What should an all day Pre-K class schedule include?

Question

The preschool I teach for is going to offer a three day, all day Pre-K class next fall M-W-F, 9:00-3:00. Can you help me to outline a daily schedule? I will be incorporating centers, such as math, writing, reading and housekeeping,

Answer 1

I would open you day with circle time.

abc, 123's calendar, shapes, colors, singing, flash cards recognition (go around the circle and ask each child one at a time the letter)  pledge to the flag, stories

Next I would have a healthy snack

From there I would give the kids 1/2 hour of play time.  Structured though...split them up between kitchen/dress up, puzzle station, cars, dinosaurs, Maybe texture table, etc...

After that I would do a period of play outdoors

Then I would do arts and craft project for the day.  Also make sure that you incorporate wrinting into these projects.  Such as on the bottom of the project that you may make for say letter H...write in dots or dashes...Hh is for hearts and have them trace it.  Also they should regularly trace the alphabet upper case and lower case, number, and their names (first and last)

From there I would have more play time...( give them a few choices...make sure they stay in their selected areas until it is time to switch.)

Lunch time...quiet time (nap, reading, puzzles, etc...I'd say for like 1/2 hour or so)

After that I would do a group game time..(play who's missing, bingo, shoe match up, dancing, musical instruments, books read by cds or tapes,  etc...)

I would do some more play time...

Them I would have story time for the whole group...

And I would finish up by having them play outside again

Just my oppinion though!  Hope it helps!  Good luck!

Answer 2

Here's my schedule from 8:00 - 2:30 for pre-k

8:00-8:05 Practice writing name and color or write in journals

8:05-8:30 Circle/Calendar Time

8:30 - 9:00 Breakfast

9:00 - 10:00 Outside Time

10:00 - 10:30 Small Group Learning Time

10:30 - 11:45 Center Time

11:45 - 12:00 Story/ Music & Movement

12:00 - 12:45 Lunch

12:45 - 1:45 Nap

1:45- 2:00 Story

2:00 - 2:15 Music and Movement

2:15-2:25 Closing Circle

2:25 - 3:00 Get Ready to Go Home

Just a note on center time: I strongly encourage you to allow children to select the center they want to go to, the activities they want to do at the center, how long they want to stay there, and when to switch. I know that is seems like they might not get much out of it that way but actually they get more. They can engage in activities that best suite their learning styles and needs, and eventually will visit other centers. They also learn to be more independent that way. When you have a center time that is too structured you are actually limiting the children's ability to learn and grow.There's a whole lot or research on doing centers that way if you are interested.

Answer 3

This gives you plenty of opportunities for a nice long free play, outside time, music and movement, and story time as well as center time. You will also need a rest time. I'm willing to bet most of the kids will be tired and cranky after lunch. Let the ones who fall asleep have a nap while the others do quiet activities, but everyone should go down on a mat or cot for at least half an hour. Make sure there are plenty of opportunities for them to choose what they want to do. In particular, during free play they should be able to freely choose their activities and move from one area of the room to another. Adults don't like to be told what to do every minute of the day. Now think of what it is like for a preschooler! In a full day program the morning free play should be at least an hour. whether you call it free play or work-time or choice time.

Answer 4

No other activities? Arts and Crafts could be a good addition to your schedule.

Circle time where they can sing songs, and listen to you read a story.  

You can go to www.starfall.com

They have a bunch of things on there that may help trigger ideas for your class.  Or you can go on the Disney website on the "preschool" link and see their games.

SUPER WHY  (Super Wyatt) cartoon has a lot of reading exercises for children. Great ideas for young preschoolers.

You can also incorporate a Fire Drill and what to do if there is a fire in the home.  You can replace the housekeeping with this on certain days.

Teach them "Stranger Danger".  Kindergarten Cop (movie) had a great idea on how to approach this subject.  

