Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 4: The big picture
• Part 2 of 4: Planning lessons
• Part 3 of 4: Creating learning goals for pre-schoolers
• Part 4 of 4: Keeping lessons fun
• Tips

Writing a prep lesson plan for kindergarten kids takes time, but once you create a template that you can work with, the process will become much easier. Carefully crafted lesson plans ensure that children learn and have fun while gaining the necessary knowledge to prepare for kindergarten. You make a lesson plan for preschoolers with the "big picture" in mind, down to the "small details". The big picture will help you create a cohesive plan for the entire semester or year. The details help create meaningful and engaging lessons within the larger framework.

To step

Part 1 of 4: The big picture

1. Identify the skills of the children. Before you can start planning lessons effectively, you need to know what the children can do in terms of communication, language and reading skills, number and math skills, gross and fine motor skills, and social and emotional development.
   • Develop a lesson plan taking into account the specific user groups - kindergarten lesson plans should be appropriately designed for each group.
   • In the design stage itself, the lesson should be shared with each employee.
   • Children develop at a different pace and receive more or less support at home, so it is not surprising when students have a varied range of skills and are at different stages of development in various areas.
   • Important areas to assess before the start of a school year include: speaking skills, phonological awareness, number awareness, fine and gross motor skills.
   • The number of children in your care and how much time you have for assessments will likely affect the type of assessment you can perform, but short assessments (20 minutes per child or less) can be structured (at a desk with a teacher, using flashcards, paper and pencil, etc.) while longer evaluations are more observational (observation while playing, assessing peer interaction, etc.). Young children do not have the patience or the ability to sit still during long-term evaluations.
   • Several factors related to childhood contribute to each child's abilities. For example, it is not uncommon for some 4-year-old children to not yet know the alphabet, while others (although uncommon) may be able to read at grade one or two level.
   • Find out which children are lagging behind, have special needs, or are gifted. These students may require additional support or extra effort during the school year to tailor lesson plans to their specific needs.
   • It is a legal requirement that all students are assured of reasonable accommodation for the disabled and possible developmental disabilities. Students with developmental disabilities or disabilities (including autism and learning disabilities such as ADHD) should be evaluated by an expert who will conduct specialized research in all areas of development and create an individualized educational plan to ensure that children receive the support they need have to thrive in kindergarten. This procedure may vary by region, so please contact a school coordinator.
2. Make a schedule per semester or school year. This can be done with a simple computer program, with a billboard or even in a notebook. By including start and end dates and holidays, you get an overall picture of the plan for the school year.
   • Include breaks and holidays, and number each class week. These numbers correspond to your lesson plan.
   • Think about the big picture. What are the learning goals for your students?
3. Choose a theme for each month and focus areas for each week. A theme is a broad concept, which you can consider as a fixed point of discussion or emphasis. A point of interest is a sub-category of that theme, or a more specific case to point out specific characteristics of the theme to the children.
   • For example, the Mississippi State University pre-school program recommends monthly units such as "About Myself," "The Neighborhood", "Food", "Weather", etc. These units would each have a weekly focus. For example, if the monthly theme is "Food" then the focus areas can be divided into the focus areas "Breakfast", "Lunch", "Dinner" and "Desserts". The focus areas are elaborated in the daily lessons (in this case, each day could be devoted to the eating habits of a specific culture).
   • Some teachers prefer to choose just a few themes and focus areas to start with, and from that point on, let the students' interests guide the development of the rest of the themes for the semester.
4. Find or write your daily curriculum. The length of a school day can vary for toddlers, with some coming half days and others all day, so start by writing down the time students arrive and leave, and all other daily activities (snack time, break, lunch, etc. .). This could look something like this:
   • 8-8.10: arrival,
   • 9-9.20: toilet break, snack
   • 10-10.20: play outside
   • 10.50 am: collect backpacks and prepare to go home
5. Divide the rest of the day into subject areas. These are the areas where individual lessons and activities are focused. Keeping these the same every day and varying the specific activity can help students develop a routine that makes them feel safe and confident because they know what to expect each day.
   • These could include things like reading / telling, learning to recognize letters / phonological awareness, development of fine motor skills, reading, recognition of numbers and math skills, small groups, etc.
   • Don't forget to focus on all major areas of preschool development, including emotional, social, physical, and cognitive development. These are each significant in preparation for elementary school, the main goal of kindergarten curricula.
6. Arrange these topics into small blocks of time of about 10-20 minutes each, depending on the length of the school day. Toddlers' attention span is short, so changing an activity regularly is a must. This will allow the students to fulfill their learning goal and focus on the present activity, and it can also help prevent behavioral problems that may arise from boredom. At this point your schedule might look like this:
   • 8-8.10: arrival,
   • 8.10-8.30: group circle
   • 8.30-8.45: phonological awareness
   • 8.45-9: free play or art
   • 9-9.20: toilet break, snack
   • 9.20-9.40: read
   • 9.40-10: calculate
   • 10-10.20: play outside
   • 10.20-10.40: vocabulary
   • 10.40-10.50: group circle
   • 10.50 am: collect backpacks and prepare to go home
7. Start filling out activities and lessons. Each activity or class should be related to the theme, focus area and topic.
   • For example, your theme of the month could be "About Me" and your focus area for the week might be "My Family".
   • In this case, the group circle could be about talking about who your family is, arithmetic could be writing down the number of family members, and art could include a family portrait made of dried noodles and beans.

