My life's goal is to run a successful preschool in my home. Current major setbacks: COVID pandemic still ongoing, no home of our own. In the meantime, I've decided to "homeschool preschool" my nearly-three-year-old son, Rowan. While I had a few reservations, I ultimately decided I'd be doing him a disservice if I didn't go through with it.
I'm sharing my our experience here both to look back on and as a resource who would also like to do the same. I plan to enroll Rowan in preschool this fall for the social aspect and to gain understanding from a teacher who is not also his mom, haha!
This month's theme will be: MUSIC. Rowan has loved music since the womb, I daresay; he would often do flips when I would be listening to music while pregnant. We've sung to him daily since he was born and it's so fun now to hear him sing! He's memorized countless songs, requests various topics to be put to song, and loves listening to songs over and over again. As a result, his favorite songs are constantly on an endless track in my mind. It only makes sense to start with music.
The culmination of all these lessons will be: Old Macdonald Had a Band, at the end of the month. My plan is to do preschool twice a week for an hour at a time. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I've incorporated church lessons as well since Rowan hasn't had a ton of exposure to primary due to COVID. My plan is to do a church lesson the first day during the week (I'm doing Tuesday/Thursday) and a STEAM lesson the second day of the week. Each week will be a different aspect of STEAM. Since this month's theme is music, there will be no "Arts" lesson for STEAM. However, art will be incorporated throughout the lessons.
Feel free to take/leave any parts of the lessons! The structure I envision is 15 minute lesson time where Rowan will sit on his carpet spot (picture below, braided placemat from Walmart), 5 minute snack (counting, sensory, and other fine motor skills included where applicable), and 40 minutes of free play/one-on-one time with mom/field trip. Times are approximate.
Week 1
Day 1
- Sunbeam Lesson 1 (see picture) "I am a Child of God" (5 min)
- Quiet/Loud Game (picture below) (5 min)
- Make an instrument for culminating lesson - Easter Egg Shaker (5 min)
-Plastic egg(s), rice or dried beans, funnel, tape
Fill eggs with rice/beans using funnel. Secure with tape.
Optional: Sing a few songs to get used to using the shaker! Great ideas found at: https://jbrary.com/give-storytime-shake/
My favorite were:
1. "If you're happy and you know it, give a shake!" Rowan is already familiar with this song, so that's a plus.
2. Shake Your Shaker Song (Shake your shaker, shake shake shake - to the tune of London Bridges. Verse 2: Shake your shaker, high high high Verse 3: Shake your shaker, low low low.)
3. 1, 2, Shake it on your shoe. 3, 4, Shake it on the floor. 5, 6, stir and mix. 7, 8, stand it up straight. 9, 10, wave to your friends.
- Snack (5 min)
- Free Play (20 min)
Images:
1. Preschool area (doesn't need to be fancy! Mine certainly isn't!)
2. Rowan's rug spot (braided placemat from Walmart) Could also use any type of rug, small chair, etc. Hand for size reference.
3. Quiet/Loud Game
4. Sunbeam Lesson Manual
5. Activity organization in order of lesson plan. Lesson plan booklet.
Day 2
- STEAM Lesson (Science) "Fishing With a Magnet" (5 min)
Read a book about magnets. I'm using, "What Makes a Magnet" by Franklyn M. Branley. Next, go fishing with a magnet to figure out which items are magnetic and which items are not.
*Materials:
-Pencil, string, magnet
-Combination of metal/non-metal objects: coins, twig, tacks/pins, paper clip, pieces of aluminum foil, rubber band, pieces of paper, safety pin, screw, etc. Place these in a box.
Tie string to one end of the pencil, tie other end to a magnet. This is your fishing pole.
Go fishing in the box. Put the things you "catch" in a pile. The others will stay in the box.
Sing: Once I Caught a Fish Alive while you're fishing :)
- Play Name that Tune! (5 min)
Whistle, hum, drum, or sing the beginning of a song for your child to guess. Try to choose songs your toddler is familiar with. When they guess the song, sing it together. Bonus points: Choose songs that also get their wiggles out (Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, Hokey Pokey, etc.)
- Make an instrument for culminating lesson - Drum (5 min)
Find a round container or two from your pantry that has a lid (oatmeal canister, infant formula can, Nesquik, Pringles, Hot Chocolate, etc). Cover container with blank colored paper and have your child decorate it. This is their drum. If you're crafted out, use pots and pans as drums instead :)
Optional: Sing a few songs to get used to the drum! Spoons or ladles work great as drumsticks!
My favorite are:
1. Can You Play the Drums? (practice body parts) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppuQF_2LqAw
2. Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins
- Snack (5 min)
- Free Play (20 min)
Sing songs together! Try singing "Down by the Bay" to practice rhyming. Play "Hot" or "Cold": Have your toddler stand outside the door for a quick second, hide an object. Bring your toddler back in and sing a song to help them find the object: sing loud when they are close, and quiet when they are far away. Sing a song different ways using emotions: grumpy, happy, sad, silly, etc.
