2014 - 2015 Preschool Themes

School year 2013-2014 has yet to come to an end that I've already started planning for school year 2014-2015. I simply couldn't help myself: I love planning and the ideas were flowing. For example, I've already come up with a brand new batch of themes to explore for my 3 year old preschooler. I've also created various assessment forms (aka progress report) for my use every week to evaluate how my little one is progressing within the Montessori program (though we truly are not exclusively following this educational approach I must say) and I am now working on a new daily schedule, lunch menus and so forth.

 

For now, what I'd like to share with you is the new list of units I've assembled for the upcoming school year. You'll find some "classic/traditional" thematics  (bugs, weather, transportation) but also a few more personalized  ones.  The beauty of picking out themes for one child is that you can truly base these on that child's interest. I'm not saying that I exclusively chose topics that my daughter will adore but I consciously included a lot of themes that I know she'll be motivated to explore.  Of course, a few of our units are not going to be exactly Montessori-friendly this year but as I said, I'm not a hardcore Montessorian so I allowed myself this "parenthesis" for a few units (fairies, princesses).

2014-2015 Preschool Themes

AUGUST

(School is due to start on August 25 2014)

Down by the Seashore

SEPTEMBER

Woodland Fairies

On The Go (Transportation)

Fashion Week

Autumn Fun

Kitty Cats & Their Wilder Counterparts

OCTOBER
Firefighters are Community Helpers
In the Kitchen
Cuddly Teddy (Teddy Bears)
Halloween

NOVEMBER
Build it Up (Blocks)
Life's a Zoo
The Princess in Me
Thanksgiving

DECEMBER
(Winter Break shall start December 19, 2014)
Up in the Sky (Solar System)
It's a Birthday Party
Christmas

JANUARY
Winter Wonderland
In the Wintry Woods
Lollies, Gummies and Other Candies
Pups & Dogs

FEBRUARY
Chinese New Year: Baa to You!
Valentine's Day
Mardi Gras / Carnaval
Inventions & Imagination

MARCH
Construction Zone
Training Camp (Sports)
St. Patrick's Day
It's Raining, it's Pouring (Weather)
Easter

APRIL

(Spring Break shall be held the week of April 6, 2015)
Spring's In
Earth Day
On the Farm

MAY
By the Pond
At the Fair
Don't "Bug" Me (Bugs)
Amazing Plants

JUNE

(School is out on June 12, 2015)
Teatime and Sweets are my Favorites
Deep in the Ocean

Needless to say, needs and interests are subject to change and so are these weekly themes. Family visits and health crises also tend to squeeze in and may cancel/shorten up some days/weeks but overall, this is what should be found on our shelves this upcoming school year...What's going to be on yours?

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2013-2014 Kindergarten Themes for Adrian

Drum roll please: I have finally finished to "dot the i's and cross the t's" on my Kindergarten themes for 2013-2014! Honestly, this list was somewhat ready well before Zahavah's was, but I somehow was hesitant to go from draft to final version. As some of you may know, Adrian, now 5,  will be entering Kindergarten this fall and will be attending school full-time as a result. It wasn't exactly a choice; technically, Germany doesn't allow children to be home schooled so Adrian must go to school "full-time" this year and if we wish to "home school" him, so be it...but only after school is over. :) Adrian of course loves to learn and loves "school with mama". I do have my doubts as to how much he'll really be able to do after a full day in German Kindergarten; thus the hesitation at putting together themes and a new home school binder together for that matter. In the end, I am still going forward with themes this year because Adrian loved the concept last year but I won't prepare nearly as many activities as I did in the past. I also decided to keep home schooling in place for Adrian because Adrian is still behind in some areas of learning and well...I'd like for him to read English too! ;)

Adrian and I at a garden this summer; lots of botany!

2013-2014 Kindergarten Mini-Unit Themes

September

It's All About Me !

