At Tea Sprouts we keep a general class schedule of activities each class time. It does change from time to time, but our daily schedule is pretty consistent.
Our schedule is as follows:
*Greeting and entering the classroom - taking their folders out for staff to check
*Circle Time & Focus Wall- This is a chance for students to practice patience, turn taking, and listening. We have jobs for them to do throughout the class time (weather, calendar, line leader, etc). We also work on the focus of the day during this time (letter/number/shape/theme). Many songs and finger plays are also done during this time and throughout the entire class time.
*Smart Board - We may show a short video clip of the number/letter/theme/shape of the week. We use ABC Mouse and StoryBots, but also use other educational short video clips to enhance the focus of the week. The older students then create a class graph with their names and if they contain the letter of the week or not. Many Math skills are learned during this lesson each week.
*Writing - This area is done in multiple different methods depending on the student & class needs. Sometimes instructions and examples are done and the children are sent to the tables to complete it on their own, sometimes in small groups, and sometimes individually. The 4/5 year old classes will be beginning Handwriting Without Tears this year. The 3/4 year olds will be using the Handwriting Without Tears manipulatives.
*Free Time - We use play as the base of learning. Children can learn a lot through structured play activities. In our classroom, we have the following centers for children to choose from during Free Time including snack time. Dramatic Play, Art, Easels, Puppet Show, Library, Large Motor, Technology, Writing, Manipulatives, Puzzles, Blocks, Board Games, Music. We also have themes that we may use during the week that coincide with the letter of the week. Some of the favorites are: Wild West, Ice Cream Shop, Space, Pizza, Doctor, and Hair Salon. This time of the day is when I can pull small groups or individual students over to work on skills to help them grow and learn. Each child learns at a different rate and we differentiate each child's education the best we can.
*Small Groups - This is only done in the 4-5 year old classes as there are such varying abilities and levels. Children are divided into small groups (and these change throughout the school year) to work on different pre-reading skills (letter naming, letter sounds, reading). Small groups are gathered during free time.
*Clean up, Bathroom Break, Story Time
*Math - A variety of math activities are done at this time including: Bingo, counting games, number matching, shape finding, etc.
*Gym or Outdoor activities
STEM/STEAM - These activities will be brought into the 4-5 year old classes this school year. We will integrate them into the regular curriculum and add in time to go out to our STEAM Studio to work on bigger projects that we wish to work on more than one class time. We are very excited to expand STEM/STEAM into our classes more this school year.
Our schedule is as follows:
*Greeting and entering the classroom - taking their folders out for staff to check
*Circle Time & Focus Wall- This is a chance for students to practice patience, turn taking, and listening. We have jobs for them to do throughout the class time (weather, calendar, line leader, etc). We also work on the focus of the day during this time (letter/number/shape/theme). Many songs and finger plays are also done during this time and throughout the entire class time.
*Smart Board - We may show a short video clip of the number/letter/theme/shape of the week. We use ABC Mouse and StoryBots, but also use other educational short video clips to enhance the focus of the week. The older students then create a class graph with their names and if they contain the letter of the week or not. Many Math skills are learned during this lesson each week.
*Writing - This area is done in multiple different methods depending on the student & class needs. Sometimes instructions and examples are done and the children are sent to the tables to complete it on their own, sometimes in small groups, and sometimes individually. The 4/5 year old classes will be beginning Handwriting Without Tears this year. The 3/4 year olds will be using the Handwriting Without Tears manipulatives.
*Free Time - We use play as the base of learning. Children can learn a lot through structured play activities. In our classroom, we have the following centers for children to choose from during Free Time including snack time. Dramatic Play, Art, Easels, Puppet Show, Library, Large Motor, Technology, Writing, Manipulatives, Puzzles, Blocks, Board Games, Music. We also have themes that we may use during the week that coincide with the letter of the week. Some of the favorites are: Wild West, Ice Cream Shop, Space, Pizza, Doctor, and Hair Salon. This time of the day is when I can pull small groups or individual students over to work on skills to help them grow and learn. Each child learns at a different rate and we differentiate each child's education the best we can.
*Small Groups - This is only done in the 4-5 year old classes as there are such varying abilities and levels. Children are divided into small groups (and these change throughout the school year) to work on different pre-reading skills (letter naming, letter sounds, reading). Small groups are gathered during free time.
*Clean up, Bathroom Break, Story Time
*Math - A variety of math activities are done at this time including: Bingo, counting games, number matching, shape finding, etc.
*Gym or Outdoor activities
STEM/STEAM - These activities will be brought into the 4-5 year old classes this school year. We will integrate them into the regular curriculum and add in time to go out to our STEAM Studio to work on bigger projects that we wish to work on more than one class time. We are very excited to expand STEM/STEAM into our classes more this school year.