Preschool Learning Ideas

 Preschool Learning Topics

Preschool learning Topics

Pick 3-5 areas per day. Try to combine any areas when possible.

 Here is an example of a plan covering 1 week: 

 Learn about the bee:

• Bees are yellow and black (math and art)
• The word “bee” starts with the letter B (language)
• Practice writing the letter b (fine motor)
• With chalk, paint, colors, pencil, or in playdoh
• Look at pictures of bees in a book (Language)
• Get book from library
• Count the bees you see in the book (math)
• Read about where bees live and what they make (language and science)
• Draw a bee (art and fine motor)
• Pretend to buzz around like a bee (imaginative play and P.E.)
• Eat honey (science)
• Notice that the honey is sweet

 Topics By Subject:

Math

• Numbers
• Recognize numbers 1-20
• Count to 20
• Shapes
• Recognize the shapes
• Draw simple shapes
• Colors
• Addition within 10
• adding various things such as toys, pinecones, pieces of snack foods
• Subtraction within 10
• subtracting various things such as toys, pinecones, pieces of snack foods
• Calendar math
• Days of the week
• Months of the year
• Yesterday
• Today
• Tomorrow
• Numbers 1-31
• How many days until ____?
• Holidays and other special days
• Seasons
• Pattens
• Be able to continue a simple ab pattern.
• Be able to continue a simple abc pattern.

Language

• Alphabet
• Recognize the letters
• Say the alphabet
• Write the alphabet
• Lower case letters
• Upper case letters
• Know several fairy tales or simple stories
• Listen to stories
• Put stories in order
• Put simple events in order
• Fact vs fiction
• Direction words (up, down, left, right)
• Print awareness
• How to hold a book
• Front of the book
• Back of the book
• Right side up
• Looking a pictures
• Noticing the words
• Turning the pages without tearing 
• Noticing words anywhere (signs, advertisements)
• word play
• rhyming words (cat, sat, mat) hear that the end sounds similar.

Social Studies

• Transportation
• Farm animals
• Wild animals
• Pets
• Jobs
• construction workers
• librarians
• storekeeper
• etc.
• Community helpers
• police
• nurses
• doctors
• firefighters
• teachers
• Simple history
• connect history with holidays such as 4th of July goes with birth of the USA, Columbus Day goes with Columbus sailing to the Americas, Thanksgiving goes with the pilgrims coming over on the Mayflower.
• Place around the neighborhood
• library
• grocery store
• parks
• churches
• other places

Science

• weather
• seasons
• summer- hot
• fall -cooling off
• winter -cold
• spring – warming up
• Float vs sink
• living vs non-living
• fish
• Birds
• hot vs cold
• Learn about your body (able to name parts of the body)
• Learn about the 5 senses
• taste
• touch
• smell
• hearing
• sight
• plants
• Anything that your children has expressed and interest in.

Life skills

• Get dressed
• Brush teeth
• Washing
• learn the body parts by washing them
• face
• neck
• chest
• hands
• feet
• knees
• toes
• Put on shoes
• Velcro
• shoelace tying
• Manners at the table
• sweep the floor
• Sort laundry (helps teach colors)
• Fold clothes (wash clothes, match socks, put shirts on hangers)
• Simple cooking (snack making)
• Set the table (spoons, forks, napkins)
• Clean up toys
• following directions

Physical Education

• Fine motor skills (helps with learning to write)
• cutting paper
• straight line
• zigzag line
• puzzles
• playdoh
• stringing beads
• coloring
• painting
• drawing with chalk
• mazes
• dot to dots
• building with blocks
• Gross motor skills
• jumping
• jump over a rope laid on the ground
• forwards
• backwards
• sideways
• running
• skipping
• balance beam walking (forwards, sideways, and backwards)
• draw a line on the ground then have the children walk the line
• lay a jump rope on the ground have the children walk it
• swinging
• bike riding

Bible (get a children’s story book bible)

• Creation
• Adam and Eve
• Noah’s ark
• Tower of Babel
• Daniel and the lion’s den
• Birth of Jesus
• Miricle's of Jesus
• any other simple Bible Stories

Music

• Sing nursey rhymes (helps develop literacy skills)
• Play with instruments (they sell these at the dollar store)
• Rhythm
• Listen to various instruments (YouTube has lots of videos)

 Art

•  Color (teaches the colors)
• Cut and pasta projects (teaches how to use scissors)

Free play

• Creativity
• Imaginative play
• Sharing
• Turning taking

More Homeschooling Resouces

Children and Nursemaid's Elbow

Image via Wikipedia

I never knew how fragile a child's joints are until the day after New Year's Day. I was in the living room playing with my son. He started screaming. I did not know what was wrong. All I knew is he was screaming, and his right arm was not moving. As fast as possible, I took him to the ER. Apparently, he had rolled over in an odd way onto his arm causing the elbow to dislocate. I now know that this sort of injury can occur many different ways. Until then, I thought that joints dislocated when substantial amount of force is used. A child under the age of 4 can dislocate his or her arm by simply pulling away from his or her parent. I urge all parents to find other ways of leading their young children. If all else fails, simple pick up your child. 

Facts about Nursemaid's elbow from http://pedclerk.bsd.uchicago.edu/nursemaidElbow.html

Nursemaid's Elbow

Nursemaid's elbow is a common injury that is seen most often in children between the ages of 1-3 years . Usually the child has had an incident in which the extended arm was pulled. Most commonly it occurs when a child is falling and the individual holding the hand doesn't let go. Another common mechanism is when the child is swinging while being held by the hands. Occasionally, the injury occurs after a fall. 

Anatomy

Nursemaids elbow is an interposition of the annular ligament into the radial-humerus joint. The annular ligament normally passes around the proximal radius just below the radial head. With traction on the extended arm, the annular ligament slides over the head of the radius into the joint space and becomes entrapped. 

Epidemiology

1. Nursemaid's elbow is more common in girls than boys and more often on the left side.
2. Usually between 1-3 years of age and rare after age 4.

Clinical presentation

1. There is usually a history of axial traction. 
2. have been reports of infants < 6 months old with a history of not using arm after rolling over and their arms getting caught.
3. At times, there is no history of axial traction or none was observed.
4. Child will not use the arm and holds the arm slightly flexed and pronated.
5. May elicit tenderness over the elbow joint but there is no swelling, redness, warmth, abrasions, or ecchymosis.

Diagnosis

1. The diagnosis is by history and Radiograph examination is usually not necessary and are normal in most instances. Often during the taking of the x-ray, the subluxation is reduced when the technician positions the arm on the plate.

Treatment

1. While supporting the radial head, the forearm is supinated or pronated and flexed at the same time. A "click" will be heard or felt. 
2. After the "reduction", the child will immediately use the arm. There is no indication for immobilization and rarely are analgesics necessary. 
3. Unless the child doesn't start to use the arm, follow-up is unnecessary.
4. There is a relatively high incidence of recurrence. Parents should be made aware of this and the mechanism of injury should be explained. It may be useful to teach the parents how to "reduce" the dislocation at home. 
5. There are no known sequelae.

References

1. Choung, Walter, and Heinrich,Stephen. Acute Annunlar Ligament Interposition into the Radiocapitellar Joint in Children (Nursemaid's Elbow). Journal ofPediatric Orthopedics. Vol. 15, No.4 1995
2. Wander, Hellerstein, and Ballock. Nursemaid's Elbow, Pulling out the Diagnosis  Contemporary Pediatrics June 2000

Image via Wikipedia

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