Today I will be focusing on preschool planning. This is another post in my series, Preschool for Mommies. In this series, I will be giving you a step by step guide to doing preschool with your little ones at home. Let’s walk.
Preschool Planning: Quarterly and Monthly
Alright, you have purchased or created your curriculum for your preschooler. You have also decided what books you will be using to guide you for the next few months. Now what?
Well if you are like me (semi picky) then you will need to see a plan of sorts. Not just any plan but a plan that shows what will be done in the next 3 months, monthly and then weekly. If you are not as picky as I am, no need to worry. Just remember that you need to have a plan because if you fail to plan, then plan to fail.
Here is what I currently do:
Step 1: Gather all the curricula that will be used for the next 3 months (Preschool planning does not go beyond three months because things may or will change.)
Step 2: I make a list of all the subjects I would like to teach for the next three months. For this quarter we are focusing on German, Math, Reading, Pre Writing, Bible Knowledge, and Independence. Once this is done I move on to step 3.
Step 3: I divide all the curricula into different subject groups.
Step 4: I decide what days I want to teach each subject. For J, she will be doing Prewriting every day as well as BFIAR or a themed printables that I have created. Math and Reading are every other day. On these days, I make those subjects the main focus. After deciding on the days for each subject,
Step 5: Before adding anything to your monthly preschool planning sheet, make a note of all the holidays, birthdays, and other days that you will be off. Then add your subjects to you monthly planning sheet.
Step 6: Do this for the following 2 months. Ensure that ALL the subjects that you would like to teach are included.
Preschool Planning: Weekly
Alright. You have completed your preschool planning for the next three months for all your subjects and now it is time to focus on the details.
Step 1: If you are lucky, each subject that you are doing has a table of contents. If that is the case, fill in the 4 or 5 weeks of the month. For example, J is using Basic Shapes for Beginners for pre-writing. The table of content is pretty easy to follow. Each week has 5 days so simply assign each day for a day on your Weekly calendar. If you are not so lucky, then proceed to step 2.
Step 2: See if there is a way to break down the different topics in your curricula. For example, if Math has 1 chapter on counting alone with 20 exercises, then assign 1 or 2 for each homeschooling day.
Step 3: Do this for ALL the subjects that you will be teaching.
Step 4: Highlight days that you may want to focus on special things. Fridays are sensory days for us and Wednesday is Art Day. On these days I know I MUST do an activity that addresses these areas.
Step 5: Print planning sheets and place them in a binder with a few dividers for easy use. Also aim to put all the different curricula in one area so you will not be scrambling, but that is another post.
Here are a few that I have my eye on at Amazon. Please note that my affiliate links are used for these products.
