Early Childhood Lesson Plan Ideas for Educators
Creating Curriculum for Preschoolers and Young Children
Aug 29, 2009
Many preschool and early childhood centers utilize prepackaged lesson plans from a specific content and curriculum specialist. This type of unified curriculum is especially useful for preschool classrooms within a larger public school district. For small or single private preschool or daycare program, daily lesson planning can present the unique challenge of creating interesting and developmentally appropriate curriculum on a daily basis for children in infant to preschool transition groups.
Early Childhood Lesson Planning Resources
There are many different places to find inspiration for quality lesson plans.
- Reference books: There is a vast number of early childhood lesson planning reference books available. Some of these are more general in nature, and others cover specific content areas such as art, literacy development, or science. These can be found in book stores, online book selling sites, or at a public library.
- Free lesson planning content: Free lesson planning guides and materials are readily available online. Try an internet search for a specific theme, age group, or curricular area. Another great source for lesson planning starting points or activity ideas is the NAEYC website. This site contains information on developmentally appropriate practice, evaluation and assessment, and publications such as Teaching Young Children.
- Teacher lesson plan sharing: Others teachers can be a fantastic source of information. Join a professional group, network during workshops, or speak to other educators within the same school for tips and ideas. These lesson and activity plans have often been classroom tested and modified.
Adapting Lesson Planning Resources for Individual Preschool Classroom Needs
It may be necessary to adapt activity materials for those teachers who choose to use a pre-made lesson plan from a resource book or online publication. A reliable lesson plan created by one teacher, may not entirely work in another classroom. Several different aspects of classroom lesson implementation may come into play when adapting resources.
Adapt lesson plans for age. An imaginative painting exercise for preschoolers may be perfect for toddlers, with some minor changes. Do not disregard a lesson simply because of the stated age range. Additionally, child development is variable. A plan that worked for one teacher with four year olds, may be completely acceptable for another classrooms’ three year olds.
Adapt lessons plans for significance and familiarity. This may be community or culturally contextualized. Make sure that the lesson plans contain activities that are relevant and can be understood by the class.
Seek out specific themes, and then alter the plans to fit a classroom need. For example, a cat shape collage may be listed under an animal theme in a teacher resource book. This activity could easily be adapted to fit a shape or famous artists theme.
Be creative when adapting pre-made plans. Think about the class, and what the lesson objectives are. Consider the possibility of extending a science lesson into the art area, or using literacy activities within a music class.
Teacher Created Lesson Plans
One of the best resources for creating lesson plans is the actual teacher. Use the early childhood development knowledge that has been gained through years of school and/or experience to create unique class specific plans. A good lesson plan does not need to come from somewhere else. Many teachers feel very confidant in creating excellent, well structured plans themselves.
When forming a self-created lesson plan remember to:
- Have fun!
- Utilize child development theories and research.
- Create developmentally appropriate plans.
- Be specific in terms of plan format, goals, and time line.
- Plan in advance.
- Work with other teachers within the school or center.
Lesson planning for preschools and child care centers can be a fun, rewarding experience. Watching a well formulated plan enacted in the early childhood classroom is a wonderful sight to see. Utilize resource books, free online content, and other teachers in order to create positive, developmentally appropriate plans.
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