Can Anyone Help A New Preschool Teacher?

Question

I just started teaching a preschool class at a small private school. Right now I have 3 that are 3 year olds and next year will be their preschool year. Emotionally these little ones are not ready for Preschool. It's just educated daycare in the mornings. I teach them for 3 hours a day and need a suggestion for a simple schedule and some ideas. I'm having fun but am running our of creative ideas. We use the Abeka Preschool teaching books but the books are hard for 3 year olds so I'm using other teaching materials when I can find them Thanks.....

Answer 1

Preschool education does not have to be academic think about pre-readiness skills. Following a schedule, taking turns, fine motor development, gross motor development and the #1 language concepts and development. Themed activities are great. I use to do a theme a week. It is a great starting off point.
A 3 hour schedule
8-8:20 arrival routine, maybe some free play as kids arrive
8:20-8:45 fine motor development (puzzles, blocks, beads, tweezers, tongs, coloring.. etc. anything that involves the hands and fingers.
8:45-9:15 Centers- set up different stations and have the kids rotate between stations these can even be toy or play related, but you are teaching kids to follow a schedule and routines for readiness skills. Building center, house keeping center, cars/ trains/ transportation center, sensory table (sand, rice, water anything kids can put their hands in.. I typically change this once a week).
9:15-9:35 Circle time, songs, finger plays, story, gross motor activities that involve music and imitating the teacher, calendar, sharing.
9:35-10:00 recess or gross motor development. Work on catching a ball, jumping rope, climbing, running, skipping, jumping, hopping, riding bikes, kicking a ball, obstacle course, bean bag toss.
10:10:20- Snack
10:20-10:40 Arts and crafts painting, coloring, gluing, cutting, stickers, glitter- or book making pre-reading activities with letters and sounds or language concepts such as prepositions. Something they can take home and parents can review for "homework"/ practice.
10:40-11:00 free play until parents come to pick them up.

Answer 2

There are a number of sites that i used when I was overseas teaching a part-day preschool program.

Enchanted learning
Perpetual preschool
ABC Teach
chubby Cubbies

From my training and education I have learned that 3 year old learn best from play, so the majority of a 3 hour day should be playing in centers with educational toys.

I would start with about 15-30 minutes of circle time.....after about 15 minutes for the children to arrive and get ready to start the day. During this time there should be a lot of songs. A welcome song and one about the days of the week are what I start with....these should be the same, or of a similar vein, every day. A discussion about the weekly topic or a story, and more songs....a lot of songs at this age. If you wnat them to remember things put it in a song. Lately I am singing the ABC song as different characters and the kids love it.

After circle time center play for apx 1 hour or a little more where there are plenty of activities for the childen to choose from. Always have an open ended art project, my 3's love to paint. Give them a 5 minute warning than apx 10-15 minutes for clean up....very important for them to do as much as possible in this.

Outside time for apx 30 minutes, than back in for a 15-20 minutes final circle time to recap the day....what they did etc. This is always good to remind them and they have a possible answer if the parents ask after pick up.

Hope this helps

Answer 3

Look for resources at your local library. They usually have a lot of reference books with curriculum ideas and setting up a classroom environments for young children. Or, pose as parent looking for childcare, and go see a local daycare and get ideas. Tell them you have a 3 year old (even if you don't, lol, nothing wrong with doing a little research). People do it all the time to see what the competition has to offer.

Answer 4

I just hate the way the states insist the kids learn. They make learning not fun. I wish they'd just keep their noses out of it and let the teachers have fun with the kids. I have 4 kids. Add more fun too it. Take the kids out and just by looking at things closely they learn a lot. All kids learn differently. But they all like to have fun. So take them outside that sets the stage of fun. Get in the grass and talk about the color, maybe the different shades of color, talk about how it grows, tell each to pick 5 blades of grass. Your not just talking about grass, but teaching them how to observe, count, color etc... they will like it.

Answer 5

Try downloading and printing some of the material at starfall. I have recommended this to a lot of parents who have loved it for their kids and there are a few things that you can download and use there. I will give you a link to the main page and then scroll down to the teachers section. Good Luck!

Answer 6

A story, a song, craft time (keep it simple) play dough, finger painting etc, free play, fun dancing, a simple game (simon says). They are 3 there is enough time later for them get into a more full on routine, just give them your attention.