You can include "Science" in your curriculum.  You can have the kids bring in Avacado Seeds and you can put them in cups and have the kids keep track of their seed and watch it grow/sprout with leaves.  :-)  

You can also teach them how to "Help each other stay safe".  Include importance to stay away from a pool no matter what. Even if their toy gets into the pool. They should always have their mom or dad or another adult get their toy out. Even pools with fences cannot keep a curious child out all the time. Somehow, they always find their way into an area where there is a pool.  Too many children are drowning.  Even in tubs, or buckets.  You can stress the importance to never go around water without an adult there with them.  Also when crossing a street, or riding their bikes, you can teach them about looking for cars/trucks, and only crossing at crosswalks with their parents and never run out into the street to get their ball. (just some ideas in case you would like to include this).

When reading to them, have them act out the character, ie: Jumping, or squirming, or waving their arms around etc.  Voice expression captures childrens attention when reading as well.  I do this with my son. We act out the character, and I do voice expressions as if I were the character itself.  It's fun.

I remember when I was in Kindergarten/First grade we had this huge brown paper that had the lines/dotted lines on it and we had to trace the letter, and then we had to write it on our own. Do you remember that? LOL  You can do this to help them spell simple words like CAT DOG .....This will help in reading skills.

Also when I was in Kindergarten, we were taught what to do if there was an Earthquake. Of course I lived in California. But at that time, I didn't think anything of it. We just went into another room without windows and hid under the desks.  Talk about flash backs. Ha.

We took trips to the Library and we sat in a half circle and we listened to this lady tell us a story. And I remember what story it was...It was about a Mouse and a toy motorcycle, and if he made the motorcycle sound, it would actually "go".  Do you know the story? That's all I remember.

Funny things you remember when you were a kid.  LOL

I hope I've helped some.  Or at least given you some ideas to work with.  :-)

Answer 5

The important thing to remember about preschoolers is that much of their learning comes from play and exploring the world around them. Incorporating as many opportunities as possible for these two things, with an introduction to academic subjects, should provide a full and fun day for both you and your students. Here is a sample of the schedule I might use:

9:00-9:15 Welcome Time: Allow children to get settled in. Place crayons and paper on the table to busy early arrivals. Greet parents and children as they arrive.

9:15-9:30 Circle Time: Classic circle time activities include reviewing ABC's, counting, discussing any theme you might have (see www.letteroftheweek.com/preschool_age_3.... for letter-based theme activities for preschoolers), reading stories, and show and tell/ sharing time.

9:30-9:50 Fine Motor activity: This could be related to your theme. Any type of coloring, cutting, gluing or drawing activity would be appropriate. For example, if you are studying "B is for Bear", you could make paper plate bear masks.

9:50- 10:00 Transition Time/ Potty Break

10:00- 11: 15 Centers/ Outdoor Play: This will obviously depend on the weather. If you are indoors, have children switch centers at least once, to avoid boredom and the behavior issues that come with it. If outside, use some of the time for organized activities, such as studying insects or doing a scavenger hunt. Duck-Duck Goose is another great activity.

11:15-11:30 Potty break, wash hands for lunch

11:30- 12:15 Lunch: Preschoolers get hungry faster than the bigger kids- why wait until 12?

12:15- 1:15 Centers/ Outdoor Play: Weather permitting, do the reverse of whatever you did in the morning, so that the children engage in both fine and gross motor play. Center Time is also a good time to work one-on-one with children on basic skills (anything from shoe tying to letter recognition), especially if they need extra help.

1:15- 1:30 Transition Time/ Potty Break

1:30- 2:30 Story/ Rest Time: Read a story to settle children in for the afternoon. Chapter books, like "The Mouse and the Motorcycle"  by Beverly Cleary the first answerer referred to, are great rest time stories. When you've read a chapter, put on some soft music. If there are non-nappers in your class (there are usually two or three), read quietly with them in an area that will not disturb sleepers.

2:30- 3:00 Snack Time and Goodbye: Put snack at each child's place before they wake up and teach them to get up quietly and wash their hands, then come and eat. Then they can play or color quietly until their parents arrive. Be sure to greet parents and tell them one great thing about their child's day.

You can adapt this to your and your children's needs. Just remember to let them play, and have fun yourself, and the days will fly by.