As I embark on this journey, I am certainly not without resources. Teachers are creative individuals, but many of the activities I plan are not completely of my own independent design. Some are, but others are variations of things I've seen other teachers do in the classroom, or from books or the internet.
I want to share some of the tangible resources that I've found helpful.
I have enjoyed the book "Teaching Young Children Using Themes", which is edited by Marjorie J. Kostelnik. The book has some fantastic activities with ideas for simplifying and/or extending them, depending on the child(ren) you're working with. I cited Kostelnik whenever I used one of the activity ideas or concept definitions in my lesson plans. It is a practical resource that can be appreciated by an academic like myself, as well as accessible for the general population. I recommended (and lent out) this book to the teacher interns that I worked with in the preschool as well.
Also, for a reference of what kinds of skills children typically have at each age, I love "Developmental Profiles Pre-birth through Twelve" by Allen & Marotz (2009). I used this as one of the textbooks in my Developmental Assessment Class. I use it as a guide and have lent it out to new moms as well.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
The First Week of Curriculum
I planned out my first two weeks and this week, we embarked on the exciting journey of learning. For a start, I think it went well. RJ was interested in our one-on-one activities and Logan cooperated by napping long enough for me to have that morning one-on-one time with RJ. I generally plan for about 4 lessons per week so that we can have a day off (to go to the pool or have a playdate or to just have a bad day). This week, we also hosted our co-op on Thursday, so I got to try out the lesson plans with some children younger than RJ (His playmates are 2 and 2.5).
Here is the link to my lesson plans, which I will keep adding to as I go along.
What you will see in the lesson plans are columns labeled Lesson, Concepts, Activity, Domain(s), Goal(s), Prep, and Evaluation. The Lessons column is basically just a number, because I want to leave my plan flexible. I just follow the numbers rather than assigning days. The concepts column is for listing the general concepts or content knowledge that I want RJ to learn from the activities and from us talking about the activities. The activity column is for describing what we will do. As most of preschool learning occurs through actively engaging with materials, plan activities where RJ can manipulate or create objects. The final product isn't important, but the process by which we come to it is. The domain column is where I indicate what area of development the activity helps to progress or nurture. Typical Domains are pretty basic - Physical (either fine motor or gross motor), Cognitive (which has many sub-domains, such as literacy, pre-math, etc.), and Socio-emotional. I usually also indicate the specific area that I'm working on after the domain. For example when we made license plates, one thing listed under the Domain column was Cognitive - Letter and Number Recognition. The goals column is my bottom line. I write what I'm trying to accomplish by doing the activity. Sometimes, it might just be exposure to something or even just for fun, but the point is that planned activities should be goal directed. The prep column is a practical column, where I write what I need to do BEFORE starting the activity. An activity doesn't usually work well if the person guiding the activity is busy setting up stuff while the child(ren) are running amok. And finally, I write down my thoughts after the activity/lesson, so I can see what to change for similar activities in the future.
I know we're a bit out of order because I didn't post about RJ's initial assessment of content knowledge yet, but I wanted to post the start of the unit lesson plans when I had them done. The assessment requires me to upload the video off our camera, which is more complicated than it should be.
Here is the link to my lesson plans, which I will keep adding to as I go along.
What you will see in the lesson plans are columns labeled Lesson, Concepts, Activity, Domain(s), Goal(s), Prep, and Evaluation. The Lessons column is basically just a number, because I want to leave my plan flexible. I just follow the numbers rather than assigning days. The concepts column is for listing the general concepts or content knowledge that I want RJ to learn from the activities and from us talking about the activities. The activity column is for describing what we will do. As most of preschool learning occurs through actively engaging with materials, plan activities where RJ can manipulate or create objects. The final product isn't important, but the process by which we come to it is. The domain column is where I indicate what area of development the activity helps to progress or nurture. Typical Domains are pretty basic - Physical (either fine motor or gross motor), Cognitive (which has many sub-domains, such as literacy, pre-math, etc.), and Socio-emotional. I usually also indicate the specific area that I'm working on after the domain. For example when we made license plates, one thing listed under the Domain column was Cognitive - Letter and Number Recognition. The goals column is my bottom line. I write what I'm trying to accomplish by doing the activity. Sometimes, it might just be exposure to something or even just for fun, but the point is that planned activities should be goal directed. The prep column is a practical column, where I write what I need to do BEFORE starting the activity. An activity doesn't usually work well if the person guiding the activity is busy setting up stuff while the child(ren) are running amok. And finally, I write down my thoughts after the activity/lesson, so I can see what to change for similar activities in the future.