Answer 7

Buy some pre-school sing-a-long tapes. They love that.
Tapes about animals, the weather and even mobility.

Answer 8

Try a different theme for the week to add into your curriculum.
Go to educational stores or websites for more ideas.
http://www.kidzone.ws, or http://www.first-school.ws

Answer 9

dollar store is awesome I think the dollar tree

Answer 10

Color
Blow Bubbles
Play Hide-and-Seek
Peek-a-Boo
Play Chase
Do Fingerplays
Sing a song
Collect rocks in a basket
Make an obstacle course out of cushions and/or furniture
Make a fort out of cushions and sheets
Go for a Walk
Make a Car out of a box
Read a book
Go to the park
Fingerpaint
Play with Clay-Dough
Toss Bean bags into a Bucket
Play the shell and pea game
Dance to music
Download games for toddlers from the Internet
Practice putting things in and taking things out of boxes and bags
Make a temporary slide out of a table leaf and the class chairs
Roll a ball back and forth on the floor
Scoop dirt or sand into a child's bucket (or use a serving spoon and bowl)
Practice climbing by stacking boxes on top of each other (only with adult supervision)
Put on a puppet show
Go fishing with a yard stick and yarn
Make a Horseshoe game
Make a Shape Puzzle
Play paper basketball
Run through a Sprinkler
Play with a bucket of water and a sponge (PLEASE WATCH CHILD AT ALL TIMES!)
Make a Drum out of an oatmeal box
Play with a kazoo
Wash windows together
Bang on Pots and Pans with a spoon
teach them how to Brush their teeth
Play dress-up with stuffed animals and your child's clothes
Stack canned or boxed food on top of each other
Let child stack mixing bowls inside each other
Make a playhouse out of a large box (see links page for some great instructions! Entitled: Building a Playhouse)
Let child play with a sticker sheet (make sure your child doesn't eat them!)
Put stickers on fingers for finger puppets
Play a musical instrument together- i.e.recorder, piano, etc.
Go on a Smelling Hunt
Frost Cookies
Plant a flower or vegetable plant together
Roll a tennis ball into an empty trash can or bucket
Draw on a mirror with dry-erase markers
Play hide and seek together- trying to find a stuffed animal or other object
Have a splash party together in the bathtub
Put a leash on a stuffed animal and walk around the house
Record each other on a tape recorder (great for scrapbooks or journals!)
Make and try on paper hats
Give a piggie back ride
Play "Horsie"
Talk into an electric fan (it distorts your voice)
Play tug-of-war with a blanket
Collect flowers (felt, artificial, real...)
Make a camera and go on a Safari
Play games with frozen juice lids
Disconnect your phone and pretend to make phone calls to relatives
String large beads onto or along a shoelace
Squirt each other with squirt bottles
Glue shapes onto paper
Make sock puppets
Make paper puppets
Fill an old purse with toys
Use a paper towel tube as a megaphone
Make binoculars and go "Bird Watching" or "Stuffed Animal Watching"
Put snacks in different fun containers (paper sacks, empty canisters, etc.)
Act out a story from a book
Walk on a balance beam- use a 2x4 placed on the ground
Draw with chalk on the sidewalk
Sketch an outline of your child on the sidewalk or paper with chalk
Paint child's palms with tempura paint and blot on paper. Makes a great card for loved ones!
Put lipstick on child and kiss a mirror
Make a puddle on cement and splash barefoot in it
Let child decorate and eat an open peanut butter sandwich
Make a toilet paper barricade for child to go under, over, or through
Do the Hokey Pokey
Make a super-hero costume out of household items
Do Knee-Bouncing Rhymes
Play "Red Light, Green Light" saying "Go" and "Stop"
Make a shoebox train for stuffed animals
Make a pillow pile to jump on (keep it clear from any hard surfaces, including walls!)
Make an easy puzzle with felt and velcro
Make bracelets or collars for stuffed animals out of pipe cleaners and jingle bells
Learn numbers from a deck of cards
Play the matching game with a deck of cards
Make a domino chain
Have a picnic in the park,in the school palyground
Make a tin cup telephone and talk to each other in it
Make a nature collage
Mirror each other
Make a "Mummy Mommy" with toilet paper
Make a tape recording of short music selections and instructions to move in different ways
Make and walk along a toilet paper trail
TAKE A NAP!!
have fun