friends and family members and this was a bridge into writing for her. We do arts and crafts projects. We play with other kids as much as possible so she is still learning to socialize with kids her age. We talk about nutrition and food as we cook or shop for groceries. We planted some things together and watched them grow. We talk about school often to give her a picture of what it will be like. A few weeks ago we went on a family tour of the school she will attend next year, again to help familiarize her.

There is an APP for the iPhone and iPad called StoryKit that allows you to record audio, add photos, text and digital drawings to create stories. I like using this because my daughter can navigate it well, we can create stories about anything and I can save them. The creators of the APP also have a website, The International Children's Digital Library (http://en.childrenslibrary.org/). You can access books in a variety of languages, some have audio and some do not. I also like the Starfall website and we really enjoy "The Talking Lettter Factory" video by Leap Frog. One method for teaching emerging readers is called Language Experience. You would have your daughter tell you a story and write it down, and then use it for reading material. You could type it up in large font, ask her to draw pictures, focus on certain words in the story, or whatever makes sense for the story she told. There are a million great children's books out there. Amazon has many used books for great prices, AbeBooks (http://www.abebooks.com/) also sells discounted used books. I especially like using wordless picturebooks because it encourages my daughter to tell the story or for both of us to tell it together. Chalk by Bill Thomson is one of our favorites. Some other favorite children's authors are David Wiesner, Karen Hesse, Patricia Palaco, Jacqueline Woodson, Jon Muth (Zen books are great), Jerry Pinkney, David Ezra Stein, Mo Willems, I could keep going :) Caroline Kennedy has a poetry collection called A Family of Poems with beautiful water color illustrations by John J. Muth, we also really enjoy Shel Sylverstein's poetry books.

I think my biggest recommendation is to do things that you will both enjoy because this is a very special year. Learning experiences will come very naturally. If you are interested, most states have developed standards to guide curriculum development. I don't believe all states have them for pre-k but I did a quick Google search and found that Illinois has "Early Learning Standards" (http://www.isbe.state.il.us/earlychi/pdf/iel_standards.pdf). The standards are listed by content area.

I hope you and your daughter have a wonderful year together!

letteroftheweek.com is a great, free site. I wouldn't spend too much time doing "school" with your child. They learn best through play.

Work on fine motor skills to prepare for writing. Cutting, drawing, gluing, using a bingo marker to stamp out letters (you write "A" on a piece of paper--big like 5" and she stamps it out with the bingo marker), and using play-doh to make letter/number shapes. Also, don't forget to teach lower case letters.

If you want a rather nifty educational web site, there is starfall or if you do not mind paying, ABC Mouse is fantastic. My daughter (4) goes on maybe 2 or 3 days a week, for about an hour. SHe would be on longer if I would let her!

At her preschool they have a developmental checklist that they did in the fall and again in the spring. The major areas are Fine Motor SKills, Gross Motor SKills, Cognitive (including Senses, Memory & CUriosity etc.) Language (Listening, labeling, etc.) Self, Math, Science, and Social.

If you want the detailed list PM me, it is 3 pages worth of skills.

Good luck and have fun!

I am a kindergarten teacher but I taught my boys preschool at home. They didn't qualify for public at-risk preschool and I couldn't afford private! You should know that kindergarten now is what we considered first grade, thanks to high-stakes testing. You should definitely expose her to structured settings using library, park district classes, or church programs. There are a ton of excellent websites-you could look for links on your school district's website. Many are mentioned here. But I wouldn't spend more than 30 min/day on screen time. She'll learn much more being read to and exposed to real-life experiences. Definitely teach her to quickly and easily recognize those concepts you listed-with letters know name and sound. With numbers know numeral and quantity. Also teach how to hold a fat pencil, write her first/last name, use scissors and glue, draw shapes with fat crayons, circle/underline correct answers, and trace letters and numbers. Finally surround her with words-spoken and written. She should be able to recognize commonly seen words (McDonald's, Restroom, Parking, Stop) and identify rhyming words (cat, hat, sat) Keep it simple-even the Dollar Store had $1 workbooks, tracing paper, and copy paper. Have fun!

starfall.com is a good site to use with your child. I don't know about any sites for developing a curriculum. You can also get fun toys to help learn, such as alphabet magnets to put on the fridge, a wide variety of art supplies, blocks, and more.

If you want some other ideas for educational toys, please visit my Discovery Toys website at http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/karenchao I can give you specific recommendations and information, as well as info on how to get your toys for free.

Thanks,
K.