Welcome to the Teaching Together Blog Hop! Amanda, Courtney, Beth, Courtney and I are so glad you could join us! This month I thought I would share how I prepare a unit of curriculum.
Deciding on a theme:
Kinsey will usually come up with an idea and then I just run with it. But if she isn't into any one thing at the moment I will fall back on these parameters- seasonal/holiday, nature, book/television, or historical.
Content:
When putting together a unit I like to include learning from these areas: alphabet/numbers, colors, shapes, science, manipulatives, reading and crafting. Sometimes a subject is heavier in one aspect and that's o.k, I will balance it out with the next curriculum unit. I can always tell which peaks Kinsey's interest more and will keep that in mind for later.
Prepping:
This is where Google and Pinterest really come through for me. I just input the topic of interest (I'll use dinosaurs for this example), and search "preschool dinosaur curriculum" and "dinosaur activities". If I'm looking for a specific item like "preschool volcano" I'll look for it separately. Next I screen shot the pictures so I can easily access them from my phone as I'm prepping the activities.
Executing:
I like to do units that are two weeks long, shorter if Kinsey is losing interest, longer if she loves it. The great thing about setting your own schedule is having the flexibility of changing what doesn't work for you.
And then I start all over again! We actually did a Dinosaur Curriculum last year, if you want to check that out. Kinsey was such a little thing, it hardly seems fair how much she has grown in a year.
Hope to see you back here the first Thursday of every month! Happy learning!
This is so useful and motivating. I feel happy if we come up with one craft, but I like the idea of grouping everything together with a cohesive topic. How old was Kinsey when you started doing this with her?
ReplyDeleteI love how flexible at-home teaching is and that you can extent the unit if she likes it. It sounds so customizable!
ReplyDeleteYou are so amazingly prepared and organized. I had one day of teaching Marcus and it was done on a wing and a prayer.
ReplyDeletePinterest and our local library is my goal to for all things school for Connor. Because he is still young, I can teach him the things he needs to know but I will tell you, I'm hoping preschool can handle glue, scissors and holding a pencil the proper way.
ReplyDeleteYou are super organization and prepared! I tried to do some stuff like that and my kid just doesn't listen as well to me. She does awesome in school but mommy? Meh. We do a lot of learning things but we just wing it or integrate it into what we're doing and that seems to work for us. I love that you redid an old unit to see how she grew and that she's involved in the planning too!
ReplyDeleteThese are such great tips. I pretty much do the same thing with Lily. It just makes so much sense and honestly just comes so naturally. Do you plan on homeschooling the duration of her school years?
ReplyDeleteLoving these tips! I'm definitely not in the know what preschool curriculum, I just fly by the seat of my pants. I love those dino feet ha.
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