Part 2 of 4: Planning lessons

1. Think about your goal. The objective should focus on what you want your students to know or be able to do after executing a lesson plan. Goals can be set based on skills, concepts, or both.
   • Skill-based goals require your students to learn to do something new. Examples are: drawing a triangle, tying a shirt independently, or spelling their name.
   • Conceptual objectives require your students to understand a concept or idea. Examples are: recognizing a triangle, describing it again, talking about feelings in the group circle.
   • Some objectives combine skills and concepts, such as pronouncing a word, whereby the students gain insight into the relationship between letters and sounds (a concept) and combine this in the pronunciation of a word (a skill).
2. Think about the interests of your students. Ask them what they want to learn and keep a permanent list of ideas for reference.
   • Students of all ages learn best when they are absorbed in the topic at hand. Some students, especially those with attention or behavioral problems, benefit from classes specifically focused on their interests.
   • Common interests of toddlers include: animals, especially baby animals; seasons and weather; dinosaurs; Marine life; the space; fairytales; robots; dolls and household activities such as cooking, cleaning and housekeeping.
   • Toddlers often have favorite figures and imaginary characters too, and while these can vary, you can get a good idea of ​​these by asking the kids what their favorite singers, cartoon characters or video games are, or by noticing which figures are on their backpack or clothing stand.
3. Choose your approach. This will vary depending on your objective, the skills of your students, and the interests of your students. You also need to vary the approach to each activity, from day to day, to keep the kids' attention. Some possible approaches:
   • Writing or tracing letters or numbers
   • Painting, drawing, or other art forms
   • Exercises or activities for gross motor skills
   • Books to read or that children can read independently, that fit the theme
   • Songs with or without movement
   • Activities to learn to sort and count, using small numbers, toys, etc.
4. Gather your materials. This could be paper, pencils, crayons, craft materials, books, a music player, or other items.
   • Make sure you have enough for each student, plus extras in case of mistakes or accidents.
5. Put the lesson into practice. Watch the time, but don't be afraid to deviate from the script. Some of the best learning moments occur when teachers respond to questions and interests of their students, even if it distracts from the original plan.
   • Make sure to take notes afterwards about what worked well and what didn't. Over the next few years, you can reuse, rewrite, or scrap these notes, depending on how well they worked during implementation.

