Thursday, August 9, 2012

August Preschool and Tot Packs

Get them while they're hot!  The Preschool and Tot Packs for all of August are now ready!  Preschool and Tot Packs will always be separate files.  To download all of the August Preschool Packs, go here.  To download all of the Tot School Preschool Packs, go here.
These downloads are currently free to give you an idea of what my curriculum will look like through the year.

I am completely thrilled to start the school year off with a bang. Find the year long theme calendar {here} and follow along with us!
Be sure to scroll down to check out the details of all 4 Preschool Packs and both Tot Packs!

Preschool Packs 1-4
1.Welcome and Manners
Each preschool pack has 3 pages of lesson plan ideas. Every child should be introduced to activities that don't involve something you can print from a computer, such as building blocks or painting.  These first 3 pages of lesson plans have all of the ideas that match the theme in one easy spot. The lesson plan pages are organized by subject for easy referencing. I've linked many of the materials listed to Amazon.com to provide you with more information about products you might want to consider using. The preschool packs I'm developing this year have a lot of research behind them. Skills within the packs intentionally build upon each other and I'd recommend that you use them in the order listed.

Subjects covered:
  • Welcome/Starting your day
  • Children's Books
  • Literacy
  • Snack
  • Art
  • Math
  • Science
  • Social Studies
  • Calendar
  • Music
We start every day with singing our bilingual "Good Morning" song. I also teach the sign language for "Good Morning." "How are you?" and "Thank you." within this song. We use it every day, so you'll have to refer to an August Preschool Pack for a copy of it.

Each pack has different activities. This "Welcome and Manners" pack has ideas for sequencing the morning and learning about sharing.

Other activities include listening skills that will lead into phonics instruction and math skills that build upon each other week after week.

There is a list of books that go with each lesson plan. Download your packs early and dust off your library card because there are some good ones you don't want to miss!

2. School Tools
I like to print all the pages of my packs, cut and laminate as needed, and bind them into books with a comb binder. We use wet erase markers on the pages to keep notes, color, circle and trace things. Wet erase markers was easily off of lamination. You can use dry erase, but it doesn't clean off as
I use Velcro to attach the loose pieces into the book, this way I have most of what I need in a handy packet. Many of the pages in my preschool packs are intended to be as interactive as possible. Using the Velcro to attach pieces provides preschoolers with the opportunity to manipulate the pages.

There are games, such as "Go Fish for School Tools", pictured below. These types of games are best kept in a small baggy.

3. I Am Special
"I Am Special" has a fun whole class or whole family apple tree activity to talk about what makes each one of us special. This pack introduces the letter M as the first letter of the school year. Letters are not taught in alphabetical order. Letters are taught in an order that makes sense for reading. I'd highly recommend supplementing my material with materials from The Amazing Action Alphabet.



Utilize craft sticks for your stop and go signs. To keep them handy in my preschool pack I add a piece of Velcro above the stick and then place it in the book.

Suggested books for "I Am Special". You can find links for all of the books in the lesson plans section of the printable.



4. Manners

 The previous concepts start introducing the quantity of sets, without using numerals.  Now we're starting to recognize that 1=1, 2=2 and so forth.  My kids love saying, "One is the same as one!  One is equal to one!"
 Happy and Sad faces for puppets help us identify how different actions in a story book make us feel.
An example and a blank template for a manners photography book is included, just take your own pictures and paste them to the pages! 
 I've love using tickets to reinforce positive behavior!

Tot Packs 1-2


1. School Tools
Tot packs are about 30 pages in length.  They each have 2 pages of  activity ideas, book suggestions, and links to the materials I use.  You can certainly use all or part of the lesson plans.


  The printable pages include songs, matching games, drawing games and other activities.



 2. Manners
This pack introduces letter M along with manners that toddlers can master. 



 Tot packs are designed to be a first introduction to math concepts, letters, shapes and colors.  They are not meant to obtain mastery in any subject.  Let them be a guide for educational play between you and your child.

9 comments:

  1. Thank you so much...I am so excited to homeschool my preschooler this year! Thank you for your help to get me started :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You bet! Follow along and you'll be off to a fantastic start!

      Delete
  2. Thank you SO much for sharing these!! I bought your Summer Fun pack and adore it!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love the summer fun pack! It is certainly my favorite from the summer. The school year is going to be fantastic as well!

      Delete
  3. Your preschool and tot packs are awesome!!!...I usually do my own curriculum at the daycare where i work, so I will be adding bits and pieces of your packs, to it as well!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. My daughter loves the tot pack activities from summer and will receive the fall ones as soon as I complete them:) Thank you for providing such a valuable, educational and fun product! We love them!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Do you use 3mil or thicker sheets?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I almost always use 3mil. Very rarely I use a 5 mil sheet but only for items like lacing cards that really benefit from a firmer card.

      Delete