Lesson Plans and Resources

To get started I made a book list for September and October that includes at least 2 books for each theme. Any books related to theme will work but these are the ones I am using. 

Sept./Oct. Booklist

We will be starting on September 8th! I am going to do a weekly review post here on Friday each week. As for the plans and supplements I will be putting them on Teachers Pay Teachers in bundles for each month. I am going to put the month of September below for a free download. I will post an overview of the monthly plans on this blog with a link to my TPT store. I am excited to get started!

September Plans

Bulletin Board Fun

 If you know or are a teacher then you probably know how much we love a good bulletin board! When I decided to start home school preschool the first thing I did was purchase a 3ft x 4ft cork board from Amazon. I then made a list of what I wanted to include in this learning hub: 

• Calendar
• Shapes
• Colors   
• Alphabet
• Weather
• Numbers

I bought some resources and made others. Below I will walk through each section with links to resources. All of these could also be made by hand but would take awhile. 

Bulletin Board

Calendar: I purchased the calendar and blank cars for dates from Lakeshore Learning. If you go in person they will laminate the calendar for you! I then simply wrote numbers 1-31 on the cars in sharpie. I made the monthly headers using clip-art I purchased from TeachersPayTeachers. I have included the link for a free download below. 

Calendar Headers

Colors: I purchased the crayon clip-art from TeachersPayTeachers and then added a text box for the color name. I then laminated these using my Swingline personal laminator (I'm obsessed!). 

Swingline Laminator

Weather: I created this using basic clip-art from Word and then laminated. I can use a dry erase marker for the temperature each day since it is laminated.

Weather Board

Shapes: I found a set of shape flashcards in the Target Dollar Spot and decided to just use these. Simply pulled one of each shape and stapled to board. 

Numbers: I quickly made these on my computer and then laminated them. 

Alphabet: Owen picked out this alphabet poster when we went to Lakeshore Learning. I had them laminate it there. 

The Finished Board:

(We finished our basement weeks before Owen was born and still haven't gotten around to trim...someday it will get done!)

Schedules, Schedules, Schedules

Sometimes I think the word 'Schedule' should be a swear word for moms! The one upside to this pandemic upheaval is the quick reduction of things on our schedule! However, I needed to come up with a schedule for our home school preschool so I could better plan our lessons and activities. I know a lot of preschools start with 2 or 3 days a week for 3 year old students and they typically run about 2-3 hours per day. I thought about our normal week and what might work for us. 

How I miss Library story time!

I chose 3 days for approximately 2.5 hours per day. I chose 3 days because I felt that Owen can handle that and I like the idea of structure 3 mornings a week. You might be thinking that 2.5 hours, 3 days a week seems like a lot to plan! Let me break it down.

I broke each morning into 7 20 minute segments. They are:

• Calendar/Welcome
• Alphabet
• Math
• Science or Pre-writing
• Motor Skills
• Sensory Play
• Art/Craft

The majority of these activities are self led by Owen and need minimal instruction from me at the beginning. Calendar and Art are the 2 segments I will need to teach/lead the most. Just like when I started a new school year with my Kindergartners I will need to teach how to do each type of activity and set expectations. The best part of home school is that I can adjust this schedule as I see fit based on how Owen (and myself) are handling things. 

Adventures in Home-school Preschool

 After surviving several months with no formal activities (i.e. Gymboree, Mom Group, Library Story Time) I decided to get into teacher mode and start planning. As many of our schools here in MI are not going back in person right now my husband and I decided to try home school preschool for Owen. 

I have scoured the internet and Pinterest for ideas and plans but ultimately decided to create my own. I modified a calendar of themes I found on Pinterest (littleslearninglife.com) to better fit our needs. I have thought about things that I want to teach Owen regarding safety, cultures, differences in families and protecting our Earth. I will be incorporating these into themes and lessons throughout the year. I am planning on 3 mornings a week for about 2 hours. I broke the time into calendar, math/numeracy, literacy, fine/gross motor and art. I will share more information on the daily plan later on. I did go out and buy a 4ft x 3ft bulletin board so I could have a space to display a calendar, shapes, letters, weather and numbers. Below you will find a free download for the theme calendar I will be using this year.

Theme Calendar