Preschool Graduation

A graduation ceremony is a very nice way to say goodbye and pass along good wishes for the next year of school. Preschool graduation is no different in that aspect. It is a fun way to celebrate a milestone in your child's life. While it is also a somewhat "serious" occasion, for preschoolers, this ceremony should include more fun than solemnity.

If your child is attending a preschool, your part in the festivities will be simple. You will simply make sure that all friends and relatives you would like to be there on the big day receive invitations in time to make plans. Of course there may some cost involved regarding purchasing a gown and cap for your child. Depending on the school your child attends, you may also be asked to contribute a food or beverage item to the reception following the preschool graduation ceremony. But, for the most part, your biggest responsibility will be getting your child there on time.

You may be one of the many parents who opt to do homeschooling these days. This is does not mean that your child cannot enjoy a special day of marking the completion of preschool. Parents of homeschoolers take great pride and joy in acknowledging their child's accomplishments, just as parents of children schooled in the traditional way. You can still have a preschool graduation ceremony for your child, although it will take a bit more work on your part.

There are many sites on the internet offering everything you will need for your child's big day. You can buy everything from caps and gowns to themed party supplies for the reception. These sets also include invitations matching the theme you have chosen. However, if you have a printer and some colored ink, you can always print these out yourself.

A preschool graduation would not be complete without a diploma. This, too, is something else you can do right from your printer. These can be printed out plain for you to write your child's name on, or the name can be printed right on the diploma using one of many fancy fonts. You can easily produce a special certificate for a special child.

If you are homeschooling your child, and know some other local parents who are also doing this, you might consider inviting them and their children to be a part of the preschool graduation. The ceremony can turn into a very festive occasion for everyone.

Preschool Lesson Plans - A Helpful Place to Go For Resources and Ideas

Preschool Lesson Plans are a great idea for any preschool educator or homeschooler of a preschooler. There are many free sites online to get many resources and I find these helpful as well. However I find it's great to have a curriculum to go by to ensure you are covering a wide variety of subjects. The preschool years are a vital time of learning.

Many professionals say for instance that before the age of 6 is a great time to learn a new language because the brain is like a sponge at this age. After age 6 it is harder. It makes sense to me that the same would apply in many subjects.

Take preschool social studies for example. I know I would not come up with something on my own in that field, but if you had a curriculum it would automatically be covered. Or say, if someone they knew is going on a trip somewhere you could find themes or ideas pertaining to that place they are visiting. And again, there are lesson plans you can find online as well and I find they supplement the book or curriculum you are using very nicely.

Preschool art? Oh my goodness, where do you go, what do you do? I know they children LOVE gluing and cutting with safety scissors and they can spend hours just doing that but what if you want a little more? Or say they LOVE dinosaurs, then you could find dinosaur arts and crafts for them to do. You could also incorporate science lessons using dinosaurs. If you had a theme of dinosaurs that cover all subjects I know many a little boy that would LOVE to learn all about them in various subjects.

You could even go all out and get a preschool bulletin board on dinosaurs for a week or month and incorporate dinosaurs in everything you teach them.

So as you can see, there are many ideas on preschool lesson plans and I find that without lesson plans we can't ensure the children are getting a variety of subjects in all areas.

5 Preschool Activities For Grandparents Day

As with most holidays, school will use Grandparents Day as a special activity for the class. This can be especially true of preschool, where there is as much focus on social activity and every day life as there is on learning the functionalities of reading, writing, and arithmetic. However, with so many different holidays to plan activities and crafts for, you may be out of ideas for Grandparents Day. Have no fear; there is always something new and different to try.

If your preschool has a high level of parental involvement, you may have your preschoolers create family trees. While these don’t have to be long and detailed, they can trace the immediate family and the grandparents. It can also be made creative, actually drawing a tree with branches that reach to each family member.

You can also have your students create Grandparents Day “gift bags”. Make the bag as much a part of the gift as what it contains by having your students color paper lunch bags. Then, fill it with a hand-crafted greeting card for the holiday and perhaps things like a colored picture or a couple of pieces of candy.

One fun idea, if you have the time and patience, is to have the children put on a show. They could act out a scene depicting children showing respect and thanks to the elderly or even sing to their grandparents. Having these respected members of society visit the classroom could be a very special event and could make the elderly feel useful. At the same time, perhaps the children’s grandparents could visit and tell stories from their youth, read books, or even just answer questions about the “olden days”.

With signed permission slips, you may plan a field trip to a nursing home, where the children can greet the lonely elderly and wish them a happy Grandparents Day at a time when there is no one else to bring such a pleasant message to their lives.

Or, you could simply plan an arts and crafts activity that will create a cute gift for the childrens' grandparents on this special holiday.

Homeschool Preschool Curriculum - Which One Should I Choose?

One of the most difficult aspects of homeschooling preschool is deciding what homeschool preschool curriculum to use.  Before looking at the many programs on the market, think about your family's needs.  How much time do have to spend preparing for lessons and teaching your child?  How much money do you want to spend?  Is your child ready for structured, formal lessons?  What type of activities does your child enjoy?

If you have a busy schedule or have multiple children to teach, you may want to use a program that has a pre-planned schedule, and requires little preparation and teaching time.  Consider using a more traditional program like A beka or Horizons, that comes with lesson plans and workbooks.  Rod and Staff sells a set of preschool workbooks that are christian-based and easy to use.

