Sneak Peek for 3-4 Year Old Curriculum
My wonderful and talented sister gifted me her homeschool co-op curriculum last year. I spent the last year reviewing her amazing lessons and I have compiled a sneak peek of what we have to look forward to next year.
We have lessons for Math, Literacy, Science, Writing, Cutting, Music, Technology, Crafts, and PE.
Without further ado, here is our sneak peek.
Daily Schedule/Times
9:30 am -11:30 am
1st Day of the Week:
9:30 - 9:45 am Circle Time
9:45- 9:50 am Potty Break
9:50 - 10:15 am Math
10:15 - 10:35 am Writing/Cutting and Snack Time
10:35 - 10:50 am Music, Science, Technology
10:50 - 10:55 am Potty Break
10:55 - 11:15 am Crafts, PE, Free Play (Free Play after Crafts and PE is done)
11:15 - 11:30 am Lunch and Reading Time (includes Religion)
2nd Day of the Week:
9:30 - 9:45 am Circle Time
9:45- 9:50 am Potty Break
9:50 - 10:15 am Literacy
10:15 - 10:35 am Writing/Cutting and Snack Time
10:35 - 10:50 am Music, Science, Technology
10:50 - 10:55 am Potty Break
10:55 - 11:15 am Crafts, PE, Free Play (Free Play after Crafts and PE is done)
11:15 - 11:30 am Lunch and Reading Time (includes Religion)
3rd Day of the Week:
9:30 - 9:45 am Circle Time
9:45- 9:50 am Potty Break
9:50 - 10:10 am Flex Time (make up for those who have fallen behind)
10:10 - 10:30 am Writing/Cutting and Snack Time
10:30 - 10:50 am Music, Science, Technology
10:50 - 10:55 am Potty Break
10:55 - 11:15 am Crafts, PE, Free Play (Free Play after Crafts and PE is done)
11:15 - 11:30 am Lunch and Reading Time (includes Religion)
5 minutes leeway for later mornings, late lunches or off schedules
Example of Lessons (Each one is just ONE lesson)
Circle Time, Example
One wiggle song
Two finger play songs
What day is it today (Today is... Yesterday was... Tomorrow is...)
Days of the Week Song
Months of the Year Dance
Show Month, Day, and Day of the Week on Calendar
Weather Bear
The weather is ____(sunny, snowy, rainy, etc) and it is ____ (hot, cold, warm) so bear is wearing _____ (describe clothes).
Alphabet Review
Number Review
Read Nursery Rhymes (Mother Goose)
Optional: some sort of wiggle activity like freeze dance (freeze the music stops, dance while they music plays, London bridge is falling, or round the mulberry bush, etc).
Math, Example Lesson
Egg counting (Number Recognition)
I picked up some stickers at the dollar store and put the numbers 1,2,3 on the eggs. You can have your little one count and add just about anything to the eggs (pom poms, pasta, paper, stickers, erasers...). This activity also works on fine motor skills since they have to open/close the eggs.
Number Munchers (Counting)
Make a 5x5 grid using masking tape. Place a numbered card in each box (1-5). Have the children walking around collecting a specific number (number 1). After they collect that number have them count how many of that number they collected. Mix everything up and have them do it again for a different number. When they have done all the numbers (1-5), give them one set of 1-5 numbers and have them put it in order, counting as they do so.
Little Suzie (Sizes: Big/Large, Medium, Small/Little)
The teacher will act as little Suzie. The children need to get little Suzie to bed by following the steps for bed time but Suzie is very particular. She wants to brush her teeth with a BIG toothbrush. She wants to wear her MEDIUM slippers and must have her SMALL teddy bear. Get to bed gear in different sizes will be provided. The teacher will play Little Suzie and make up her what ‘Suzie’ wants as she goes along. Finally allow the children to ‘tuck’ little Suzie into bed.
