Making rhythm and rhyme a part of your child’s life will have a tremendous impact on your child’s speech, literacy, reasoning, physical, emotional, and social development. Simply introducing your child to preschool songs, preschool poems, and nursery rhymes can have a lasting impact on the way your child learns and develops.

There are so many benefits to bringing music, rhyme, and rhythm into your young child’s life that now you can understand why so many early childhood education programs emphasize music. Plus it has the added advantage of being fun for you and your child. And the best part is that there is no age threshold. You can begin working rhythm and rhyme into your child’s life at birth (or even before)!

Both scientists and educators are realizing that early, positive musical experience is uniquely effective in helping children achieve their full potential intellectually, artistically and emotionally.Simply using music on a regular basis with your child, including singing, listening to music, and playing instruments, can reap tremendous benefits. It is important to note that simply listening to music is not enough. Making music is more powerful for children than just listening. It is important for you to provide your child with a solid early childhood education experience that you won’t have to trust to chance but it is even more important to foster a love of learning!

Christian Colleges

An article in the Chicago Tribunelast week outlines the growing practice of preschoolers cramming with tutors for entry into the top public schools in the city.

It’s a practice that cities like New York know well, but it’s new and growing in Chicago and other increasingly competitive school systems in the country.

In Chicago, 3,337 applications have been filed this year for 500 seats in Chicago Public School system’s classical and gifted kindergarten programs for this fall.  As the Tribune says:

“..with low-performing neighborhood schools an unattractive option and the cost of some private schools out of reach, many parents see CPS’ selective enrollment programs as the best public education option in the city.”

Is a preschool tutor a good idea?

Here’s what testing includes:

For kindergarten entry, the tests are one-on-one, and ask kids to do things like identify trapezoids and figure out how many cookies they’d have if their mom put two more on their plate.

For gifted programs they would want kids to be able to make predictions about what happens next, infer relationships between objects, and recognize patterns.

Tutors and test-prep programs work with kids as early as three-years-old.

I have a two and a half year old and the idea of him sitting for an exam (or prepping for one) makes me break out in a sweat.

But beyond that, it’s my understanding that these kindergarten tests for skills and intelligence do not really do a good job of predicting anything. As Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman point out in NurtureShock, kindergarten testing leaves a huge number of kids behind. That’s not because some kids just don’t “test well” — it’s because the tests themselves don’t really predict anything valuable to begin with.

Here’s more from my Science of Kids column on what research says about the most important preschool skills.

Has your family been through school testing? Do you think the system works, and would you consider “prepping” your child?

Enjoy this simple preschool lesson plan that teaches young children about shapes. The activities below will introduce children to circles through an art activity, preschool picture books, a song about circles, and shape walk, and a circle sorting activity. This lesson plan works well in conjunction with adaycare center unit theme about shapes or math and manipulation.

Circle Art Activity
Circle Crayon Rubbings
Materials: Card stock or sand paper, scissors, cardboard, glue, light colored thin paper, and peeled crayons in various colors.
Instructions: Pre-cut circle shapes in various sizes from card stock or coarse sandpaper. Glue the circles onto a piece of cardboard. Place a piece of light paper over the circles on the cardboard. Encourage children to turn the crayon sideways and rub the crayons over the circle shapes to produce colorful designs.

Circle Math and Manipulation
Circle Sorting
Cut triangles, rectangles, and circles out of poster board in various colors. Provide two containers and encourage children to sort the shapes into two categories, one for circles and one for shapes that are not circles.

Shape Recognition
Shape Walk

Take children around the neighborhood, park or playground.  Have them point out circles as you walk.

Circle Preschool Music and Movement
Teach the children the song “It’s a Circle”*:

See the sun up in the sky,
Well, it’s a circle.
See a hula hoop roll by,
Well, it’s a circle.
See the sun up in the sky,
See a hula hoop roll by,
Round as a fresh baked apple pie
And it’s a circle.
See a wheel on a roller skate,
Well, it’s a circle.
See a cookie on a plate,
Now that’s a circle.
See a wheel on a roller skate,
See this cookie on a plate,
Boy, this cookie sure is great
And it’s a circle!
See that great big manhole cover
Lying on the ground.
It’s not a square or a triangle,
It’s big and flat and round-
And it’s a circle.

*Taken from Stepbystepcc.com

Circle Cooking Activity
Have a party or picnic with foods that are shaped like a circle. Some food choices include: Circle shaped cereal, sliced bananas, sandwiches cut into circle shapes, mini pizzas, sliced carrots, meatballs, grapes, scoops of ice cream, round crackers, etc.

Preschool Books about the Circles
Here are some great books about circles to share with children:
It’s Circle Time! Shapes (Rookie Preschool)by Emily Bolam[Children’s Press, 2009]
Circles (A+ Books: Shapes) by Sarah L. Schuette and  Elena Bodrova[Capstone Press, 2002]
Circles (Heinemann Read and Learn) by Diyan Leake [Albert Whitman & Co, 1993]
Circles (Bookworms – the Shape of the World) by Dana Meachen Rau[Benchmark Books, 2006]
Circles (Shapes Around Me) by Anita Loughrey [QED Publishing, 2010]

This preschool lesson plan provides crafts, preschool songs, games and other activities for a theme on reptiles.

A preschool lesson plan on reptiles is a fun theme that has lots of choices for program planning. It can be incorporated into a pet theme, or be extended with a dinosaur theme.

