There is such a treasure chest of invaluable resources on preschool learning both on and offline, that teachers often find it hard to pick and choose activities for their class. However, the important thing is to make core concepts interesting to the children and good enough to be absorbed quickly and effectively.
In order to come up with a creative curriculum for preschool, teachers need to plan in advance. It may never work if they come to class unprepared and try to make the most of the two hours they have. What this will result in will be a hodge-podge of activities with no structure and more like a day care then a preschool.
Set Goals
The first step to a creative curriculum for preschool will be to set goals as to what the class is expected to achieve by year end. Some specific goals may include: Be able to recognize the entire alphabet and write A to M in upper case. Be able to count till twenty and do simple addition and subtraction. Know days of the week, basic colors and shapes.
Once the broad goals are set, the second step would be to divide the goals amongst the number of weeks you have at your disposal and the number of days the class meets. For instance, a twice a week preschool may not be able to cover an alphabet a week, whereas a five day a week will.
Lesson Plans
Have a standard lesson plan sheet with separate columns or sections for concept of the day, arts and craft activity, song, story, etc and fill in for at least two weeks in advance. Hand it to the supervisor or principal so that he or she can see if the preschool curriculum is creative or if it is lacking in some area. If yours is a more than one room preschool, brainstorming with other teachers can give you ideas of what worked well last year or what activity was too messy to try again.
Order worksheets, art supplies, books and other resources well before the new school year begins so teachers have an idea of what they have to work with. If there are any new toys or computer programs they can use, they may be able to devise lesson plans around it.
A creative curriculum for preschool need not be so new that no one has ever heard of those ideas and be intrigued to see what they do. Rather they should be building on some tried and tested techniques that have been proven to have worked with other three and four years olds in other parts of the country. Treading on totally unfamiliar territory will not be very wise with such young kids who thrive on repetition and consistency.
Rather a creative curriculum for preschool will include similar concepts with activities with a proven track record plus room for flexibility – and fun. After all there are another twelve years of learning ahead!