Little Hands to Heaven also comes with a pre planned schedule.  This Christian program teaches essential preschool skills using 33 units that are centered around stories from the Bible.  Although the program is structured, it is flexible enough to be used with children of multiple ages at the same time.

If your preschooler enjoys reading, consider using a literature-based homeschool preschool curriculum.  Programs like Sonlight, Winter Promise and Five in a Row center their lessons around classic children's literature.  As you read to and discuss stories with your children, they learn everything they need to know for preschool and beyond.

So what do you do with the wiggly ones?  Lapbooks!  Hands of a Child and Homeschool Share provide hands-on lapbooking activities you can use to teach those kinesthetic learners we all love.  If your child still doesn't want to participate, skip the lessons!

Preschoolers can learn everything they need to know by helping us with household chores and errands.  Talk to your child about numbers, patterns, shapes, and letters and their sounds.  Read picture books and make up your own stories.  Make cards and pictures for loved ones.  Take trips to the zoo and library story times.

Real-life interaction is the best curriculum for your preschooler.  Everything else is just a supplement. 

Homeschool Preschool - What You Need To Teach Your Child To Read

Deciding to homeschool preschool your child is not an easy decision for a parent. You want what's best for your child but you are unsure about so many things:

· How do you get started?
· Are you even qualified to teach your child to read?
· Should you follow a pre-designed system or should you manage it your own way?
· Will you have enough time?
· What if you change your mind? Will a stranger have the same passion for teaching your child as you do?

So, let us start at the beginning.

I can quite honestly say that you are the best qualified person to homeschool preschool your child. You have taught them everything they know so far, from brushing their teeth, putting on their clothes and shoes, walking, talking, to using the potty and far too many other things to mention here.

You know your child's strengths and their weaknesses and you (better than anyone else) know how to work around it. Believe me when I say that when you know the how, teaching your child to read and write is a walk in the park compared to some of the other things that you have already taught them. By investing in the time to teach your child to read, and in a method that works easily and effortlessly, the how becomes, pardon the pun, child's play.

The first thing to do is to make the decision to teach your child to read. It may sound rather obvious, but you would be surprised at how many people keep putting such an important thing off until tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow...

Reading will become your child's primary learning skill in life. For this reason starting early and starting right is of paramount importance.

There is no correct age to begin to teach your child to read. Anytime between the ages of 2 to 4 (or earlier or later), is okay. Some parents prefer to start teaching their child to read earlier, others a bit later. The key is simply to start.

However, it has been noted by various researchers that children have a window of opportunity between the ages of 2 and 5 that is best for teaching them various skills like reading, writing and even chess.

The second thing you need to be successful in teaching your child to read is an easy to use, proven method that will bring out and nurture your child's innate ability to learn to read.

I have heard many parents complain that they have been unsuccessful in their efforts to teach their child to read. On further investigation I usually discover that they have no specific method or system and try everything randomly; a little phonics here, a little sight reading there, a few rhymes and a few songs...

This is like trying to learn to drive a car without having proper instruction; a little automatic here, a little stick shift there, maybe some parking and hopefully by the end of the day you'll know how to drive. Not likely.

Luckily, this is very easy to remedy.

Firstly, make sure that you have a system. Prepare a plan of action, set some goals for you and your child and when you are both ready, begin to teach your child to read.

Secondly, put aside some "reading" time for you and your child. Make sure that you teach your child to read at the optimum time when their energy is the highest.

My son for example, has the most energy in the morning so we schedule his reading lessons after breakfast. Other parents choose the afternoons or early evenings. It all depends on when it is convenient for you and when your child feels at their best.

Time is always of the essence in today's busy world, and a lot of parents who wish to homeschool preschool their children are afraid to undertake this important task because they fear it will take up all their time.

Well let me tell you that teaching a child to read is less time consuming than you think. Children have a limited attention span and anyone who tells you to sit for an hour at a time trying to teach your child to read has probably never spent more than 1 minute with a young child.

In order to be successful, the next step is to make sure their lessons are extremely short. Initially each lesson shouldn't be longer than a minute, although you may repeat the lesson a few times per day. All in all your daily total of time spent teaching your child to read shouldn't be longer than 5 minutes.

Thirdly, make sure that your child doesn't become bored with the material that they are reading. My son for example, was not interested in boring subjects like "the cat sat on the mat" or rhymes. When I tried to use this material his eyes would literally glaze over.

However, as soon as I introduced words that he was familiar with, I could not stop him from reading. We used words that he was very familiar with and was totally "into", like alien, troll, Harry Potter, bugs and Kung Fu Panda. Suddenly his interest picked up and so did his reading skills.

In this way, you can intersperse your child's favourite things with the 100 most common words in the English language. By knowing how to read these 100 words your child will be able to read up to 50% of any given book. This sets a good basis for their reading future.

Finally, put all of these steps together into a progressive system that allows one step to easily follow the previous one and without effort your child will be reading their first book in about 30 days.

Preschool Art Projects - Under the Sea

Under the Sea

No preschool curriculum is complete without a wide variety of art projects. Arts and crafts give children a method of expressing themselves creatively, as well as allowing them to develop fine motor skills such as cutting, pasting, and drawing. Certain themes, such as the ocean and the creatures that live in it, lend themselves perfectly to preschool art projects.

