Lesson Planning 101: The Basics on Early Childhood Lesson Planning

Lesson planning can be one of the most enjoyable daily routines of being a teacher. It can also be quite exhausting (flipping through numerous lesson planning books, deciding on what is developmentally-appropriate for your age group, and gathering the supplies for each learning experience). Below you will find the steps for a simple and less stressful lesson planning process:

1. Use your school's curriculum as a model or if you are a daycare provider buy a pre-devised curriculum theme tool. This will cut your planning time in half. When you know the themes you are basing your plans on and they flow in a developmentally-appropriate manner such as (All about Me, My Community etc.) it will allow you to focus on planning rather than theoretical content. 
2. Research the Internet (See my previous post on great websites for preschool teachers: http://glitterandgluesticksforever.blogspot.com/2013/04/preschool-paydirt-great-preschool.html and lesson planning resources for quality lesson plans. 
3. Choose activities which pique a child's interest in your theme, build from their prior knowledge, and slowly advance the lessons throughout the week. This way you can assess your children's knowledge in a particular subject. Ex. If your theme is spring, first chart your children's responses to signs of spring or items they see in the spring (flowers blooming, birds singing etc.) and then go on a spring walk in your neighborhood to investigate these signs. This lesson invites questioning, scientific discovery, language use, numerical concepts (have them count the number of birds they see along the walk) etc. If you choose a learning activity which is too difficult, your children's interest will melt faster than ice cream on a hot day. 
4. Investigate in a quality lesson planning book which lets you simply write down each activity you are planning during the week. One of the best lesson planning books for preschool teachers is The Daily Plan Book for Preschool which helps you develop each learning center and activity for the week by using an easy box format for each center: Housekeeping, Math and Manipulatives etc. I give this lesson plan book an A+ for its ease of use and simplistic nature. 
5. Make sure that you have lessons spread throughout each subject of early childhood: Math, Science, Language Arts, Outdoor Play, Gross Motor. You never know when this activity could be used as a filler on a rainy day or as a transition to another activity (so plan at least two of these activities each week in each of these subjects)
6. If your school allows you to, make sure to have a morning and afternoon circle which enables you to teach basic concepts of your theme in the morning and lets you assess your children's knowledge of the theme later in the day. Afternoon circle is a wonderful experience because it allows a teacher to more deeply explore the power of her teaching and invites students to re-examine the base of their knowledge building throughout the day. 


7. Most importantly calm down and enjoy yourself as you teach the children the basics on a variety of subjects. Children pick up on non-language based cues such as stuttering during lessons and sweating which makes them more nervous that they will not be able to understand the importance of your lessons. Believe in your teaching ability and know that you are doing a great job teaching our youngest pupils!