Literacy, Example Lesson
Rolling the Dice (Letter Recognition)
Make your own dice or purchase wooden ones. Print the alphabet letters or words you would like the children to practice. Children roll the dice and say the letter or word printed on it.
Watch and Listen (Letter Sounds)
Watch today’s section of letters sounds from LeapFrog DVD. 15 minutes tops.
Chant (Repetition)
Angry ant, angry ant, a-a-a
(Angry face and stick out tongue)
Bouncing ball, bouncing ball, b-b-b
(Pretend to bounce ball)
Coughing caterpillar, coughing caterpillar,
c-c-c
(Cover mouth like a cough)
Drumming drum, drumming drum, d-d-d
(Pretend to be holding drum sticks and playing a drum)
Elephants echo, elephants echo, e-e-e
(Cup ear like you're listening carefully)
Fighting feline, fighting feline, f-f-f
(Use hands like paws and pretend to claw)
Gulping ghost, gulping ghost, g-g-g
(Put hand on throat and make gulping sound)
Heavy hippo, heavy hippo, h-h-h
(Put hand in front of mouth and pretend to pant)
Icky insect, icky insect, i-i-i
(Shake hand up and down like you're trying to shake off something)
Juggling joker, juggling joker, j-j-j
(Move your hands like you're juggling)
Flash Dolch Sight Words 1 (Sight Words)
Have an adult arrange the flashcards to form a sentence. Read the sentence with/to the child. Remove one of the dolch words from the sentence and put it back in the pile (you may want to make the pile smaller in the beginning to make the activity easier).
Give the pile to the child and have them find the correct card to place back in the sentence. Re-read the sentence.
Writing/Cutting, Example Lesson
Trace the letter A on worksheets.
Cut hearts along dotted lines.
Music, Example Lesson
Shell Silverstein (Nursery Rhymes and Children’s Poetry)
Read a couple of Shell Silverstein poems. Read out the parts that rhyme. Ask them why they think it rhymes? Read a couple of poems and have them scream out STOP when they hear a rhyme.
Science, Example Lesson
Balloon Car
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Experiment time: 5 minutes
Materials needed:
Half gallon milk carton
Balloon
Straws
4 Spools
Some straight pins
Instructions:
The milk carton can be the body. Wash out your carton and cut off the top.
Then, cut it in half the long way.
Cut a small hole in the middle of one of the short sides of the carton. This is where the balloon goes. You'll probably have to mess around with the size of the hole. If it's too big or too small, there won't be enough force to move the car.
Put the balloon through this hole, but don't blow it up yet.
Make holes on each side of the carton for the axles.
Stick straws though these holes. Make sure they're close to the bottom.
Attach the spools to the straws and put pins through the straws to keep the spools on.
Now, blow up the balloon – don't tie the end – and let your car go!
Explanation: Air likes to be even everywhere. If you have a lot of air in one place, then it tries to move to a place with less air so everything is the same. When we blew air into the balloon, the balloon wanted to be small and pushed on the air- creating pressure. Once we let go of the balloon, the air was able to escape and move from an area with lots of pressure to a place with less pressure. The escaping air pushed the balloon (and therefore the carton) away.
Technology, Example Lesson
Use a tablet to play learning apps.
PE, Example Lesson
Canon Ball
Create a ‘castle’ out of boxes or blocks, have the children help. Try shooting balls (canon balls) into the castle. You can also try and bounce balls over the castle or try to knock it over.
Furry Bad Animals
Throw the ball into the basketball net to trap the bad guys. Have the basketball net set up. Have a row of stuffed animals in front of the children. As they make it in throw a stuffed animal in a basket ‘cage’. See how many they can do in a set amount of time. Put less animals if it’s too hard and more if too easy. When they get all the stuffed animals in allotted amount of time then they have saved the Damsel in Distress (China Doll) from the furry wrong-uns.
If you are local and are interested in joining us next year, feel free to contact me via our contact page or my facebook. It's never too early to start learning.