Ocean life is full of fun shapes and colors which are replicated in these preschool art projects. First, here's a project where the kids create stained glass ocean animals by using tissue paper with contact paper or waxed paper.

Look through books about the ocean and its life forms for inspiration first before letting the children create their own sea creature forms from contact paper or waxed paper. Once they have cut out their shape, decorate the shapes with tissue paper to create a stained glass effect. Remember to use glue if waxed paper is being used.

Create your own Aquarium!

In conjunction with the ocean life theme, organize a field trip to a local zoo or aquarium to observe fish in their habitat. After the field trip, try one of these preschool art projects on fish and aquariums.

Children can create a paper plate aquarium from a paper plate or Styrofoam meat tray. First, paint a blue line about three-quarters of the way up the plate or meat tray, and paint the area below the line blue. After the The paint is dry, the children can decorate their aquariums with fish and other ocean life with paint, construction paper, newspaper, yarn for algae principle let your imagination run.

After the tanks are well appointed with a view of another paper plate or tray aquarium strip of meat. Do not forget a small hole at the top of the second plate or bowl with a hole cut that allows children to create their peer aquariums. Another option is a layer of tapeplastic wrap over top of the aquarium tray to represent the glass.

Here's another fun ocean life craft called "3-Dimensional Sea Creatures". To begin, give each child two cutout shapes of an ocean creature, or have them cut and create their own creatures from construction paper. Encourage them to decorate the sea creatures with glitter, googly eyes, paint, yarn, fabric, or whatever else is in the craft supply closet.

Once the creatures are decorated, connect the two halves and stuff the inside of the shape with cotton balls for an exciting 3-dimensional effect. If desired, tape a large sheet of blue paper on the wall and everyone arrange their sea creatures in the water together.

Play Dough Urchins

One of the ocean's most interesting creatures is the sea urchin. The children can create their own personal urchins from play dough and toothpicks. Play dough can be made by combining 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of warm water, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar, 1 teaspoon oil, ¼ cup of salt and food coloring.

Stir all ingredients together over medium heat until the mixture is smooth. Remove the pot from the heat and knead the dough until it has blended completely. Place the dough in an air-tight sealed container or plastic bag until ready for use.

All of these preschool art projects provide teaching opportunities in many areas as well as providing the chance for imaginations and creativity to soar. Enjoy them and modify however you need to encourage the participation of all of your children.

Beginning of School Activities for Preschool - All About Us

If you're searching for fresh ideas for beginning of school activities for preschool, try this one. Some of the most memorable activities I have done are ones that span the school year. Parents and children love to see how they have grown through the year!

Parents are anxious about their children starting their first year in a setting other than home. They want to be reassured that the teacher and staff recognize and value their preschooler's unique qualities.

The preschool teacher also has the responsibility to teach the children to get along in a group and begin the process of respecting other's unique qualities as well. This is a year long goal, as well as a life long goal for all of us!

All About Us Preschool Activity

The project that I call All About Us is one that helps the students, teachers and parents have a visual display of how the class is changing throughout the year. This display is not left out continuously but rather brought out at different times during the school year to note new changes, abilities, differences of any kind.

This is one of those preschool activities you can use for teaching many skills such as color recognition, numbers, counting, comparisons, opposites, etc. You can also identify abilities such as letter recognition, name recognition, favorite books, toys--the range is up to the teacher to decide.

At the start of the preschool year, I make one chart per child on a piece of cardstock or heavy grade paper that will last the school year. On the left side of the chart I list: name, birthday, height, hair color, number of siblings, favorite food, colors I know, letters I know, favorite book, etc. (This is your own list to create so feel free to add other things if you wish.) Then across the top, put columns where you can record dates of entry. If you have access to a camera, take each child's picture and put add this to the chart.

I have a hallway or wall set aside for everyone to see. Another way to display this is to attach the papers to a long piece of ribbon to make a banner that can span the wall or a corner. I use this often the first month of the year at circle time to show how to measure height, ask children their eye color or hair color. We count how many siblings are in a person's family.

You can record the children's answers to the list on your sheet and then add these to the charts. I also think it is important to provide them the opportunity to decorate their sheets with stickers or crayons. Personalization of their own part of the banner.

After a few weeks, I take this down and then bring it out every couple of months to see how things have changed. As the year goes by, the children will have acquired so many skills and enjoy being able to "measure" height, count, put in the letters they have learned. Some like adding information next to their name such as "can cut with scissors", "can stand on one foot", "can hop", "made new friends". Listen to their ideas for inclusion here. This is an excellent way to hear from their own mouths how they think they have grown!

The self esteem that this promotes will be evident when you bring this out throughout the year.

Parents love to have this visual chart for them to see and at the end of the year--what a wonderful gift for your preschooler to take home. It is his/her validation of how much they have learned and grown throughout preschool.

These beginning of school activities for preschool will provide fun throughout the year and will be a welcome gift at the end of the year.

Preschool Puppets - Using Puppets in the Preschool Classroom

Preschool puppets are a wonderful addition to the preschool classroom. Children can play with animal puppets or people puppets to act out stories or make up their own. As a teacher, preschool puppets can be very helpful in getting the attention of your young pupils. Kids love story time and the colorful and funny puppets will give them something to look at and focus on while you teach different preschool skills like counting, abc's and getting along with others.

Using friendly characters can be a non-threatening way to introduce healthy behaviors like keeping your hands clean or trying new foods. Just about any child can relate to a fuzzy monster that is learning to use the potty.

