Week 18 Lesson Plan for Homeschooling Preschool

Cognitive activity ideas

Objective: (Reason) Uses knowledge to form a plan

Making plans can be a lot of fun, but this objective does not have to be a big chore for you. Making a plan is any activity that requires your child to think about something they want to do or will be doing in the future and organize themselves for it. Work together with your child on these activities, offering suggestions or assistance where needed and doing any necessary writing for them. Here are some fun ideas:

• Together, plan a schedule for the day or a list of errands to run. Incorporate everything you need to do in a logical order.
  
  
• Plan an event like a family picnic or a birthday party.
  
  
• Ask your child to draw a plan for a living room fort made of blankets and then make it according to their plan.

Literacy

Objectives:

• Identifies uppercase and lowercase R
  
  
• Tells the main sound of /r/

Parent instructions

Choose one activity a day with the exception of #1, which should be done a few times a week if possible.

Activities

• Say the ABCs using your chart from beginning to end once a day, pointing to each letter as you say it. After going through all the letters, ask your child to find this week’s letter—R. Look at and have them trace with their finger the upper and lowercase examples. Tell your child that R is a consonant, which is a name for all the letters that are not vowels. Say, “R says /r/ like rat.” Try to ask your child a few times a week (during bathtime, driving in the car, etc.) to tell you the sound of R. (Don’t forget to include some previously learned letters, especially those vowels!) If they need help or say it incorrectly, model the correct way by repeating, “R says /r/ like rat.” Always say it with its example word. (Estimated Time: 5 minutes)
  
  
• While out and about or while reading books, point out words that begin with R. (You could also use your R flashcards for this.) Here are some great example words to look for:  Rat, Rain, Rose, Rake, Race, Root, Row, Rock, River, Rainbow, Ran, Run, Rabbit. (Estimated Time: 10 minutes spread throughout the week)
  
  
• Complete a “Find the Letter” worksheet to locate all the upper and lowercase Rs. Use a marker, highlighter, or dauber to mark all the letters they find. (Estimated Time: 5 minutes)
  
  
• Trace or draw upper and lowercase Qs with fingerpaint, in sand, or in shaving cream. Show your child how both the upper and lowercase Qs have a little “tail” and how both the tails point in the same direction (to the right). This will be helpful when distinguishing between lowercase Q and lowercase P, a common point of confusion. (Estimated Time: 5 minutes)
  
  
• Continue going through your letter flashcards 2–3 times a week. Your pile of mastered letter sounds is probably growing! Bathtime, breakfast time, anytime will work when your child is alert and engaged. Use only the cards you’ve learned so far and incorporate new ones as you go. Make sure to mix up the order every time! Show your child a letter card and ask them to reply with the name and sound prompt they’ve learned: “R says /r/ like rat.” If they reply correctly and immediately, move that card to a pile that you only review occasionally. If they hesitate or answer incorrectly, simply review the correct answer and practice that card again next time. If your child resists such a structured activity, you can drop it in favor of more organic ones such as identifying the letters as you find them on your errands. (Estimated Time: 10-15 minutes throughout the week)

Math

Objectives:

• Continued from Week 16: Count by 10s to 100
  
  
• Identifies and names common 3D shapes
  
  
• Continued from week 17: Knows days of the week

Parent instructions

Choose one activity a day with the exception of #1 and #4 (last on the list), which should be done a few times a week if possible.

Activities

• If your child has mastered counting by 10s, you can suspend this activity for any counting activity you feel they could use more practice with. Sometimes, the teens, for example, are tricky for little ones to remember. Otherwise, quickly run through counting by 10s on the 100s chart to keep it fresh. (Estimated Time: 3 minutes)
  
  
• Review the characteristics of common 3D shapes with your child. (e.g. A cube has six sides, 12 edges that are all an equal length, and 8 corners, like a box. A sphere is perfectly round, like a ball.) Ask your child to identify these common shapes by name (you can use your shapes worksheet for this):
  - Sphere
  - Cube
  - Cylinder
  - Cone
  (Estimated Time: 10 minutes)
  
  
• Around the house or while shopping at the store, try to locate examples of each of the 3D shapes you’ve talked about this week. (Estimated Time: 10-15 minutes)
  
  
• Continue to review the days of the week with your child. Practice a “Days of the Week” song like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB79gFbAh0k. Continue to work on this until your child can recite the days in order and tell you what day yesterday was and what day tomorrow will be when you tell them what day today is. (Estimated Time: 10 minutes spread throughout the week)

Fine Motor

Activities:

• 1 tripod grasp activity
  
  
• 1 in-hand manipulation activity
  
  
• 1 bilateral hand coordination activity
  
  
• 1 hand-eye coordination activity

Parent instructions

Choose one fine motor objective each day and then select an activity that practices that objective from the list in Appendix A. Feel free to choose more than one activity or work on more than one objective a day if you like! Just remember that little hands tire easily and short, regular practice sessions are better than long, sustained ones. (Estimated Time: 5-10 minutes)

Download the Appendix A that lists all the fine-motor activities.

Social-Emotional

Objectives:

• (Self-awareness) Identify personal and family structures
  
  
• (Social awareness) Begins to understand that different people may have different ideas, desires, and perspectives

Activities

Choose one activity a day (Monday - Thursday)

• “Talk positively with your child throughout the week about different family structures: either personal examples you know or ones in stories and books. Some examples are: single-parent families, couples without children, families with one (or lots) of children, blended families, and families with extended family members living with them. Talk about what makes a family. Is it living in the same home? Is it helping and loving one another? This should be an open-ended conversation where you invite your child to share their thoughts on what makes a family and what makes your family unique. (Estimated Time: 15 minutes)
  
  
• Read books with a focus on families. Look for books that show a diverse range of strong family units. (Estimated Time: 15-20 minutes)
  
  
• Discuss with your child how different people may have different ideas or different feelings about the same topic. When your child is playing cooperatively, either with other children or with you, is an excellent time to point out examples. “John might have a different idea about how to build the fort. Let’s ask him.” “I know you wanted to swing next, but I think Becky wanted to play on the slide and it is her turn to choose.” (Estimated Time: 10 minutes)
  
  
• Read books with a focus on differences. Look for books that have a positive mindset toward everyone’s uniqueness. (Estimated Time: 15-20 minutes)

Additional resources

• Suggested books about families:
  - The Family Book by Todd Parr
  - Love Makes a Family by Sophie Beer
  
  
• Suggested books about differences:
  - It's OK to be Different by Sharon Purtill
  - Why Am I Different by Norma Simon