Teach me Today
Preschool Preparatory
Curriculum
for Age 2 -3
by Misti Anslin Delaney and Rodney Bell Smith
based on work by Katrina Lybbert Letter a Week Program and the GoddessMoonCircleAcademy
The purpose of this curriculum is to introduce the concepts of letters, shapes, numbers, colours, science, and religion to the preschool aged child.
Phonics and real counting will come after this 26 week curriculum is complete. At this age and stage children are not, nor should they be, sitting down to formal “schooling”. All activities should be approached as fun activities and games.
Note that while there seem to be a lot of things to do each day, each activity is likely to last only a few minutes.
Lesson 5
Weekly Theme: Letter E, Number 5, Pentagram, and Stars
Each day this week, make something out of eggs: scrambled eggs, egg salad, fried eggs, quiche (egg pie). Talk about where eggs come from and read “Chickens aren’t the only ones”)
Books that support the theme:
The Star People: A Lakota Storyby S. D. Nelson
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star by Iza Trapani
Stars! Stars! Stars! by Bob Barner
Zoo In The Sky : by Jacqueline Mitton
Poems that support the theme:
Star Wish
star light
star bright
first star i see tonight
i wish i may
i wishi might
have the wish i wish tonight
Songs that support the theme:
Twinkle, Twinkle little star
Twinkle, Twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Schedule for the week
Monday:
The theme this week is Stars
In the evening, go outside and see if you can see any stars.
Read a starbook
Read a star poem
Give Jack a foam letter E and a foam number 5. Discuss them.
Show Jack that a pentagram has 5 lines, using toothpicks and play dough.
Show Jack theI Spy: Shapes in Art page and see if you can find the stars
Egg starts with E!
- make an egg shaker by putting different kinds of beans and grains and small shells into plastic eggs. Explore the different sounds they make.
Ear starts with E
– talk about how we use our ears to listen.
-- Go outside and listen. How many things can you hear? (Cars? Airplanes? Trains? A lawn mower? Dogs? Birds?)
-- Come inside and listen to some jazz music and talk about it.
-- use your egg shakers to add to the music!
Tuesday
This week we will teach the shape of a Pentagram.
Give Jack a printout of a pentagram to color. (Any colour he likes.) Tell him that the goal is to “stay in the lines”.
Jack the detective: Take a walk looking for star shapes. Photograph any that Jack identified by himself.
See if you can find 3 - 5 everyday objects in the shape of a star – or with a star on it...to share with Jack and discuss.
Teach Jack to trace the shape of a star using his finger on sandpaper.
Show Jack the I Spy,Numbers in Art page and find stars.
Read a starbook
Sing the star song
A starfish is an animal in the shape of a pentagram. Look them up in the animal encyclopedia and discuss where they live and what’s special about them.
Talk about what the pentagram represents. Look at Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man and discuss how people can make stars out of our bodies.
Wednesday
The letter this week is the letter E.
Give Jack a printout of the letter E to color. Remind him that the goal is to “stay in the lines”.
Teach Jack to trace the shape of the letter E using his fingerin paint on a sheet of paper.
Jack the detective: Find the letter E in signs, cereal boxes, etc.
Show Jack the I Spy, The Alphabet in Art page and find something that starts with E (elephant)
Look elephant up in the animals encyclopedia.
Discuss Earth – talk about things Earth is associated with. Remind Jack about how the seeds he planted last week needed “earth” to grow. Taste salt. Feel the different texture rocks can have. Help him to find something safe to represent Earth on his altar. (A rock? A clay bowl?)
Read a starbook
Say the star poem
Emotions start with E
-- explain what emotions are. They are feelings inside us like happy, sad, and angry.
-- Ask Jack about something that makes him happy.
-- talk about something that makes Jack sad
-- talk about something that makes Jack angry.
-- discuss good ways to express emotions (use words). (Thank you, Rachel, that makes me happy! Dad, I am angry that you won’t let me play outside.)
Thursday
This week the number is 5.
Show Jack 5 objects to count. (5 crackers, 5 raisins etc.)
Show Jack the written numeral 5.
Give Jack a printout of the number 5 to color. Gently remind him that the goal is to “stay in the lines”.
Draw 5stars on a piece of paper and count them with Jack.
Jack the detective: Take a walk and count 5 of many different things
Show Jack the I Spy,Numbers in Art page and count five objects.
Read a star book
Sing the star song
Friday
Bake cutout cookies! Let Jack help roll the dough and press down the cookie cutters to make stars, fives, and Es.
Read a star book
Say the star poem
Humpty Dumpty was an Egg!
-- read the Humpty Dumpty Rhyme from The Real Mother Goose several times.
--Take a real egg or two out to the “back 40” and set them on the old chair.
--Say the rhyme and ask Jack what he thinks will happen if the eggs fall off the chair.
-- knock the eggs down. If they break, talk about how the eggs are broken and can’t be fixed. Explain that many things in life can’t be fixed if they break and that we need to be gentle.
-- If they don’t break, try it again…
Saturday
Scrapbook stars, Es,and 5s with Mamma from the week’s activities.
Catch up on anything that didn’t get done during the week.
Starfish