Puppets can also help teachers with more advanced subjects like foreign language and different cultures. Science is another subject that can be made really simple to understand for preschoolers with the use of puppets. For example, a caterpillar puppet that turns into a butterfly can help demonstrate how things grow and change.

There are many ways to use puppets in the preschool classroom. Singing a song with a puppet while sitting in circle time or having a real puppet theatre with an assortment of puppets for kids to pick from will enhance their day with story time and imaginative play.

Puppets are a valuable addition to any preschooler's day whether at preschool or at home. Moms and Dads will find puppets a wonderful teaching tool at home as well as a favorite toy for their children. Older children enjoy puppets as well and it is a creative alternative to television or video games.

Preschool puppets are available in many shapes, sizes and characters. There are many stories that you can find to perform for young children or that you can help them do. Preschool puppets can be educational, fun and a favorite of children for years to come.

Free Preschool Lesson Plans For Making Music With Your Preschooler

Here are some free preschool lesson plans for making music with your preschool class or your own preschoolers at home. These are very simple, and will introduce your preschooler to listening and thinking about music.

These activities will help your preschoolers learn:

-To listen for the difference between loud sounds and soft sounds
-To identify how sounds are the same or different
-Different ways they can create music with their own voices.

Now, onto the fun!

1. What's making that sound? Look around your home and collect items like marbles, bells, pencils, paperclips, and other small items. Put one item in a small box and shake it around. Ask your preschooler what they think is in the box. Does it make a soft or a loud sound?

2. Make your own rock band! Go outside and collect rocks of different sizes. Your preschoolers might even enjoy helping you with this. Then pick up various rocks and Bang them together, one pair at a time. Ask your pre-school children, if you know if the sounds are different rocks do the same or different. If they are different, how do they differ?

3. No discussion allowed! Play with your children in preschool, where we talk to talk to each other instead of singing their words. For some reason, this game reminds me of a scene from the film "Finding Nemo" where Dory "talk" was the whale. If your preschoolers are familiarwith the movie, you might use that as an example of how to sing words instead of speak them.

Preschool Circle Time Activities

First thing a preschool teacher needs to do, is to get a carpet or rug and make your circle on it. It needs to big enough to hold all students, but small enough to have students and teacher close together.

Staring off your preschool day with circle time is a great way to transition your preschoolers into the learning day. However, you can devise a circle time at just about any time of the day in your preschool classroom.

When your preschool students arrive, you probably have them do a little free play as they wait for all students to show up. When all are there, now your preschool can start your circle time!

You may have a bell to ring, or even play a song to let your preschoolers know that it is now circle time.

Each day you will choose different preschoolers in your class to lead all circle time activities. I would choose a different student for each activity, but many preschool educators choose one student to all circle time activities.

Instead of sitting down first, you can call one of your preschoolers to get a flag and they can recite the pledge. Then all students sit.

The Calendar and Preschool Circle Time

A calendar for preschool circle time is a must. You can get a large blank one where each day and month can be either pinned up or otherwise attached, and taken down when the month changes. Many preschool instructors use pointers for some of their circle time activities.

If it is a new month, the name of the month should be written on a card, shown to the students, and all say the name. Then choose a preschooler to stick it on the calendar. If it is not a new month, your preschoolers repeat the name when you point at it.

You can do the day of the week next. These will probably be permanent on your calendar. Use the pointer or choose a preschooler to point to all days and say the names. Ask what day is today.

Next up for your little preschoolers is the numerical date. Again, these are numbers that can be pinned up and taken down when the month changes. Choose a preschooler to put the number up. Show it first, have them repeat it.

The Weather and Preschool Circle Time

Have a chart similar to a calendar. Have many cut outs to represent rain, sun, clouds, cold, etc. Choose a preschooler to pick what the weather is and put this up.

Other Preschool Circle time Activity Suggestions

Have a large board or something similar that you can post things on a daily basis. Have a good selection of preschool songs and music.

- Play a song that has motions. Very important for preschoolers to be active.

- Play a learning song that preschoolers can learn quick and sing along.

- Have large letter cut outs. Pick a 'letter of the day' to be repeated by your preschoolers and put up on the board.

- Have large preschooler appropriate words on cards. Choose a word of the day and let a preschooler put this on the board as well.

- During preschool circle time, it is a great idea for all students to say the names of everyone as you or a student points to them.

- Preschool circle time can also be used to read a story. Have lots of preschool books!

- Make a magic wand. Something simple, a small stick with a star on the end. Choose a preschooler to use this magic wand and point to students one by one to return to their seats or go to the next activity.

These are just a few simple suggestions for your preschool circle time. Hopefully it will encourage you to come up imaginative ways to conduct your preschool circle time and make it meaningful as well as fun!

For more preschool classroom ideas, visit: Preschool Resources Website.

Parental Involvement in Preschool Education

It is important for parents to be involved in their children's education. It can help children to make the change to the classroom setting more easily, and it can also help your child to be a good student. Parents who encourage their children to be curious, who read books to them and who make sure that learning is seen as fun, can have a big impact on their child's educational success.

Your involvement should begin before your child starts preschool. It is important to make sure that your child is ready for preschool so that they will feel comfortable in their new environment. You should talk to your child about preschool and take them to visit their classroom before the year starts.

