Would Like To Start A Prek Curriculum

[Josiegirl]

When summer ends, I would like to start some kind of program with the toddlers and prek group. Everybody here seems to be gearing up for universal prek. I need to keep up with the times, not that I have to like it.
I want to stay flexible and only make it a 10 hour a week thing. How do I go from a playgroup where the dcks are used to doing things the way we do them, to a more organized structured morning, probably 3 mornings a week? Plus I'll have 2 1 yos coming.
I've always loved the idea of creating my own curriculum and did do it for a few months. But how do I transition my current routine to that of dcks following rules, sitting and listening, etc. That might sound like a dumb unprofessional question but I'm being serious.
All I can picture is trying to maintain a little control over some of these kids, trying to teach them, and having them wreak havoc instead. I don't know, maybe they'd surprise me by actually enjoying it, listening, and having fun.
Is there some way I could introduce it or set it up so kids would look forward to it?
I guess I just don't know where to begin and how to get it transitioned from a free play type of atmosphere to a more structured preschool time.
Any help out there? Thanks!!!!

[daycarediva]

It does NOT have to be super structured. I started with just circle time after breakfast. I bought carpet squares, and used colored duct tape to make their first initial on each. They sit on their carpet, we sing a few songs, and since my curriculum is literacy based, we read a story, I ask them comprehension questions, and then we do an activity based on the book.

When we are done with our activity- eg. last week we did mouse count. We used plastic jars and pom poms to count mice, we made a painting of an M with mice ears/tail/whiskers, we did a mouse movement song, we played mouse hide and seek ('it' was the snake), and our vocabulary word was greedy (the snake was greedy in the story)

As soon as we are done with that, we line up to use the restroom, we also learn a new song (with action moves or fingerplays) every couple of weeks and practice it at this time, then we go outside.

The kids LOVE it, it's play based, not too much sitting, no worksheets and it helps them to understand books/text and that words have meaning.

Early math skills we use play based items too, playdoh mats, asking them to count out plates, that sort of thing.

I have a science area, small animals, scales, life cycle cards/toys, magnets.

Sensory items I usually sneak a few 'educational' things into- eg all things in the sand bin this week started with M and I had plastic m's M's in there.

[childcaremom]

Every 2 weeks or so I will have a new idea that we will talk about. This past couple of weeks has been garden. I hide the letters, we do our treasure hunt, then spell out the new word.

All activities follow this theme (more or less). For instance, I made a memory game with vegetables, playdough mats with letter V, mats with letter G to fill with pom poms, talked about the colour green - science "can you make green" with coloured water, making green paint, green playdough, green items in the sensory bin, etc etc.\

Next week is seeds so it will be activities with that as the background.

Our day is very similar to above. I have activities out on trays in the preschool area that they can do (or not). If they are interested in doing them, I will 'assist' in small ways, usually ask questions, that sort of thing. I vary them by day and usually switch them up and put them back a few times before our theme has run its course.

Our circle time is brief as well: calendar time, weather, songs/stories/fingerplays about our topic followed by kids' choice of songs. We do creative movement and yoga and then snack.

We are outside for most of our day so I will have stuff set up outside. Coloured water was outside, playdough was outside, we looked for green stuff, talked about the garden and will do planting, etc etc.

I guess I have 'objectives' but I try not to stress if the kids aren't into it (see my other post, ). I aim for fun learning and try to provide activities that encourage it in a playful manner.

[MarinaVanessa]

Absolutely doesn't have to be super structured. Just plan a few fun activities where you focus on something educational and have a goal in mind and then have fun.

I do Morning Meeting which is circle time and all we do is talk about what we're doing for the day, sing songs, one movement/music activity based on the theme and read a story about the theme.

Then I make sure to add activities all week that touch on math skills, science, health (talking about healthy lunch, brushing our teeth after meals, washing our hands etc), social-emotional development (group activities, cooperation), physical development (running, jumping, pushing, pulling) and history/social science (economics=marketplace, sense of time=days of the week, our community etc).

I already cover literacy (reading books), visual/performing arts (singing and movement, dancing) during circle time so I just have to make sure I cover the rest, which honestly isn't hard.