Part 3 of 4: Creating learning goals for pre-schoolers

1. List learning goals that are appropriate for each student's development. While there are standards for child development, you may need to tailor the goals for certain students. For example, in general, students from lower income families need more intensive guidance at the outset, while students from higher income families can benefit from increased access to books, one-on-one contact with adults, and additional enrichment activities in their early childhood, and often have a head start when they enter kindergarten. The same applies to students from English-speaking families as opposed to students for whom English is the second language. Remember that the primary function of kindergarten is to prepare for elementary school - so work with kindergarten teachers to determine what will be the main focus areas. In general, this involves the following:
   • Expressive and receptive language: students can speak in full sentences most of the time, follow cues consisting of more than one step, understand vocabulary related to position, size and comparison (such as equal / different, above / below, within / outside), and be able to make simple predictions about the course of a story.
   • Cognitive ability / learning ability: students must be able to identify similar pictures; classify objects by physical characteristics such as color, size and shape; recognizing patterns; arrange up to three images of a story in order; tell a simple story in your own words; complete a simple puzzle; recognize five or more colors.
   • Phonological awareness and script recognition: students should be able to recognize their own name in print, point to and recognize the letters in the name, try to write their own name, understand what a book is (such as reading books from left to right and writing words from top to bottom). below, even if they are unable to read), recognize rhyming words, associate at least 3 letters with their sound, and use symbols or drawings to express ideas.
   • Arithmetic: Students should be able to add up to five objects, match the numbers 0-5 with that number of grouped objects, arrange numbers in order, identify at least three shapes, count to ten, and understand the concept of more or less.
   • Social / emotional development: students should be able to identify themselves by name, age and gender, interact with other students, communicate needs to classmates and the teacher, demonstrate independence by washing hands, using the toilet, eating and dressing, and showing that it is a can spend some time without the parents.
   • Motor development: students must be able to use pencils, crayons and scissors in a controlled manner, copy a line, circle and X, hop, jump, run, and catch a ball.

Part 4 of 4: Keeping lessons fun

1. Remember, for small children, play is the best way to learn, as it is most appropriate for development. Classes for preschoolers should be fun, engaging, and involve diverse senses and skills. In general, activities involving memorization or repetition will be of less interest to preschoolers.
   • Spend a lot of unstructured time on the playground. While these may not be 'lessons' in the traditional sense of the word, researchers have noted that free play stimulates the development of the prefrontal cortex during a critical period in early childhood, which has lifelong implications for emotional regulation, planning and resolution. of problems.
2. Decorate a classroom around the game idea. Classroom centers should aim to encourage creative, cooperative play. This can encourage children to play a role, take turns, and work with other children. This can teach students interpersonal skills and self-confidence.
   • Consider a center designed to mimic a playhouse, with kitchen supplies, toddler furniture, baby dolls and stroller, etc. Small toys from stores like Ikea or secondhand stores are usually not that expensive.
   • Have a costume wardrobe. This can vary from fancy suits to simple silk scarves. Costumes can often be bought cheaply right after Halloween, or just bring creative clothing from a secondhand store, such as overalls, a pretty princess dress, a cowboy hat, a uniform, etc.
   • Stuffed animals are often the start of many creative games for toddlers. Children can use their imaginations to pretend they are children in a classroom, pets in a home, animals in a shelter or veterinary clinic, etc. Choose toys that you can easily wash in a washing machine every few months.
3. Build in adult interaction. This can often be difficult in large classes, but look for a way to spend time with each child on a daily or weekly basis, involving short play or one-on-one reading time. Studies show that adult interaction is critical to developing confidence and early language development. It also strengthens the student-teacher bond, making the child feel safer and more secure at school.
   • In addition to personal interaction, you can ask parents to volunteer weekly to children in small groups. The number of volunteers willing to do this determines the size of the groups; groups of five students or less per adult will encourage interpersonal relationships as well as discussions, which are key to early language skills.

Tips

• Make sure your lesson plan is clear and easy to understand for a substitute teacher. Provides instructions on each activity in an easily accessible location.
• Contact the child care center, school or local authorities to ensure that all necessary development areas are addressed in the curriculum.
• Every time you implement a new lesson plan, take the time to evaluate its effectiveness afterwards. Write notes about the activities that children particularly enjoyed and engaged in, as well as those that were ineffective. Save this lesson plan, along with the notes, for future reference.
• Be flexible. Young children can be unpredictable, so if your students aren't interested in certain activities, try a new approach or just move on to another activity.
• Check reliable online lesson plan templates to get started quickly with your lesson planning.