The more involved you feel in your child's preschool education, the easier it will be for you to cope with the separation from your child. It can be very difficult to get used to the idea of leaving your child in preschool, so keeping track of everything that is going on will be very reassuring.

Different preschools have different policies about parental involvement. You should consider these policies when you are choosing a preschool for your child. If you would like to be able to spend a lot of time in the preschool and to play an important role in your child's education, then you should look for a school that encourages a lot of parental involvement.

Preschools differ in their policies for the first few Days or weeks of experience in your preschool children. You can ask only to stay in class until the child calms down, or let the children spend a whole day a. Some schools also have detailed policies that gradually increase the length of time your child spends in preschool.

Some nursery schools encourage parents to visit the class whenever they are able to participate, or for different activities. You can ask parents to volunteer to read a storyto the children, or to come in and lead an activity or talk to the class. This can help create a more varied and stimulating educational experience for the children.

Preschool Sunday School Crafts

One of the most fun things about attending church for little children are the preschool Sunday School crafts they get to make. These are best kept as simple and fun as possible so little hands can get right in there and do most of the work themselves. Be prepared to help when needed, but for the most part, let these be their own creations.

One very simple thing for preschoolers to make is a Prayer Mat. You provide the sample or discarded pieces of carpet and permanent markers for the children. This is one of the easiest crafts because all you have to do is let them color and decorate these all by themselves. As they will most likely not be able to write their names, you may want to do this after each child has chosen the piece of carpet he or she wants. These will be very special to them as they will be using them each night to kneel on as they say their bedtime prayers.

No Bible story is more popular with small children than Joseph's Coat of Many Colors. One of the simplest and fun preschool Sunday School crafts is Joseph's Coat. When you tell this story to your class, you can follow with each child making his or her very own Coat of Many Colors. You will need to cut out a small coat pattern ahead of time for each member of your class. Then supply items for the children to cut out squares or other shapes in different colors. Discarded rolls of wall paper will work nicely for this. Next, let the children glue their colored shapes to their coat pattern. This gives them something to show their parents as they explain this special story.

Spring is the time of Easter and new life. This is a great time to use preschool Sunday School crafts to show God's gifts of new growth. You will need to provide small planters or small plastic cartons, and soil for this project. Use varying seeds for planting. Help the children put in the potting soil up to the half way mark on the planters. Add a few of the seeds and then cover with a little more potting soil. The children will get to water and watch their plant each week to check the progress. Once it starts to grow, let the children take their treasures home with them to care for.

These are just the tip of ice berg when it comes to ideas for preschool Sunday School crafts. With a little imagination, you are sure to be able to create your own ideas.

Preschool Learning Activities-Emotional Development & Fine Motor Skills Activities

Preschool learning activities are varied and just involve a little creativity. Emotional Development activities for kids as well as Fine Motor Skills Development are very important areas to develop in your child or preschooler.

Having your preschool child cut out various shapes and objects is a great way to help develop fine motor skills. Of course if you are going to allow your children or preschoolers to do this activity you need to ensure they are using the proper 'child safe' scissors when doing ANY cutting in any material.  

Here is a fun preschool learning activity that you can use with your preschool child to help develop them in these specific areas of growth. Keep a collection of old magazines, newspapers or flyers that are full of images of people with different expressions etc.

Instruct the children to pick a magazine or newspaper etc. to look through and find images of people's faces showing different expressions.  They may find pictures of happy faces, sad faces, surprised faces, angry faces, scared faces and many more.    

Your preschool child can then 'cut out' all the faces they find using 'child safe' scissors of course, and they can discuss each different image with the parent or teacher and discuss what they see in the person's expression.  You could even just have children find and cut out a certain expression, or what 'they' see as a certain expression. For example, you could tell them to find any pictures of 'happy faces' and see what they come up with, you may be surprised what they find!  

It is good to keep these images and glue them to a piece of Bristol Board or construction paper, and then to laminate it. You can then cut them all out and save them in a box or envelope! This will make the images last for years so they may be used again and again in many different ways to teach children.  You could even use these different faces and expressions and have children 'GROUP' all similar expressions together in a pile.  

Another Great learning activity for children becoming familiar with spelling and simple reading or word recognition would be to have a few different images (4-6) out. You could then have the names of the expressions written on a piece of paper or a label (example) Happy, Sad, Angry etc. You could have the child(ren) match the image to the word. This is excellent for simple reading and recognition of every day words that express emotion.

Farm Preschool Activities

Lessons from the Farm

Farm stories, songs and activities are some of the most exciting exercises you can find for preschool children. Whether we are talking about simple tunes like "the wheels on the bus" or more complex agrarian activities like growing your own corn, farm activities are a great way to acquaint children with what it takes to grow and harvest food.

Songs

As we mentioned, songs are a great way to get the entire class involved and hopefully help them learn something this fascinating subject. While most preschool songs concern themselves with seasonal themes like Christmas, Hanukkah or Halloween, farm songs can be sung any time of year. Some of the most popular farm songs include: This is the Way we Plant the Hay, Ho Down, Farm Sounds, Five Little Pigs, Animals on the Farm, High-ho the dairy-oh, Billy the Bull, Mother Duck and Mary had a Little Lamb.

