Hello I am new here. I was a Kdg teacher for 3 years and left to have my baby. But I just got a call from my old job asking me to come back to work doing a 3yr old half day pre-school. I have no idea what the curriculum for 3yr olds. Can someone please give me some ideas? I plan on doing some cooking, songs, independant play, show and tell, and crafts. Do you do monthly themes? How much detail do I give about learning numbers, letters, and colors. Any advice is appreciated!
We work on the calendar using a days and months of the year song. We work on number rec. and counting while we figure out what the date is. We work on shapes, colors, name recognition, writing name and introduce the name of the letters. We work on table manners during snack, let the children pour their own drinks, sharing, using words to express your needs and feelings. We have an art experience every day. We sing for about 20 min everyday, using lots of finger plays for fine motor skills and crossing the mid-line of the body. We read a story or two everyday.
I have 3 year olds and I do everything under the sun with them. I do letters, letter sounds, cutting, tracing letters and numbers, reading readiness, colors and shapes, cooking, art and crafts, counting, patterns, alphabet order and numerical ordering...I could go on. I challenge my kids because even though they aren't going to K next year, the children are only as smart as what they are exposed to. Half of my kids can already write their name, and they still have 2 more years of pre-k left. Not saying they are any "smarter" than the next child, but it doesn't hurt to challenge them...it keeps them interested.
I also go into dept about whatever theme we are doing for the two weeks. The last two weeks we did a solar system theme. They learned about the planet names, the order of which they were, what a constellation is, and other things. They know the sun is a big star and not a planet. Little things like that they are facinated by. Don't be afraid to engage their minds, the last thing the parents want is a "babysitter", they want a teacher. Good luck. If you need any suggestions, I'd be happy to help you out.
My first kid arrives at 7:30am and the rest at 8am right before we eat breakfast. Since my daycare and preschool is in my home, I have a bit of a different set up. I am guessing you wont be in your home, so your plans may vary slightly. My kids are allowed to watch Sesame Street until 8am since there are only two of them at that time. Then I turn off the tv and they just have free play until we eat breakfast. I usually limit what they can play with at that time (more quiet activities like puzzles, blocks, books, etc.). I use book and puzzle time as a transition twice throughout my day (after circle time while they take a potty break, and after lunch before they lay down for nap). A book and puzzle time upon arrival might work well for you if you only need to fill 15 minutes. You could also add a drawing and free art center during that time. I would keep it simple so they don't have a lot of clean up before lessons start (puzzles, books, crayons and paper, maybe table toys). This is a glimpse of their morning routine:
7:00am-8:20am: Arrival and Free Time (social development)
8:20am-8:30am: Wash Hands/Clean Up
8:30am-8:50am: Breakfast
8:50am-9:15am: Free Time
9:15am-9:20am: Transition to Circle Time
9:20am-9:45am: Circle Time and Bathroom Break (calendar observation, weather observation, language and literature, music and movement, Bible lessons, Spanish word of the week, sight word of the week) *bathroom break after circle time adjourns
My kids usually last about 10 minutes at each center, sometimes a little less depending on what it is, or a little more if it's an extensive art project. Today we did penny pick-up with tweezers and they all took two turns each because they loved it so much. I will usually just pay attention to when they are getting bored with it and make sure everyone gets a good enough time at each one. I also sometimes will leave these things out for the remainder of the week/theme for them to use during free play time. I try to do independant things, but some things we do in a group. Like the other day we did a planet order worksheet (I'm not big on worksheets, but this one was cute) and we did it together. They had to find the number I called out and find the planet to go with the number and paste it on.
We do 3 or 4 centers each day. Throughout my plans I list Art, Math, Physical Science/Social Science/Cooking, Small Motor, and Letter Recog./Reading Readiness. I do each of these centers 3 times a week at least (equals to 3 each day). If there is more to be done I will add an extra one here or there. I also repeat many things for them to get a grasp on what they need to learn (name tracing, letter and number tracing, cutting, etc.). During circle time we will review certain important facts. Like last week we finished up our solar system unit. We talked about the names of the planets every day and what number Earth was and that the sun was a big star, not a planet, etc. I usually have visuals with me to keep their attention focused. I also have a 3 ring binder that I change every unit and put pictures pertianing to our unit in there and place it in our book basket.
Besides our learning centers we also do our circle time, large motor, etc. Sorry this is so long, I had a lot to say. If you'd like more let me know. I'm a bucket full of information when it comes to this age!
Hi Jen
I see you have a Spanish lesson. My kids at school have Spanish 3 days a week for 15min/day. Question for you........do you know of a good spanish web site for early ch.? Do you speak fluently? I feel a little awkward trying to follow up with Spanish.........I speak french and german(a little), but don't want to teach wrong pronunciations, etc. If you have some suggestions or websites, I'd appreciate it. The lady that teaches at our school is very old 84, and a bit cranky, so I don't want to bother her with it.
Hi Jen
I see you have a Spanish lesson. My kids at school have Spanish 3 days a week for 15min/day. Question for you........do you know of a good spanish web site for early ch.? Do you speak fluently? I feel a little awkward trying to follow up with Spanish.........I speak french and german(a little), but don't want to teach wrong pronunciations, etc. If you have some suggestions or websites, I'd appreciate it. The lady that teaches at our school is very old 84, and a bit cranky, so I don't want to bother her with it.
To be honest, I don't speak a single bit of fluent Spanish. I am so bad at it that I never finished the course in college. I started it in high school too, but just couldn't get the hang of it . I know some simple words, and that's actually what I teach the kids. We count in Spanish to whatever number our calender is and review our word of the day. I am also going to start teaching them the names of our months in Spanish. It's stuff that we use every day that would be easy for them to learn. Last week we did casa, this week is Si'. I do also give them many opportunities to use the word of the week throughout the day. I just teach them the basics, not really how to talk in complete Spanish sentences or anything. I would be afraid I'd teach them something offensive on accident . My husband actually speaks a bit of Spanish (not too badly) and I have a friend who went to college and majored in Spanish and speaks fluently so I go to one of them for information. I have also look at the enchanted learning website and have found that site to be helpful as well.
Sorry to hear about the cranky lady, that made me laugh when I read it .
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. I know some simple words, and that's actually what I teach the kids. We count in Spanish to whatever number our calender is and review our word of the day. I am also going to start teaching them the names of our months in Spanish. It's stuff that we use every day that would be easy for them to learn. Last week we did casa, this week is Si'. I do also give them many opportunities to use the word of the week throughout the day. I just teach them the basics, not really how to talk in complete Spanish sentences or anything. I would be afraid I'd teach them something offensive on accident 
. My husband actually speaks a bit of Spanish (not too badly) and I have a friend who went to college and majored in Spanish and speaks fluently so I go to one of them for information. I have also look at the enchanted learning website and have found that site to be helpful as well.
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