Preschool

This summer I realized my oldest starts kindergarten next year, What?!  Time to get on the preschool train, pronto.  I considered the options: paying for school, co-op preschool, home preschool.  Putting together a co-op was quickly the top of my list, but with time and transportation constraints, not to mention finding other moms looking for a co-op, it didn't work out.  In the end we are starting our own home preschool.

First things first, I put together a teaching schedule.  I looked through the curriculum standards for kindergarten and first grade and put together a basic outline of things my princess needed to learn for success moving forward. Our school started the first week of October, so you may need to realign the topics -- if you want Christmas to fall on the week of Christmas. My princess is already familiar with the numbers 1-10, I want her to learn to count higher.  This schedule is geared towards her in that respect, you can modify the schedule to fit the needs of your student.

Preschool Outline
Week #	Letter		Number	Topics	Shapes
Week 1	Jj	1-10		Emotions		Heart
Week 2	Cc	11		Gratitude		Triangle
Week 3	Ww	12		Autumn		Square
Week 4	Hh	13		My Body		Diamond
Week 5	Dd	14		Where I Live - Town		Circle
Week 6	Aa	15		Where I Live - State/USA		Oval
Week 7	Ss	16		Opposites		Rectangle
Week 8	Ee	17		Manners		Octagon
Week 9	Ff	18		Winter		Hexagon
Week 10	Nn	19		5 Senses		Cube
Week 11	Bb	20		5 Senses continued		Sphere
Week 12	Gg	20s		Jesus, Christmas
Week 13	Tt	30s		Sharing
Week 14	Kk	40s		Instruments
Week 15	Mm	50s		Animals - Farm
Week 16	Ii	60s		Animals - Jungle		Repeat Shapes
Week 17	Xx, Zz	70s		Rainbows
Week 18	Qq	80s		Color Mixing
Week 19	Uu	90s		Valentines
Week 20	Rr	100		Families
Week 21	Oo	Review		Spring
Week 22	Vv	Discuss # Patterns		Gardening
Week 23	Pp			Flowers
Week 24	Yy			Helping Others
Week 25	Ll			Kindergarten

To help facilitate learning I put together a simple learning poster. Things I wanted to focus on included shape, color, number, sight reading words (here's a list), letters, main topic, and then maybe simple rhyming.  So I glued some colored paper onto a posterboard and laminated it (helps it last longer). Here's what I ended up with:

 Simple, yet effective!

Another idea, which I'm unable to implement, is making a daily schedule.  A daily schedule allows for expectation and routine, both of which help children flourish.

Let the teaching begin.