If you have a little who is officially preschool aged (as in 4 going on 5 but missed the kindergarten cut off) and has most of their letters/sounds, numbers 1-10, and is beginning to read easy books- this is the page you want! The plans on this page are everything (and more!) your little should learn in preschool/early kindergarten based on state standards. Just like my PreK 3 plans, each week has a fun theme with activities in literacy, math, science, social studies, art and “extras” centered around the theme. These plans are meant to be paired with the activities in my Calendar Time post and my post Mommy I Can Read for a full preschool day.
All About Me
Since I did a back to school theme last year I was a bit stymied about what to do for the start of this school year- then it hit me! Many of the back to school activities are based around getting to know your students (as well as classroom set up and rules!) so an…
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Community Helpers
One of the Kindergarten (and 1st grade in some places) standards is learning about communities and community helpers. My boys are both super interested in this topic right now (I mean what’s cooler to a 2-4 year old than a giant fire or garbage truck!?) so I knew this theme would be a hit with…
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Kate DiCamillo Book Study
One of my all time favorite children’s authors is Kate DiCamillo of “Because of Winn Dixie” and “The Tale of Despereaux” fame. When I found out she also has several early chapter books as well as a few picture books, I knew we had to do a week exploring her stories! I chose a story…
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Home on the Range
Hey there all y’all cowpokes! It’s high time we do some learnin’ out here on the wide prairie lands! We’re gonna wrangle up some letters, heard some numbers back to their corral where they belong, and have an in general rootin’ tootin’ good time! Saddle up your horse, grab your lasso, and let’s head on…
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Sunflowers!
I know sunflowers are planted and grown all summer, but with their warm yellow and orange petals and hearty harvest of seeds to feed all manner of critters during the winter months, I always think of them as a fall bloom. I thought we’d explore these incredibly diverse plants this week for school…and maybe try…
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Tall Tales
I remember doing a unit on tall tales when I was in 4th grade and I thought they were so much fun to read, so I thought my littles would enjoy them too! (My favorite was always Paul Bunyan- mainly because he had an adorable giant blue ox named Babe!) Each day we focused on…
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Who-Whooo is Ready to Learn?
Now that October is here, I thought it would be the perfect time to study some typical fall/Halloween animals- and of course being a Harry Potter fan, owls were at the top of my list! They’re such gorgeous birds and are really quite interesting to learn about…did you know they can hear a tiny mouse…
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Learning with the Wolves
Hooooowwww would you like some lesson plans with a wild wolfy theme? Look no further, because here they are! Wolves are often misunderstood, but fascinating creatures- and of course their chilling howls (which are really used to reunite a pack or find a lost wolf rather than just to creep you out) are one of…
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Back to Hogwarts
I think my all time favorite lessons thus far were Welcome to Hogwarts and Accio Toddler Activities- the activities are so much fun you don’t even feel like you’re doing school!!! They’re also my most popular- I’m guessing it’s because there aren’t many learning activities out there for Potter fans with very young children, so…
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I Want Candy!
Halloween is around the corner and if you’re like our family your kids are going to end up with so much candy it’ll last until this time next year (I literally just threw away a bunch of mini Snickers I found in the pantry from last Halloween… I know.) If you have no idea what…
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A Salute to Service
Veterans are truly heroic and selfless people, risking their lives, limbs and well being to serve our country and protect peace here and around the world. I am humbled by their bravery and so incredibly grateful for their work. With Veterans Day coming up, we are taking this week to honor our veterans, learn about…
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It’s Turkey Time!
