Below is one of the newest questions being asked/answered on the ABCJesusLovesMe.com Facebook Group page. I love how so many of you have stepped in to help our sister and I wanted to share some thoughts as well for everyone to read.
I have a 3 year old who is ready to start learning more. Here is the problem…I can not write a lesson plan for a week. I have no clue. I would really appreciate all the help I can get.
My immediate reaction when I read this is to jump through the computer screen and give this sweet momma a hug! Love her honesty and willingness to learn.
The problem isn’t with her. The problem lies in the fact that some of us are born teachers and we make lesson plans on every aspect of our lives – doing laundry included. We create a plan about planning. (An illness. I know!) This sweet momma is feeling the pressure.
The great thing about ABCJLM is that I have already created the lesson plans. So, unless you have a desire to do more planning, the majority of work is done for you. Depending on your personality and the amount of time you can spend on the preparation, I wanted to give you some ideas of how to get started.
For Those Who Want Basically No Prep Work:
Head to the Lesson Plan page for the chosen curriculum. (If you don’t know where to find the lesson plans, watch the Introductory video.) Click or turn in the Curriculum Book to the week in which you are working. Do a quick read through to familiarize yourself with each objective (point to be covered).
Secondly, print or gather from the Workbooks all of the needed worksheets so that you can grab one when time allows. Place with the curriculum.
Throughout the day, be intentional to add these objectives into daily
activities. As you cover an objective, place a check mark in the lesson
plan.
For example: This week covers the color red. Purposely choose a red shirt to wear and talk about its color. Find other items throughout your day that are red.
For Those Who Want to Plan a Little Bit:
Print the “I am Learning” objective poster. Fill out the objectives and post to your refrigerator. This allows you to quickly scan what is important that week. And again, be intentional to place these objectives into daily activities.
For Those Who Miss the Classroom and Think in Lesson Plan Format:
If you desire a little more structure and love to plan, here is the page for you – Scheduling a Lesson Plan into a Week. Each curriculum contains its own example but I have chosen the 4 Year example to share with you. View an example in list and chart form as well as see a video example of how to write Lesson Plans.
Whatever way you chose to prep for the curriculum is fine. But don’t spend hours planning just because you like to plan. Stick to the basics and be intentional. And…have fun!
Which method of planning do you use?
For a 3 1/2 year old.. how do you transition into and between the more structured learning times? The times you want them to sit and listen to a flannelgraph (wish I had one of those.. but I improvise!) story and interact with it, the times you want to talk about letters and numbers with them… the times you want them to sit long enough to do a craft and discuss its relevance to the day… Do you try to do those things at once and make it fast? Do you separate them and say "Ok, you're playing but in five minutes we're going to have Bible time.." or letter time, etc.? That's where I get hung up. On the parts that should be structured and getting ONE 3 1/2 year old (with a 19month old nearby) to feel that structure (which can be a good thing..they respond well at preschool when together!). Even with your planning page and the page about how a day might go I don't feel confident in practice. :/
I will write a blog about your question in the next week or so. I think it depends on your child and their attention span. Most preschoolers probably need breaks in between. Stay tuned!
LOL You had to be talking to me!
Since last year when I first decided to homeschool my children… I knew I would use ABCJLM curriculum to teach my 4yr old and 2yr old. I love it! However, when I got down to actually writing out lesson plans, I became frustrated and wasted hours trying to create one. My husband told me I was trying too hard… guilty! That is kind of my personality, over-achiever. I even decided to go with another, "easier",as in easier for me to plan, curriculum I found online (which I spoke about in my blog). Being me and wanting the best for my children, this decision didn't settle with me (or perhaps, Holy Spirit?). I was determined, as a mother and a first-time homeschool teacher and as a christian, to give my kids the best effort. So, I began again…
Here is what I did: I took each lesson plan for the week, and I broke them up into subjects for the entire 36 weeks(for instance, "Bible Time" is when we talk about the Bible story, memory verse, songs etc…)Then I moved on to the next subject and so on. This is a little time consuming but for me it clarified everything. When looking at the whole week, I was overwhelmed. But, by breaking it down… It came out just right for US. Also, most of the books I can get from the library (or really cheap off of amazon like the website shows you) and I am finding a lot of the bible songs on Youtube.
The key is to do what fits your family (or your personality), follow Holy Spirit guidance, if you feel overwhelmed.. take a break. Stop and pray.
Although I am not completely finished, I am well on my way to getting it ready.
Thank you for your post today 🙂 I love how God gives us confirmation that we are doing the right thing!
I love what you said about wasting hours. We as moms are notorious for this! Over plan and spend hours away from our children. God bless you as you (and I) learn to balance what life throws at us.
I actually spent a few hours writing out a weekly lesson plan based on the 2 year old curriculum. Now that I have the template, I can use if for all the other weeks. It just helps me to have each task/lesson/objective written down in a scheduled format. That way I can quickly look and see what we're supposed to be doing at certain time. Like a say, It's great to have a schedule, so we know what to deviate from. 🙂
Once you get a few planned out, then it goes quicker in the future. A template is a great idea!