Ms. Anna

This week, I taught co-op preschool for the very first time...and loved it! I'm glad I agreed to be part of it since, not too long ago, I told the friend who extended the invitation that the thought of teaching preschool to children other than my own...scared me! Although there were definitely times when it took a minute to get the class to refocus or to keep their voices down, it was a lot more fun than teaching only my children. Plus I got to watch my kids cooperate, learn and function with the rest of the group. For me personally, though, learning to effectively teach a group of 4-year-old's was both stimulating and challenging :)
In short, I...had...FUN.

I won't go into too much detail because I don't have many pictures to post, and I don't want to betray the privacy of these kids or their families, but here's a breakdown of what we did this week:

(Letter/number of the week: C and 3; Theme: Safety; Concept: Health)

Upon arrival: opening exercise

1. Practiced writing first name, Aa and Bb to review, and 1 and 2

• Used sheet protectors and dry-erase markers on Monday to a) save paper and b) give the kids a chance to practice without the mess of eraser bits. On Wednesday they used pencil so that they could take their work home and their parents could see their progress/challenges.

Transition: Checklist
I printed out and laminated six strips with a check box on one side, the title of the activity in the middle (Name and Review, Circle Time, etc.), and a picture on the right. The kids figured out pretty quickly what each picture meant, and understood the concept and purpose of the checklist with hardly any instruction. I picked a well-behaved kid to check off each activity as they were completed. This helped the kids refocus after finishing the opening exercise and get ready to head downstairs for Circle Time.

Circle Time

Our "Months" boards: each month is laminated and easily attached to/detached from its poster board with sticky-back velcro!

1. Calendar, "Days of the Week" song, Season, Weather, Pledge of Allegiance
2. Seasons: we distinguished each season based on the changes in weather. For each season, we came up with actions/gestures to help us remember that Fall is when the leaves fall (fingers flail to the floor) from their trees, Winter is when it's freezing (shiver), Spring is when the flowers bloom (cup our hands and then open them upwards) and rain falls, and Summer is when it gets super hot (fan ourselves with our hands)!
3. Months: each season and month had its own card on the wall with a picture beside its title (snowman for winter/Christmas tree for December), so the kids identified each month based on its picture. Most of them symbolized a holiday or special day, like Valentine's Day, or something indicative of its season e.g. a brown leaf for September. 
4. Wiggle song: Hokey Pokey
5. Car safety: we simply went over the rules of being safe passengers: buckle up as soon as you get in the car; make sure everyone else is buckled, too; don't kick the seat in front of you; keep your voice down, no fighting with siblings.
6. Game: Red Light, Green Light (and Yellow Light)
7. 9-1-1 Message: I showed them a sign that had "9-1-1" in the middle and a picture of an ambulance, firetruck, police car, and band-aids in each corner. We talked about the different emergencies for which they'd need to dial 9-1-1, and then we used our hands as phones and went through phone call scenarios. (I wish I had an old rotary phone to let them practice with, but I haven't even held one in over ten years!!) Each child was given a scenario (house fire, bad guy trying to break in, etc.) and practiced speaking to a dispatcher by stating his/her full name, the nature of the emergency and also saying his/her address (by reading it off of a card). 

This was a lot to do in a short amount of time, which is why we reviewed in on Wednesday, too, instead of moving on to another topic. Still, they enjoyed each activity, particularly the Seasons game we played on Wednesday (where they were each asked to identify a season and also the three months that belonged to them, which they got to stick on the wall themselves) and the 911 phone call scenarios!

Snack Time: Crackers and Honey Crisp Apples. I guess carrots would've been a healthy "C" snack, too, but all I could think of were crackers and apples!!

Handwriting Practice: Cc and 3

I noticed that some of the kids were either hesitant or completely intimidated by trying to write the number 3 without the help of the tracer number, while others were simply against accepting help because they believed that they knew exactly what they were doing. So it took a lot of soft words, gentle coercion, and the promise that if they didn't get it right the first time they'd have plenty of opportunity to keep trying. Once they let me help them, though, their attempts showed a ton of improvement! These kids are so intelligent and competent. The only challenge in teaching them (thus far) is getting them to let me. 

Art: Car and circles (wheels) that they glued onto construction paper and colored...after we had, for the 100th time, talked about the two sounds the letter "C" makes :) These kids are amazing at retaining what we've been teaching them through the Spalding system.

Wind-down Activity: Play-dough


Dailies were written in during Snack Time and Art, and a report of each day's lesson plan was e-mailed to the moms afterwards.

Okay, so I guess this post wasn't exactly short :P Like I said, I had a lot of fun and I guess I was too excited about the experience to not include my lesson plan! I'm excited for Aislin to start at someone else's house next week so I can work with my son and take him to his own library storytime, but I also can't wait until I teach again in October!