Home of the Oldest Countries : Europe

On the Farm

October

The Colorful Season : Fall
Little Monsters & Robots
Build it Up : Legos, Playmobil and MegaBloks
Halloween

November

The New World: North America

Inventions & Gadgets

Training Camp (Sports)

Thanksgiving

December

The Angry Birds Strike Back

The "Frozen" Continent : Antarctica

Christmas

January

To the Milky Way and Beyond

On the Go (transportation)

Home of the World's Largest Tropical Rainforest : South America

I Rock (rocks)

February

Celebrating Dr. Seuss (children's book author)

Valentine's Day
Mini Winter Olympics

At the Zoo

March

My Healthy Body (nutrition, human body)

St. Patrick's Day

By the Pond

The Terrible Lizards (Dinosaurs)

April

Construction Zone

The Largest Continent: Asia

In the Garden

Easter

May

Up in the Sky (weather)

The Sweet Life (sweets & candies)

The Smallest Continent : Australia

Don't Bug Me ! (insects)

June

Ocean Life

Circus Time

The Cradle of Humankind : Africa

The continent study is spread throughout the school year as you can see but it may be blended in the month itself instead of being completely separated from the other themes covered during that month. I'll see how best to cover it. One thing is sure, Adrian's developed a passion for geography lately so he'll be very happy to see it on the "menu" this year! :)

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Summer Enrichment Program for Preschoolers - Themes 2013

Back a few months ago, I presented a draft of what I thought might happen with Adrian's summer. I suggested that we might keep homeschooling but in a lighter version and I decided to follow through with this initial decision. (yay !?! ) Adrian could use some help in a few departments to be ready before his Grand Entrance in "Kindergarten", he loves doing "school with mama" and he looks frankly bored on the week-ends when school is out. On top of that, German school, which he attends a few hours a week, will not be out until the 31 of July, so if I were to, say, stop homeschooling now, he would, I'm sure, think I'm quite lazy! :) I am thus preparing a summer enrichment program for him to enjoy throughout the summer but in  a"lighter" version because well, I really want to be able to enjoy the summer and not feel like we have to get through anything. It's enrichment, not anything that MUST be done. If the weather is nice, I want to be able to just say: let's go out and play instead. I also want to spend most of my evenings and week-ends planning for the upcoming school year; not on planning the summer units... (Bad mama ! hehehe)

Ms. Dragonfly, last spotted in our NY backyard two summers ago;
back then, summers were quite spontaneous!

Summer Enrichment Program "Tiny Units" for Preschoolers

JUNE

It's a Luau ! (Week of June 17)

JULY

Space Camp (Week of July 1st)

Circus Time (Week of July 15)

Construction Zone (Week of July 22)

Ocean Life (Week of July 29)

AUGUST

Legos (Week of of August 5)

Out West with the Cowboys (Week of August 12)

You will notice that some weeks have been left out...That is not a mistake. Living abroad means we tend to have lots of friends and family members stopping by for a visit (of course, that's usually during the best season: the summer). As such, during these weeks, school will be out. If you are lucky, I'll have prepared some posts in advance and you won't notice my absence so much... :) Regular school should resume the very first week of September.

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2013-2014 Toddler Themes for Zahavah

"So whatever happened to Zahavah?", you may wonder. No, wait. Did that introduction trigger the even more troubling question of "Who is Zahavah?" because then, I really owe you a deep explanation. :) You see, when I first started blogging, I thought I'd devote Sorting Sprinkles to both my preschooler and toddler. And I did. For a while anyway. Like until Halloween or something. And then I simply couldn't keep up  brainstorming two great curriculum at the same time. I had to let one go and in my head, it had to be Zahavah's. I felt like Adrian's was "more important" because he was a preschooler and since he was not attending school per say (he attends 4 mornings a week in German so in my head...it didn't count), he should be "attending" with me whereas Zahavah "could wait".  I still did and do activities and games with her of course but they're not planned like Adrian's. As such, I haven't blogged about these at all but no worries...she's having a good time, hosting play dates, "working out at the gym" and learning here and there with what I have time to put together for her.