The holiday season is upon us, and for many families that means the tradition of enjoying a nice roasted (or fried!) turkey for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas, along with all the sides and fixin’s! Although the spotlight is on the turkey, I like to zoom in on all that we’ve been blessed with and are grateful…
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A Peppermint Stick for Old St. Nick
Christmas season is here and I’m SO EXCITED to dive into all of the fun holiday activities with my littles! We’re kicking the month off strong with candy cane week- sweet, minty or fruity, conveniently shaped like a “J” for letter recognition practice- they’re the yummy Christmas treat that can’t be beat! -Literacy: -J is…
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The Nutcracker Ballet
I have adored the Nutcracker ballet since I was about 5. The story is just dreamy, Christmas perfection with candy that comes to life, a giant Christmas tree, magical gifts that dance, and a heroine that saves her prince from the bad guy, which is pretty cool- especially given that it was written in 1892!…
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Christmas Around the World
If you know me, you know I LOVE world cultures and majored in cultural anthropology in college so it’s only natural that we had to do a Christmas Around the World theme! Join us as we hop from country to country exploring the various Christmas traditions people have for this very special holiday! Note: I…
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Little Chefs
Christmas is over, but it’s still that cozy, chilly time of year where baking things warms up your house and fills it with delightful smells! My littles and I love to cook, so I thought a week filled with baking things was the perfect way to ease out of Christmas break! Real talk- we did…
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Pretty Little Penguins
What’s black and white, looks like it’s wearing a tuxedo (ie. perfect for the New Year!) and lives in some of the chilliest places on Earth (also perfect for the time of year!)? Penguins of course! Toboggan with us through a week of perfectly picked penguin pursuits (did you like my alliteration there?) as we…
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I Have a Dream
With Martin Luther King Jr. Day coming up, I knew we had to take a week to focus in on the message and life of this amazing American Civil Rights leader. We’ve discussed him on a few other occasions (check out last year’s Black History Month preschool post Black History is American History for more…
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The Roof of the World
Mount Everest has always fascinated me (and probably most of the population). The fact that people can climb through such a slippery, crevasse filled, oxygen poor environment and live to tell the tale is a feat of humanity that boggles the mind. My 5 year old has shared my interest in Everest since I read…
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Gung Hay Fat Choy
Lunar New Year is the most important celebration in Chinese culture, so I thought it would be fun to learn about it in our home too! From the time we did Christmas Around the World when I was in 4th grade I’ve been fascinated with other cultures and their traditions (hence the Cultural Anthropology degree!)…
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Bienvenue en France!
So confession- I meant to do the winter Olympics this week but I mistakenly thought they were in Paris (that’s the 2024 summer Olympics- woops!) but they’re in Bejing! Sooooo long story short I had a bunch of plans centering around France that I just fleshed out a bit (since we JUST did China last…
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Winter Olympics
The winter games are here! One of my best memories as a kid is being SO EXCITED to see Kristi Yamaguchi skate for the US and then finding out she was on way past my bedtime… then planning a sleepover with my figure skating obsessed bestie the night Kristi skated and sneaking out of bed…
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Mo Willems: Author Study
I figured it was time for another author study, and who better to choose than the legendary Mo Willems! Author of the Knuffle Bunny trilogy and the Pigeon books as well as the Elephant and Piggy series, his adorable illustrations and easy text make his early reader books both accessible to beginning readers and also…
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Secret Agent Man
My oldest used to love the PBS kids show “Odd Squad”- he’s since moved on but I knew he and his brother would have fun with a detective themed week of learning, so here we are! We made ID badges first- and my littles insisted on using them to “gain entry” to our classroom each…
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Learning Rocks!
Anyone else have a rock collection as a kid? I know I did, and now my littles are starting their own (mainly by stealing all of our landscaping rocks and hiding them in their rooms! LoL) For some reason kids love rocks, and honestly the variety and beauty of the types of rocks and minerals…
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Wonderful Weather
I don’t know why, but springtime just seems like an appropriate time of the year to dive into weather! You have the occasional rogue blizzard, spring showers and rainbows, warmer temperatures…followed by freezing ones a day later- I mean you basically get everything all at once, at least in the South! hahaha So without further…
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Amazing Animals
We’ve studied animals before here and there, but never as a whole so I thought it was due time! Join us this week as we dive into animal groups and the characteristics that make them special. We’ll be covering mammals, birds, fish and reptiles- I know there are more but it’s Prek so I figured…
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Vroom! Vroom!
Cars, trucks and things that go- my littles are into basically everything with a motor so I thought a cars/trucks/driving week would be something they’d enjoy! Buckle up guys, because this week of learning is going to be a wild ride! -Literacy: -Traffic light retelling: Read a book about cars (we read “Go, Dog, Go!”)…
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Raining Cats and Dogs
April showers bring May flowers- and my littles are both animal lovers so I thought it was a great time to do a dog and cat week! We celebrated the 101st day of school this week with lots of fun 101 Dalmation activities (all at the start of each category), and pulled in several regular…
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Hoppy Little Frogs
When I was growing up in Northern Maine, nothing was quite as neat as finding a big old clump of frog eggs floating around in a puddle- or better yet, tadpoles! We never were successful at raising tadpoles into frogs (I don’t remember ever trying except maybe once when we popped some in our old…
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Tootie Fruity
Summertime is upon us with its fresh berries, lemonade and strawberry shortcake so I thought a week of fruit themed learning would be fun to do! Originally, I was just going to do berries, but citrus and watermelon are fun and cute too so I figured let’s do it all! LoL -Literacy: -Scrabble tile fruit…
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Feliz Cinco de Mayo
This will be my last lesson plan blog, so typing this is a bit bitter sweet. I have about 2 years and over 150 posts on my site with lessons for ages 1-5 and I feel like with my oldest entering Kindergarten next year I’m at a place where the website is complete…plus I want…
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