Activities

Corn is one of the most plentiful crops in the country today. Not only do we eat it from a can and off the cob, it is also used to make corn syrup, which is used in a multitude of modern products. If you want to show your class how to grow corn, all you need are dried out corn kennels. You need only purchase or acquire a few dried up cobs and then pluck all the kernels off of the cobs. Next you need to put the bare cob into a container and wait for one to two weeks. In that time new corn sprouts should begin to form. You can then plant the old cob in fertile soil and grow new corn.

Milking a Cow

Before you actually get down on you knees and begin to squeeze and pull, explain to the children where exactly milk comes from. Then you can fill a plastic bag or a latex glove with milk and show the children what fresh milk actually looks like.

Feeding the Pigs

Pigs are probably the most popular animals on the farm and feeding them will be an experience your students will never forget. Today�s farm hogs normally eat quite a bit of corn and grains, mostly because they are cheap and are in abundant supply on the farm.

Feeding Plants

To show the children how plants drink, you need only put a celery stalk in a glass of water. Within a day or two, the celery will absorb some of the water to quench its thirst.

Growing Grass

Explain to your children that grass is the primary source of food for several farm animals, including cows and horses. Then your can grow some grass of your own in an aquarium or in a pot.

Hatch a Chick

You can use a simple incubator to hatch a baby chick in front of your class. Eggs can be ordered on the internet or from a local hatchery. It will only take a couple of weeks and will not require undue attention. This is the ultimate lesson for your students to let them know how life on the farm begins.

Preschool Lessons - Developing an Age Appropriate Curriculum

Students will lose interest in preschool lessons if they are not direct and focused.  Lessons should have a clear purpose, and teachers should remind students of the lesson multiple times.  Just as in speechmaking, teachers should tell students what they are going to learn, teach them, and then tell them what they learned.

By repeating preschool lessons multiple times throughout the day or over a series of days, the material sinks in better for students and encourages retention.  By forcing the lesson to be repeated, it also helps the teacher focus on the most important aspects of the lesson.

Age Appropriate

There are some lessons that are simply too advanced for preschoolers because of the abstract quality of the material being presented or the detailed data required for understanding.  Teachers should always take into account the maturity of their students and their cognitive development. 

However, this does not mean that teachers should hold back on educating preschoolers.  Teachers should always push their students forward, encouraging them to learn and grow through preschool lessons and other activities.  If a teacher feels that the class is beyond preschool lessons, they should introduce more advanced concepts, similar to those taught in kindergarten.

If a teacher is dealing with one or two students who are clearly more advanced than the group, the teacher should consider additional activities for those students.  Such activities should be individual, so the students can still participate with the class but be challenged on their own level. 

Tasks for such students could include learning to write the alphabet, learning to tie their shoes, or memorizing their home address.  These individual activities challenge students but will not interfere with a teacher's lesson for the class at large.

Teach Right and Wrong

Preschool Lessons are a great place for teachers to bring in the ideas of right and wrong.  Because students will probably be reprimanded for inappropriate behavior or speech, teachers should strive to impart these lessons explicitly for students.  By including components of social values, customs, and appropriate behavior, teachers help students grow into fully-functioning members of society.

Including lessons of right and wrong is not hard for an everyday lesson.  If teachers are telling students about nature, they can include a sentence or two about the importance of keeping nature clean and preserving our resources.  While talking about holidays, teachers can show customary greetings for that holiday and how to respond when someone says something to you.

Preschool lessons must be specifically tailored to the needs of young students.  Teachers should make lessons interesting, focused on a specific topic, and repetitive.  By repeating the point of the lesson, teachers give students more chances to absorb and truly understand the material presented.

Preschool lessons should also challenge students at their own level.  Advanced students can have individual projects to work on to help keep them interested, and teachers can include lessons of right and wrong to help all students understand proper social behavior.

Homeschool Preschool Activity: Lacing Cards

Homeschool preschool activities do not have to be complicated or expensive. An excellent method for your preschooler to build fine-motor skills and strengthen eye-hand coordination is by playing with lacing cards. This type of activity also encourages focus and concentration on a task.

Lacing cards are available to buy where toys or teaching supplies are sold, but they are very easy to create your own. You probably have all the supplies at home already, so the cost involved is minimal. Another benefit of making your own lacing cards is that you can directly relate the subject matter to your child's interests. Make a boot card for your little cowboy or a castle tower for the fairy-princess. You can make cards that fit what your child is learning about, such as Brachiosaurus for dinosaurs, a house for the letter ""H" or a character from a book you are currently reading together.

You need thin cardboard, such as the back of pads of paper, or cut from a food box, like a cereal box. Now you need an image. Either draw an object yourself on the cardboard or find a design online or in a child's coloring book. If you print the picture out, draw on a piece of paper or tear a page from the coloring book, you can simply use spray-adhesive or water-thinned white glue to attach the paper to the cardboard, or copy with a pencil. The image needs to be simple. If there are many lines in the picture a good idea is to use a fine-point dark marker, like black or brown, to trace over the lacing lines. It is best to have the lacing lines close to the edge of the card so a paper punch will easily reach them. If not, trim the cardboard back, or cut around the image.

Next, determine where you will place the holes on the picture. You can mark lightly with a pencil where the holes will be. When you are satisfied, go ahead and paper-punch them.

