Curriculum: What Your Child Will Learn This Year
Teachers at our preschool employ diverse and engaging strategies to introduce and reinforce the understanding of shapes among young learners. Through hands-on activities and playful experiences, children embark on an exploration of shapes in their surroundings.
Puzzles and Building Blocks: Teachers provide puzzles and building blocks designed with various shapes. Preschoolers are encouraged to manipulate these toys, piecing together puzzles or constructing structures using blocks of different shapes. This hands-on approach allows children to physically interact with shapes, enhancing their ability to recognize and differentiate between geometric forms
Real-life Examples and Environmental Exploration: Educators capitalize on the immediate environment, pointing out shapes in everyday objects such as windows, doors, tables, and even food items. During walks or outdoor play, teachers guide children to identify shapes in nature, like circles in tree trunks or triangles in rooftops. This real-world application fosters practical understanding and application of shape recognition.
Art and Craft Activities: Creative endeavors involving art and craft are utilized to reinforce shape recognition. Preschoolers engage in activities like cutting out shapes from paper, drawing shapes, or creating collages using different shapes and colors. These activities not only enhance shape identification but also encourage fine motor skills and creativity.
Group Discussions and Games: Teachers facilitate group discussions and interactive games centered around shapes. Through conversations, songs, and games like ‘I Spy’ or ‘Shape Hunt,’ children actively participate in identifying and discussing various shapes, making learning interactive and enjoyable.
Getting started on the 6-week plan
Crafting in the classroom draws in student attention, gets children excited about the curriculum, and builds classroom community all while focusing on learning goals.Your students have so much to gain from classroom crafting!
What to Expect...
Each week’s theme focuses on a different aspect of learning while incorporating various activities that cater to different learning styles and developmental areas. These activities should be flexible and can be adapted based on the children’s interests and developmental levels. Additionally, the plan should include opportunities for free play, outdoor time, and individual exploration.
1. Shapes All Around Us
- Introduction to basic shapes (circle, square, triangle) using puzzles and interactive games.
- Shape scavenger hunt in the classroom or outdoor area.
- Art and craft activities focused on creating shape collages or shape-based drawings.
2. Sorting Shapes
- Sorting different objects and toys by shape.
- Matching shapes using shape cards or puzzles.
- Creating shape collages by sorting and gluing together shapes of various sizes and colors.
3. Shapes and Nature
- Outdoor exploration focusing on finding shapes in nature (e.g., circles in tree rings, triangles in leaves).
- Collecting natural objects that resemble shapes (e.g., rocks, leaves, sticks) and categorizing them based on shapes.
4. Constructing with Shapes
- Building structures using blocks, Legos, or other construction toys emphasizing shapes.
- Creating shape-based designs and patterns using building materials.
5. Shapes in Art
- Art projects using shapes as templates or stencils to create artwork.
- Shape-themed coloring pages, allowing children to explore coloring within shape boundaries.
6. Shape Adventure
- Storytime with shape-focused stories, discussing shapes encountered in the story.
- Shape hunt activity where children find and identify shapes in books, toys, or everyday objects.