I know we're a bit out of order because I didn't post about RJ's initial assessment of content knowledge yet, but I wanted to post the start of the unit lesson plans when I had them done. The assessment requires me to upload the video off our camera, which is more complicated than it should be.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
The First Theme
There is something I find intuitive about thematic curriculum. I love how all subject areas can be integrated into one interesting theme that also promotes deep knowledge in a particular domain or content area.
I will write about the history and theory behind thematic curriculum soon, but I want to dive right in sans backround with a pilot theme to get my feet wet and return to what started my interest in children's learning in the first place - TEACHING preschoolers. Lucky for me, I have a child who just turned three. So my first task was to pick the theme to start with.
So how should one choose a theme? My particular philosophy dictates that we should turn to the children to determine what the theme should be. In a classroom, one would look to where the children gravitate - what center or what kinds of stories they like and what interests they have and choose a broad theme that all children can benefit from and will find something of interest within. Some teachers choose the themes based on their interests, which is also a viable method since comfort with the content area is important, and teacher enthusiasm is high, BUT since my philosophy is child centered, again, we start with the child's interest. In the classroom, this type of child-led approach comes from the Reggio Emilia Approach, which among other things, focuses on the interest of the children. Keeping the theme structured, so that it makes logical sense to the children and so that new knowledge can build on prior knowledge, and yet flexible to follow the interests and needs of the children is a delicate balance, yet crucial to maintain for content knowledge growth. As I develop the curriculum, I think that I will take an activity plan approach, mapping out the activities that will allow exploration into the various content areas and completing a chart to make sure that over the course of the unit, I am balancing out activities in all the developmental and pre-academic domains.
My advantage (and the advantage of any SAHP seeking to enrich his/her child's knowledge) is that I know my own child's interests really well and don't have to balance out his needs with anyone else. While I would've loved to delve into an ecological or recycling or plants theme, this just isn't (sadly) where RJ's primary interests lie. He prefers things that give off the very exhaust that his eco-friendly mommy despises...race cars and old rusty tow trucks. Yes, he has an absolute fixation on the Disney/Pixar movie, Cars. So, Transportation is logical first theme. I also like this theme for preschoolers in general because it has the potential for a variety of spin-offs into other themes. For example, if RJ were really interested in the composition of roads, we could spin-off into a mini theme on construction vehicles; or an interest in spacecraft could launch a theme about Outer Space. Even an interest in boats could launch an Ocean Theme.
The next step...planning the concepts I will cover in the theme.
I will write about the history and theory behind thematic curriculum soon, but I want to dive right in sans backround with a pilot theme to get my feet wet and return to what started my interest in children's learning in the first place - TEACHING preschoolers. Lucky for me, I have a child who just turned three. So my first task was to pick the theme to start with.
So how should one choose a theme? My particular philosophy dictates that we should turn to the children to determine what the theme should be. In a classroom, one would look to where the children gravitate - what center or what kinds of stories they like and what interests they have and choose a broad theme that all children can benefit from and will find something of interest within. Some teachers choose the themes based on their interests, which is also a viable method since comfort with the content area is important, and teacher enthusiasm is high, BUT since my philosophy is child centered, again, we start with the child's interest. In the classroom, this type of child-led approach comes from the Reggio Emilia Approach, which among other things, focuses on the interest of the children. Keeping the theme structured, so that it makes logical sense to the children and so that new knowledge can build on prior knowledge, and yet flexible to follow the interests and needs of the children is a delicate balance, yet crucial to maintain for content knowledge growth. As I develop the curriculum, I think that I will take an activity plan approach, mapping out the activities that will allow exploration into the various content areas and completing a chart to make sure that over the course of the unit, I am balancing out activities in all the developmental and pre-academic domains.
My advantage (and the advantage of any SAHP seeking to enrich his/her child's knowledge) is that I know my own child's interests really well and don't have to balance out his needs with anyone else. While I would've loved to delve into an ecological or recycling or plants theme, this just isn't (sadly) where RJ's primary interests lie. He prefers things that give off the very exhaust that his eco-friendly mommy despises...race cars and old rusty tow trucks. Yes, he has an absolute fixation on the Disney/Pixar movie, Cars. So, Transportation is logical first theme. I also like this theme for preschoolers in general because it has the potential for a variety of spin-offs into other themes. For example, if RJ were really interested in the composition of roads, we could spin-off into a mini theme on construction vehicles; or an interest in spacecraft could launch a theme about Outer Space. Even an interest in boats could launch an Ocean Theme.
The next step...planning the concepts I will cover in the theme.
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