Horizons Preschool Review Paper

There are four groups in 3 classrooms, categorized as 0-18 months to 2 years, 2 to 3 years, 3 to 4 years (junior preschool), and 4 to 5 years (preschool). They offer a flexible curriculum based on children's interests, parental input, and teacher-directed activities.

The teacher passed around a microphone to each child, it symbolized who was speaking and this made everyone special. The students then had to write two sentences and draw a picture of what they remembered best about their holiday break. Eventually, they shared their two sentences with the teacher or me. Second, I noticed that once everyone read their journals, the teacher quickly called on students based on their bin color, which meant it was time for reading to begin. Each student had their own colored reading bin which included: three reading level books, a word list of the week, and a worksheet using the given word list. The colored bins symbolized what the student was to complete during reading time. For example; students with yellow bins read with the teacher at a table, students with green bins worked on the worksheet, students with blue bins read the three books quietly, and students with pink bins worked on writing on a small whiteboard the word list for the week. This strategy was beneficial because it developed independence. Thirdly, I noticed enthusiasm during the math lesson at the end of the day. The teacher had the students sit on the purple rug for a math lesson. The teacher used her laptop and the video clip to provide the students with visual instruction. Once the video clip was over, the teacher pulled up the worksheet to preview together with the class. Then the students went back to their desk to work on the worksheet

In the book Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited, the authors, Joseph Tobin, Yeh Hsueh, and Mayumi Karasawa, look into preschools in three cultures: China, Japan, and the United States. Prior to writing this books, the authors did research on one preschool in each of the countries to see what the learning styles were and how they compared to one another. Then they went back some twenty years later to see if there were any changes in the preschools. The changes, or lack thereof, brought about the book Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited.

One aspect of my lesson that I felt went well in the implementation of my lesson was the information being grasped by the learners. Before I began my lesson, I asked the learners some questions about the fun phonics letter. I started off by asking the children if they knew what the fun phonic letter for the week was, then I asked them to tell me some words that begins with the letter “Dd”. Next, I read a story called “Harry the dirty dog”. Throughout the story I asked some questions to keep the learners engaged. I asked them questions like “what words that begins with the letter “Dd” did you hear?” I can tell they were engaged because their answers were never off topic. The learners were so excited about the end result of their letter “Dd”

With differentiation in mind, I came up with a daily schedule of learning and instruction time for my students. Entry 4 artifact 3 is a copy of my daily schedule and lesson plan format for instructing my students. I begin my day of learning using whole group instruction with a whole group instruction reviewing the calendar, music/movement activity, and read aloud. During these activities, I ask the students question based upon their ability and grade level. The students are really engaged during our introduction. They get to move and meditate to reflect on their day.

From the training I received the patterns that I was able to identify were starting with the upcoming lesson for the week was announced on Sunday after every class reviewed what they have learned from the week’s Sunday school lesson. Then I would write in my notes what scriptures the lesson will be coming from and also the pastor gives a little overview of the lesson so I utilize this time to jot down the key points to use as a reference for later on.

During my observation at the preschool here at Harper, I looked around and realized a lot of similarities and differences it has; compared to other daycare and preschool centers. The age of children in the room I observed was ages 3-5 with one lead teacher, and depending on the ratio of how many kids showed up on that day, about three or four helping teachers. The program was set up to a very open, happy and overwhelming setting. Every furniture and object in the room had a sign saying what it was, and then underneath the typed out word was the children’s way of writing what the object was. For example, a book shelf was in the corner of the room; on the book shelf was the word printed out “Book

We start out each morning with down time, where kids can make the choice to either go to breakfast,read a book, or choose an educational game on an ipad. After the bell rings and we say the pledge of allegiance,we take lunch count and attendance. The children then take a restroom break and I help monitor the hallway. On Monday-Thursday the next step is small group reading. This marking period a had a group 4 boys who where reading d-g level books. We would also used this time to work on sight words.They enjoy playing a game with those, but it only occurs on days that they can me thiet full attention while reading. On Monday-Wednesday the next activity is do their morning work. In this time I usually walk around and help wherever I’m needed. The kids do a

Early experiences are critical for a child’s development. According to the U.S Department of Education “there are 2.5 million children here in the U.S that does not have access to preschool.” Not everyone can afford

For the first observation site I went to First United Methodist Child Enrichment Center. The preschool seemed small to have a total of 46 students age ranges from 6 months to preschool and 16 teachers. 11 teachers were full time and 5 were part time. Full time teachers receive benefits such as health, dental, etc. The part time help did not receive any benefits. The enrichment center hours were 7:15 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. This was different to me most schools start at 8 where this one did not. The center had all locked outside doors that required a code to get in or a bell to be let in. I really liked that it made everything safer. The children received breakfast, lunch, and a snack through the church except the infants the parents provided anything

Estes, LA., Krogh, S. (2012) Pathways to Teaching Young Children: An Introduction to Early Childhood Education. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Educati

Our lesson plan incorporates the ideas of behaviorism, cognitive development, and motivation. Mixing the ingredients, baking the cake, decorating, and frosting a red velvet cake with 5th graders is our lesson plan.

During my observations in the different classrooms at “The childcare Center”, I learned about the proper environment, the fundamentals of the teachers lesson plans, their health and safety regulations, their approach to guidance and discipline, and overall quality childcare. The center has eight different levels of age groups; each of them has their own curriculum based on their age and developmental needs. This curriculum changes and has a new theme each month that helps the lead teachers to be able to start their lesson plans each week. From infants all the way to pre-K the lesson plans include fine motor, gross motor, art and sensory, math and manipulatives, music and movement, language including both signing and Spanish.

At the beginning of the lesson, I felt that the classroom procedures were a little hectic. After lunch, it takes the class a few minutes to settle down. The students use the restroom and get a drink and then they have about 10 minutes of silent reading to settle down. Once the packets were handed out and the students had a crayon and pencil ready to go, the class felt a lot more settled.

In this term paper I will explore infant and toddler curriculum. I will discuss: the developmental themes in infancy, infant toddler curriculum, and the differences between preschool curriculum and appropriate infant toddler curriculum. In conclusion I will share some of my personal feelings about infant and toddler curriculum, including the challenges and rewards.