The final step is preparing the lacing string. A shoelace is ideal, but a piece of string or yarn works just as well. Tie the string to the first hole. You can leave the strings free of the card, but an advantage to tying them on is that they won't get lost. Lace the picture yourself to see how much string is needed, and add 6 to 9 extra inches. If you use a piece of yarn or string, to make it easier to lace either dip the lacing end in white glue and draw it through your fingers, then let dry, or wrap a piece of tape around the end.

You can begin with one or two lacing cards, or make a set all at once.

How to Start Your In-Home Preschool

Starting a home for children - or a day-care home in a structured, pre-school part of the day - can take a deeply satisfying. And if you're a parent of young children, is also a flexible way for you financially, and yet you spend your days at home.

From a commercial point of view, is the path has never been a better time to follow the in-home preschool. Training today, parents want their children in preschool professionalexcited with literature, hands-on projects and opportunities for creative play. Strong demand for quality options of day care is not at issue.

But home-school can be daunting. Where to start? How to start? You have the stamina to offer new and interesting themes, crafts and lessons, day after day?

* Fortunately, these nagging doubts simply be solved with a little 'planning. Begin by selecting a quiet afternoon and sit down with a paper andPencil. Ask yourself the following questions and write down all your ideas:

* What are my beliefs? How to start my program?

* What is my philosophy of teaching? What is the purpose of education?

* What should I do hope my reach school age through this?

* Which of these common themes - language, literature, mathematics, science, social studies, physical activities, physical education, social development - I will hold my preschool?

* How do you design and create a stimulating environment for learning?

* What materials do I need?

* How can I advertise my new pre-school and interest among parents?

Answering these questions honestly to help you define your business - designing a program, the family is committed to your heart and make you better prepared to "sell" your pre-school for the future.

Once the plan is in place, is now on the way to the most important aspect of the new> Preschool Children: Development of a curriculum. The curriculum lays the foundation for the program so that lessons progress significantly and keep children interested. A good curriculum is based on previous knowledge, while promising future insight and experience.

There are many companies out there today that a current mail-order curriculum to provide in-home for children - many can be found on the site. These companies create and send monthly preschool kits that includeeverything you need: lesson plans, activities, art supplies, classroom decorations, the children's literature, parent newsletters and more.

Join one of these plans can have a fast and convenient way to provide quality education without all the shopping and research activities. online preschool many programs out there with so, chances are that the philosophy is in line with your ideas and teaching.

But before entering aOnline preschool curriculum, make sure even by the standards that parents expect the choice of a program. Yours should:

* They have a well developed, the philosophy detailed

* Follow a regular schedule of activities, all areas of child development: physical, mental,

social, emotional

* Help to stimulate your learning environment and child-House

Promote you and your staff to read to them and talk with children

Withthese points as guidelines, you are sure you will find an effective online pre-school program that provides comprehensive, time and cost savings.

So that's it. A sprinkle of introspection, a pinch of planning, a good deal of research - and before you know, you have a genuine pre-school full of children in their own homeland.

Good luck to educate!

2 Great Preschool Polar Bear Activities

In the United States, polar bears have become synonymous with Coca-Cola advertising. We will try cute polar bears have parties and fun while drinking Coca-Cola soda. Arctic preschool children must understand that there is much more polar bears and actually do not drink Coca-Cola!

This article provides two polar bear preschool activities that promote school-age children before and know more about polar bears are among the factscreative advertising in the Madison Avenue.

Artistic Activity

The first activity is an art, their children in preschool picture of a polar bear. This activity is ideal for a rainy day or winter activities, when it's just too cold to go outside. preschoolers develop their fine motor skills to complete this activity. At the same time, they have a lot of fun exploring their creativity!

You need the following:

Material:

*white and black cardboard,

* Scissors

* Glue and

* Colored chalk.

advanced preparation for this task is the decomposition of white construction paper into circles of different sizes, including the body of the polar bear. Cut white construction paper in a big circle for the body, half circle for the head, and two small circles for the paws.

Cut a small circle in half to create two semicircles for the feet. Cut the otherto create a small circle in the middle, two half circles for the ears.

Begin this activity by the pre school age children what they know about polar bears. Where polar bears live? What do they eat? Explain that they are going to make the polar bears of their own. Demonstrates how to create the white glue construction paper circles on the black background of the card construction, a polar bear.

Make sure children under school age is not to say too much glue when you choose Pastecircles, because of this chaos are! Demonstrate how to use black pencils and contest in polar bears face, legs, belly and ears. Encourage children to switch to other objects in a polar bear habitats such as ice, snow and fish. View the work of art in the classroom or at home.

To learn more about polar bears through the creation of the Polar Bear Habitat. The second task is to learn more about polar bears through the creation of a polar bear's habitat. Preschool children will find thisa very exciting activity to participate! Preschool children love group activities, and this activity is to improve their social skills.

Material:

* A large refrigerator.

* A large sheet of art paper, white and blue.

* Scissors

* Tape.

* White cotton or packing peanuts.

* Also the book "Polar Bear Night by Lauren Thompson, Stephen Savage have shown.

advanced preparation for this activity include the cutting of largeCardboard along one of the long edges. This allows you to adjust the box along the wall. The cardboard will act as a home for polar bear snow and ice. (Polar bears make dens in snowdrifts.)

Begin the activity by reading the book, "Polar Bear Night". Discuss the habitat of polar bears with preschoolers. Explain that polar bears have white hair, then mix in the snow for protection. In addition, the polar bear waterproofFur that allows them to swim in icy waters.