Zahavah Thinking of the Upcoming School Year

Of course that's about to change. Little Miss Z will be turning two and a half this summer and will be ready to enter the proper world of Montessori Learning and as such you'll see a lot more of her comes fall and the beginning of the new school year. I've been debating for quite a while now as to how to proceed with her. I do so love working with "mini-unit" aka themes (I bet you couldn't tell!:) ) but when I investigated what other folks did with their toddlers, I found out a lot went with "letter of the week" and "book of the week" units instead.

Hmm. "Letter of the week" actually seemed like more work than a mini-unit to me. Just the letter "D" makes me think of "dog"and "dinosaur", and those are two HUGE topics. No, couldn't possibly do that. The "sorter" in me just couldn't combine it all. Then, "book of the week" triggered some excitement in me...but then I remembered all my visitors who wouldn't be able to follow along anymore and also,... would a book be enough to prepare an entire week of trays? Not so sure. In the end, it looks like I'll be doing mini-units for Zahavah as well.  I am now looking at possible themes for the upcoming school year. I think I may include a few book-based units but I'll try my best to choose books that were published in several languages...

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Ok. Done thinking. Here's what I've come up with so far. Of course, these themes are all subject to change. I took in consideration Zahavah's current interests and these can always change (although, she is a pretty constant girl I must say). I also tried to pick themes that are universal; themes that she would encounter if she were, for example, to go to a nursery school that used thematics. I also tried to choose subjects that will make it easy to incorporate Montessori elements of course. Now, enough said, here is what you've all been waiting for...my mini-unit themes for 2013-2014! :)

2013-2014 "Tot School" Mini-Unit Themes

September

It's All About Me ! (body parts & emotions)
On the Farm
Falling for Fall (Autumn)
Fashion Week (Clothing)

October

To Market, To Market (At Grocery Store)
Princess Zahavah of New York (princesses & royalty)
Favorite Pets
Halloween
Halloween

November

Going Places (Transportation)
Forest Friends (In the Woods)
Zahavah, Little Mama
Thanksgiving

December

My friend Maisy Mouse (Lucy Cousin character)

It's a Birthday Party !

Christmas

Christmas

January

A cold winter
Pretty Ballerinas
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You Hear? (Eric Carle book)
Cuddly Teddy (teddy bears)
Teatime and Sweets and My Favorite

February

The circus is in Town
Valentine's Day
Teletubbies
Mardi Gras

March

Lollies, Gummies and other Candies
St. Patrick's Day
The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle Book)
Sports Camp

April

Up in the Sky
Spring is in the Air
Easter
Easter
In the Garden

May

By the Pond
Life's a Zoo 
At the Fair 
Don't Bug Me ! (insects)

June

Summer Fun

At the Beach

No plans announced yet in terms of summer enrichment! :) So what do you think? Any input? I know you may be surprised by some themes (Teletubbies? Really?) but my choices were made with MY toddler in mind. Besides, themes can always change as mentioned before. Some may also be completely "deleted" as penciled in guests confirm their visit and require the postponement/elimination of some topics. Sick days may (or rather will probably) be necessary as well but for now, I'm pretty happy with what I've come up with...

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"Preschool" Themes 2012-2013 - Revised

When I first sat down last summer to plan Adrian's mini-units, I knew I'd have to be flexible with my thematics. Sure my themes were based mostly on Adrian's interests (plus a few thematics I felt he should explore to "enlarge his horizons") but I knew I'd have no control over sickness (gulp!), a lack of ideas on my part for a unit (double gulp!) or relatives dropping by for a little while. Overall, I'm proud to announce we stuck to our "curriculum" for the most part. See below what we've gone through so far (plus a clickable link to the first post published on the theme) and what we are planning on covering for the remainder of the school year.

