In our monthly curriculum box from Experience Preschool, we receive four Teacher Guides and many helpful references, such as the Weekly Activity Skill Chart. This month's theme is All About Me and I love how they combined the Weekly Lesson Plan and Summary of Skills sheet from last year. It is helpful to see the entire day at a glance and follow across to the skills we will be focusing on. It also highlights the activities we are to assess. All helpful aids for busy teachers!
Above, Mrs. P. is working with two students. Relationships are at the center of what we do at St. Mary Preschool, and so we do not do many activities en mass. We invite children to join us when they are ready and take our time introducing the activity. Our Experience Preschool curriculum provides prompts if we need them, however Mrs. P. has become very skilled in this area (she's a natural, really!) and will ask the children an opening question, ask them to make observations about the inspiration photo such as colors, shapes, lines, subject, etc. She then gently guides them through how they may want to create their project, always allowing for self-expression and creativity. We are not looking for what I call cookie-cut art here. And parents certainly don't want Mrs. P.'s art work. They will treasure their child's work and will definitely know that their child created it.
Experience Preschool has developed a Developmental Continuum of Skills, that have 7 main learning domains, and 35 school-readiness skills within them. The focus for this activity were skills SED 1 Self-Awareness, and CA 3 Visual Arts. If you would like to more about the skills, please click here.
In one of our STREAM stations, we had lighted mirrors and a question prompt along with key vocabulary words. Children were able to get their tool box and create another self-portrait if they desired. Repeat exposure to the same or similar activity is important for preschoolers. Some children are eager to try new activities right away, while others have another plan in mind in the Housekeeping station or Block and Building Station, for example. Our goal is to provide 50 - 60 minutes of uninterrupted play so children can plan and carry out a plan. It not only respects children and their work, we are encouraging the use of higher-level thinking skills.
We hope you enjoyed an inside look at how we use the Invitation to Create activities in our Experience Preschool curriculum. Please contact us if you have questions and be sure to check out our Facebook page for regular postings of life in our classroom.
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AuthorSheila Anderson has over 25 years experience in the Early Childhood Field and still loves going to "school" everyday. Archives
January 2022
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