Preschool lesson plans: Using a Digital Camera

Why use a digital camera in the classroom? Well there are so many.
Let's see-

1) Documenting progress for the parents. They don't always see the value of the work we do because there's no visual evidence. But if we take and post pictures our lesson plan activities we inform them of the progress their child is making.

2)Including your parents in the daily routine.it's hard to leave you baby. We can make it easier by including parents.

3) organization. Cubbies, circle time spots, journals.... You name it.

The time it saves just with the "I wanna sit next to Tommy but not Sam and Isabel spit on me" argument is worth it!

Clean up- make your own picture Labels. It helps the kids to help put things away. (Translation- Less work for you!)
Have a great Day!


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Preschool Parents

In teaching preschool, the children are easy. The parents are harder. Children are open, they come in the classroom everyday ready to sock up what ever you teach.... But parents are more closed off and set in their ways. They read an article last year about infant potty training or how your child should be reading by three. Of course we know these ideas are absurd and not developmentally appropriate. But if we say that we will 1)Probably lose a child from the program, and in doing so, lose income for the center. And 2) Probably get fired. The customer is always right.

So what can we do??? We we can teach with a gentle whisper. We can post and/or send home articles, lists of books, and developmental checklists that can redirect parents in a more appropriate direction.

It is so important for parents, just as much as teachers, to have a good understanding of child development and developmental milestones. These are some developmental milestone parent education sheets you can download and print.

Enviromental Print in Preschool Lesson Plans

Well, I am big on literacy, and in turn creating strong readers. Print rich environments tend to be better at strengthening reading skills. I touched on this a bit with classroom labels. We need to put word labels on anything that will stand still. We need to have each child's name everywhere. We need to have environmental print in the classroom. Many times this is a designated bulletin board in the classroom, but it doesn't have to be. Have the children bring in labels and boxes and even pictures of print (ex. McDonald's fry package, pizza box, coupon from Chuckie Cheese). Parents can be great facilitators of this too. The more children see print, the better.

A great book on the subject would be Everyday Literacy: Environmental Print Activities For Young Children Ages 3 To 8

Art in Preschool Lesson Plans

I remember in kindergarten gluing a thousand cotton balls on a paper cutout of a bunny for Easter. That activity, although I enjoyed it, wasn't very creative.

I think art lessons in preschool lesson plans shouldn't be something that the teacher does and then the kid colors it. I know why teachers do this. They want a nice finished product for parents. They know that their child didn't do that complex cut and paste job. So why don't we, as teachers focus on the process, and not the product. And teach parents the same concept- that it's the actual act of making art, not the final product, that matters.

We can work it in our themes. An example would be having paper cut into butterfly shapes and have them paint with watercolors. Stamp painting with kitchen implements, car painting, or sculpting with clay would be other suggestions. They are still the creators.

I think if we can teach our children to be creative thinkers, to think outside the box, then they will be better at so many things when they grow into adulthood.

Assessment in Preschool Lesson Planning

I spend time every week coming up with preschool lesson plans, but I don't assess if it did it's job. Assessment in the preschool classroom is important not only at teacher conference time, but also when evaluating the effectiveness of lesson plans.

We probably all use portfolios, but that just isn't enough. It is nice to pull out the folder of work samples at a conference, but can it help you modify your lesson plans to be more useful? Yes. You can go through and say "Bobby has got the hang of patterns" or "Anna hasn't gotten the hang of cutting yet". With that you can modify your lesson plans to include more advanced math concepts with Bobby, and plan more opportunities for Anna to practice cutting paper.

All classrooms need to have a system to do observations in the classroom. The methods used don't really matter, but the knowledge it gives you when you are planning is invaluable.

If you don't use a camera in documenting, you should. Parents can see you aren't just "playing" and you have more insight to better serve your students.

We are taught to assess for parent teacher conferences, but some time assessing can really help you be a better teacher.

Preschool Lesson Plans: When Parents Don't Get It

Teachers work hard to teach the children in the classroom, but they aren't the only students. Parents sometimes look at what we do and what the kids do and write it off as "play". And it is, but it is through play that kids learn. Sometimes it is our job to remind parents that.

I found something that might give you the ability to quietly and passively teach parents why we do what we do.

Abcteach.com has a lot of resources for free, some you have to be a member for, but these center signs are free. These signs explain why we play in each center. I put them on poster board, laminate them and put Velcro dots at the bottom for center management.

10 Ways to Great Days at Preschool

I just found some really great articles on the parent side of sesameworkshop.org. This one is especially useful with children and parents new to the routine of child care and preschool. It wouldn't be a bad idea to print it off and keep it in your resource file for future use.

10 Ways to Great Days at Preschool