Fun Fact about Reptiles

Introduce the reptile theme at circle time. Collect some pictures of reptiles to show the children as well as providing these facts:

Crafts for a Reptile Preschool Lesson Plan

A snake craft: This craft is two steps if paint is being used. The following material is required:

• paperplate
• brown paint, or brown felts
• scissors
• hole puncher
• string
• googly eyes
• black felt pen

Each child will paint or color his paper plate brown. If the paint is being used, then the plate has to dry before the next steps occur. If needed, the teacher can draw a spiral figure onto the plate for a visual cue. The plate will be cut in a spiral figure from outer to the middle, leaving a space for the head. The children can finish off their snake mobile with eyes and a smile and then string will be attached to the top.

Lizard Craft: Cut out a lizard shape from thick white or light brown paper, and provide children with brown and green tissue squares to clue onto the lizard to create the scales. This craft can also occur with the children tearing brown and green construction paper which is good for fine motor skill development

Preschool Songs for a Reptile Preschool Lesson Plan

The following song can be sung to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Reptiles they have many scales

Some reptiles have long long tails.

They lay eggs and like the sun.

Some have legs, and some have none.

Reptiles they have many scales

Some reptiles have long, long tails.

Some other well known songs that can be included in a reptile preschool lesson plan are “Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree” and “I Had a Little Turtle”.

Preschool Activities for a Reptile ThemeThe following list suggests that other activities that can be included into a reptile preschool lesson plan:

1. Try playing the game, Duck, Duck, Goose but change the words to Snake, Snake, Lizard
2. Fill the sensory table with sand, wood and plastic snakes, lizards and turtles
3. Plan a Turtle Theme Day
4. Visit a pet store or invite any families that have reptiles as pets into the classroom for a visit

Reptiles is a topic that is very popular with many four year olds, particularly boys, so planning a preschool lesson plan around this theme will definitely be enjoyed in a preschool setting.

Preschool Alphabet Activities involving Sensory:

Looking for a unique sensory type learning activity to teach your preschoolers the Alphabet and it’s letters? This preschool alphabet activity will help preschoolers to learn the alphabet, the sounds of letters, words that start with the various letters of the alphabet and will help develop fine motor skills etc.

Requirements for this Preschool Alphabets Activity:

How to Use this Preschool Alphabet Activity:

You could let the children or preschoolers each have a turn trying to remove the next ball in alphabetic order. *If you had the room and containers for it you could have a box or container each with a few letters of the alphabet on it.

Doing this will allow the children or preschoolers to then ‘drop’ the balls into each container or box that matches the letter of the alphabet written on the outside.

(ex.) Container is labelled A, B, C, D. The children will then drop the balls that match these lketters into that container or box etc.

You could allow the preschoolers or young children to pull out the balls in the correct order, which involves them searching around a little more or you could let them pull the balls out as they find them and match them to the proper container.

You could allow the preschool kids or children to use only specific tools to remove the balls from the sensory bin, like only using a spoon. Or you could let them pick what ever tools that they want to remove the balls from the water.

You can decide all these rules for the learning game. As teacher or care provider, you can discuss the letter with the children each time they remove a new ball from the water.

You can discuss the pronunciation of that letter. You can discuss words that start with that letter etc.

Use your imagination to keep learning alphabets fun for the children preschoolers in your classroom or at home.

lphabet Activities for Preschoolers & Young Children:

Looking for unique, exciting ways to teach preschoolers & kindergarten children all about the alphabet in the preschool or kindergarten classroom?

Looking for Preschool Alphabet themes or lesson plans?

Learning the alphabet is an important part of a young child’s learning & development as they progress into reading, writing & spelling areas of their learning.

Here is a fun creative activity or preschool alphabet theme you can use with your child or the children and preschoolers in your care.

Alphabet Theme & Circle Time Activity:

Each week you could have a different letter of the alphabet be the focus of learning during your circle time activities etc.

So, starting with the letter ‘A’ you could devote an entire 5 day week to discussing the letter ‘A’ during your circle time activities and your routine.

Get a Large Poster or Picture of the Letter for that Week:

Find a large letter, draw a large letter or find a poster with the letter of the week and have it displyed in the circle time area or classroom where the children can see it.

Everyday, for the week of the letter in question, you could then discuss a new ‘word’ that starts with that Letter of the Week.

Sensory Bin Activity:

Set up a sensory bin with some water. Place in some ‘plastic’ apples along with some washclothes or scrub brushes and let the children play with the apples in the water. The preschoolers can pretend they are washing apples.

Art Shelf Activities:

You could have alphabet printable coloring pages dealing the Letter of the week, or objetcs that start with the letter of the week (ex.) Apple coloring pages etc..

Preschool Classroom Library Materials:

You can have books that deal with the Letter of the week, or deal with the word of the day (ex.) Kids books about ‘Apples’ or other words or topics that start with that letter for the preschoolers. ABC Books work for that.

*This is only 1 simple example of things you can do for teaching preschoolers and young children about their alphabet. You can go through the entire alphabet, 1 Letter per Week and each day have a new ‘word’ based on the Letter of the Week.

Simply provide, pictures, books & objects as discussed above about the Letter of the Week and emphasize the pronunciation of the letter in the word and teach children about the ‘word of the day’.

Use your imagination to teach children & preschoolers about the alphabet and words that begin with the letters of the alphabet.