Tell the children you have to do a polar bear on a snow cave. Help you find the great art of paper tape the box. Place a large sheet of paper art blue on the floor near the polar bear snow den to represent water. Finally, instead of cotton or a package of peanuts to the snow cave represent snow and ice. Let the children explore more about polar bears in the cave during the session of the polar bear.

Preschool Calendar Activities - Introducing the Calendar

Preschool is an excellent time to introduce children to the concepts of the calendar, days of the week and months of the year, and what better way to learn about these concepts than through games and activities! The most common and simple of these preschool calendar activities is to chart the month's progress on a large paper calendar posted on the wall.

At the beginning of every month, gather everyone around the large paper calendar on the wall to label it with the important days of the month, such as any special holidays or birthdays occurring within the month. At the end of the day, one special child gets the important job of crossing the day off to get ready for the next day. This can be a reward for cleaning up fastest after a craft, winning a game, or anything else that seems fit.

"Just another Manic Monday..."

Other preschool calendar activities can focus on learning the days of the week. For example, designate one special activity, game, or song for each day of the week. This will help children get accustomed to a routine, which in turn helps them to learn about the weekly routines that will prevail throughout the remainder of their lives. These activities can change monthly so that children don't get too bored with them.

Lesser-Known Celebrations

The calendar can also serve as a skeletal structure for the preschool curriculum, since it's easiest to teach concepts to children when they are happening all around them. After all, it wouldn't really make much sense to teach kids about Christmas in the middle of spring, would it? Sometimes it can be fun to partake in preschool calendar activities to learn about some of the lesser-known celebrations of each month. This way, children are exposed to more than just the usual "Christmas, Valentine's Day and Easter" triumvirate of holiday celebrations.

For example, more preschools are learning about February as Black History Month. However, February is also Library Lovers Month, Children's Dental Month, and National Hobby Month. All three of these themes can provide a wealth of fun activities and games for preschoolers.

For example, Library Lovers Month can be celebrated with a special field trip to the school or local public library to meet the children's librarian and for a storytelling afternoon. In Children's Dental Month, the focus can be on proper oral hygiene by learning the proper ways to brush and floss. This could include a visit from a dentist, if possible. National Hobby Month gives children the chance to bring in an item that showcases one of their hobbies and present it to the class in a show-and-tell format.

When looking for celebrations or holidays from the calendar to bring into the classroom for preschool calendar activities, the emphasis should be on fun and enrichment to the curriculum in general. Though some holidays may seem downright silly, they're still a great opportunity to learn new things about the calendar.

Did you know that the 4th Thursday of January is known as "Clashing Clothes Day"? Challenge the kids to come to class in their most clashing outfits as a way of learning about opposites and things that just don't match.

Preschool Theme - Planting a garden to celebrate spring!

Plant a garden to celebrate spring!

The snow melts, the trees are re-emerging again, and the puddles are collecting on the street corners, that's right, spring, spring, and what better place to classrooms celebrate the arrival of spring, as the nursery can! The spring issue of pre stories and explore a variety of activities, games, arts, crafts, field trips.

Spring provides an excellent pre-issue, becauseE 'colorful, entertaining and a great way to grow plants and how they multiply every year to learn. This ability, called "Grow your name" allows children to increased rates of small plants, leading to a garden, as their name engraved clock.

To get started, give each child a small box full of plastic and covered with half potting soil. Have each child trace their name or a small image in the world, and fill the newly formed path with grass seeds. Sprinkle lightly enough soil forCover the seed and water in the soil. Remind children of their gardens with water every few days, and pay attention to their names sprout from the ground.

April showers bring May flowers

The flowers are another key image for the spring of the topic in preschool, his arrival is one of the hallmarks of the season. The daisy flowers can be included in a variety of simple, colorful preschool crafts, such as the paper plate.

Ask each childCut a small circle of yellow cardboard. Next will be the petals of flowers, using a paper plate to create the center and cut each half into five or six pieces. Glue or staple the leaves on the yellow circle to create a beautiful daisy, simple paper plate.

If desired, this job can be easily transformed into a sunflower with the help of a central circle in black and yellow paper petals. Sunflower seeds can be glued to the center of the flower moreDecoration.

Children love finger painting, because it is a practical activity, which gives them a little 'can be dirty. Here is a job like "Foot Flower" is back and popular as finger painting, because the children get up, instead of color! Let the children one of her feet immersed in a small bowl filled with washable paint and then stamp their feet painted on a piece of white paper. After the paint dries, you can add a stem with green paint or other decorationsher flower garden at the foot.

Be sure to make this trade in a range newspapered because it tends to be rather confused. Also, make sure that every child has the color washes out her mouth before her socks and shoes again.

Let's go fly a kite

Another boat to explore the theme of the spring pre-school is the kite. The dragons are colorful, easy to create and provide hours of fun, breezy spring afternoons. Here's a simple kite, which can be created bypaper plates, tissue paper, streamers and string orchestra that really flies!

To begin, have each child their kites on a paper plate with crayons, paints, markers, or tissue paper. Once you have completed the design and colors, stitching a few meters long streamers in the color of their choice for the bottom of the paper plate.

Continue with a punch a hole at the top of the plate. Wrap a piece of yarn or string through the hole and wrap the rest of the length of wire or stringstay for a piece of craftsmanship. Do not forget to tape the yarn to the string before packing to see if it sticks.