Gearing up to do preschool at home? It can be a little overwhelming. Therefore, I am trying to make life a little simpler for you. I, too, am learning this as I go. However, I want to share my findings with my wonderful readers. This week I am discussing lesson planning and how to go about it.
What You Need
I find lesson planning much easier with an actual teacher’s lesson plan book. I purchased mine at a local learning and teaching supply store. You can find their website here:
You will need to have a foundation of activities stockpiled. There are many resources online. You can check out some of my favorites on Pinterest HERE.
Follow me on Pinterest, as I will be certainly adding more and more throughout the school year.
Lesson Planning – Subjects
When creating a lesson plan for preschool at home, you will want to make sure you cover all the major subjects. These include: Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Art, Music, and Physical Activites.
Below, I will break down a sample lesson plan and how it includes all of these subjects.
Sample Lesson Planning
Here is a sample of a lesson plan I have prepared. The theme of this particular lesson plan is focused on the letter C.
- Writing – Tracing sheets (Letter C)
- Reading – The Very Hungry Caterpillar
- Math – Creating a caterpillar with fingerprints (Counting)
- Science – Trip to a Butterfly House at local zoo
- Art – Letter C decorated like a caterpillar
- Music – Songs/Nursery Rhymes with the Letter C
- Physical Activity – Nature Hike/Caterpillar search
Lesson Planning Subject Ideas
Reading
- Books
- Letter recognition
Writing
- Tracing Lines
- Tracing Letters
- Writing Letters
Math
- Shapes
- Number Recognition
- Counting
Science
- Experiments
- Nature Hikes/Exploration
- Field Trips
Art
- Letter Projects
- Colors
- Themed Projects
Music
- Themed Songs
- Learning Songs
- Children’s Songs
Physical Activity
- Movement Games
- Dancing
Lesson Planning Themes
Another way to make learning and preschool at home fun is choosing themes. Your child will be spending a lot of time learning the same basics, like letters, numbers, counting, colors, etc. Changing themes will keep the learning fun and exciting.
I find that choosing themes and planning my learning activities around those themes also makes lesson planning easier.
I have compiled a list of fun preschool themes to get you started on your preschool at home journey. There are many more to choose from, but this list will give you a nice starting point.
Click here for your Free Lesson Planning Themes List.
Other Tips and Tricks
Always do your lesson planning in pencil. Sometimes you may want to change things up or find activities or books that fit better than what you had originally planned. Being able to erase helps keep your lesson planning book looking neat and tidy.
Use the calendar to help you choose your themes. For example, if there is a holiday coming up, you can focus on activities that coordinate with these celebrations. If your town or city has local events going on, like a fall festival, you can do activities that correspond and use those events in your teaching. Make it a fun field trip.
Leverage your local library. You can use a trip to the library to help encourage your child to read, and also choose books to go along with your upcoming preschool at home themes.
Lesson Planning for Mommies
I am sure as the year goes on, I will find plenty more tips and tricks for creating wonderful and fun lesson plans for preschool at home. However, this is how I am getting started. I was incredibly overwhelmed at first, as many moms are when they start teaching at home. Hopefully these tips will help you get started and feel less overwhelmed.
Subscribe or check back weekly for more detailed information on teaching preschool at home, including resources and printables, book suggestions, and theme ideas! I look forward to sharing this journey with you.
Do you have any tips for teaching preschool at home? Any tricks for lesson planning? Please share them in the comments below!
Check out another FREE Preschool at Home Printable Supplies Checklist HERE!
This is fantastic for anyone with preschoolers, I know Mine would have loved this when they were younger.
Thanks for sharing… Much Love Katie – Louise
I love these ideas! Definitely inspires me to do these types of acitivities with my daughter as she grows. She’s only 8.5 months, but it’s never to early to start their learning! Thanks!!
I am gearing up to homeschool pre-k this year with my youngest and this is a great help! Thank you!
Great learning/teaching plan for pre-schoolers. This will be useful in a few years for me 🙂
I love these ideas! It makes me want to homeschool my child when he is old enough.
“Always do your lesson planning in pencil.” So much yes! I made the mistake of doing mine in pen and already in the second week of our homeschool Kindergarten year I’ve got marks and arrows all over the place!
Lesson planning is so important! Too many parents think they can just “wing it” in the early years (preschool, K, etc.) and it ends up being a mess. These are good tips for a successful year.
aw your pin is super cute! I hope you add it to our pinterest group board so I can share it (I’m on a computer that I’m not logged in at the moment). I love how detailed you get here but honestly, I don’t cover all that haha. I’m more of a hands-off, relaxed homeschool mom. We’re do some crafts, some science along with her older brothers and lots of reading and play outside. Basically it haha. I do want to put some skills in like scissors but yeah. I know when it was my first kid tho I did every bell and whistle haha
Lesson planning for kids is so important! My son’s almost 2 and I’m already looking toward the future of preschool and at-home lesson plans. I can’t wait! Right now we’re just working on forming a longer attention span and (of course) potty training. Love your pin!
Liz Talton | Pitter Patter of Baby Feet