2012-2013 Mini-Unit Thematics

(with link to 1st part of the post published on the theme)

September
All About Me
On the Farm
Fall
Apple

October
Pets
Trains
Halloween

November
Angry Birds
In the Woods
Thanksgiving

December
Robots
Christmas
(No posts published - 2 weeks)

January
Outer Space
Winter
Transportation
In the Kitchen

February
Mardi Gras
Valentine's Day
Knights, Castles, and Dragons

March
Zoo
St. Patrick's Day
Candy
Easter (two weeks)

April
Weather
Earth Day
Spring
By the Pond

May

Dinosaurs
Community Helpers: Dentists
Bugs
Pirates

June
Summer
By the Seashore

Now, I've been debating for a while whether I should hold or not a "summer enrichment" program. I know what you're thinking, "please, do, we'll miss you!" LOL Just kidding. The thing is, in the past, I have used my summers to plan for the school year ahead. I have also used them to recuperate some energy. It might not look like much but putting together one unit per week is very time consuming. Don't get my wrong, I absolutely love putting together all these units. Brainstorming and researching are some of my favorite things but it leaves very little time for other aspects of life when it's due by a certain date and it can get a tad bit stressful at times. I also have to consider that Zahavah did not have much "planned" school at all this year. We played and improvised learning activities as she is only two but comes fall, she will be ready to enter proper Montessori activities too and will be looking forward to "school with mama" as well. I cannot let her down and will most definitely need some time to plan for her work as well (I cannot possibly re-use some of Adrian's as sadly, I started with "A" when he was a 3.5, not 2.5). 

On the other hand, I remember how bored Adrian was last summer. Despite my suggestions, nothing seemed to completely engage him. I knew he missed "school with mama" as he calls it and I, just like him, couldn't wait for it to start, especially for his sake. The little guy can barely make it through a week-end without "school with mama" (yes, I do get requests for school lessons on Saturdays and Sundays!!!) so two months was a LONG time for him (and for me to hear about it...) At this point, I am thinking we'll give it a try at my own rhythm over the summer, with no pressure. I anticipate we'll span a theme over two weeks or so and cancel school completely when friends or family are in town. The units will possibly be "lighter" in content and focus more on "kindergarten" preparedness and outdoorsy activities. I haven't mapped out all our thematic units yet and we'll probably have a week or two on full break but so far, I'm thinking of something along the following lines:

Potential Summer Enrichment Themes 2013

At the fair or  Circus

Space Camp (because Adrian would love another "Outer Space" Week)

Sports

"Legos"

Multicultural World

The 7 Continents

Luau?

There you have it. A summary of our 2012-2013 themes for my 4 year old.
Enjoy!

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Today, I'm happily linking up to

Montessori Monday, The Kids Co-Op, Show-and-Share Saturday, Link & Learn, TGIF, Share it Saturday, Mom's Library, The Sunday Showcase, Sun Scholars's For the Kids Friday, Stress-Free Sunday, Thursday Toddler & Preschool, Tuesday Tots, Preschool Corner &5K, and We Made That.

If you would like me to link up with you, please don't hesitate to ask, it might take me a week or two, but I generally do!

Adrian's Thematics

Adrian giving a new coat to Lightning McQueen; 

Adrian loves Disney's Cars.

When I sit down to chose themes for an entire school year, I always try to take in consideration the child's interests (for Adrian, trains and cars are absolutely his favorites). It always makes school more fun and inviting for them. That being said, I also consider what kids usually would learn if they were in a "real school". It's always nice to broaden a child's interests and add new words to their voculabulary. 

Adrian's Thematics for School Year 2012-2013

September:

All About me

Farm

Fall

Apples

October:

Pets

Trains

Leaves

Halloween

November:
The Far West
In the Woods
Thanksgiving
Harvest Time


December:
Robots
 Christmas (3 weeks)


January:
Transportation (minus trains)
Space Exploration
In the Kitchen
Wintertime


February:
Mardi Gras
Valentine's Day
Colors
Fairy tales, Magic and Fantasy


March:
At the Zoo
Candy
St. Patrick's
Easter


April:
Construction Zone
Earth Day
Springtime
By the Pond


May:
Weather
Dinosaurs
Occupations
Circus


June:
Pirates
Bugs
Summertime
In the Garden


July:
Independence Day
By the Seashore

I am aiming for one theme per week. It's a good rate to keep the interest up and it's just long enough to have enough material to present. Adrian being a preschooler, themes may change/be adapted during the school year to fit his current interests. That's the beauty of homeschooling!

Zahavah's Thematics

Zahavah loves reading about zoo animals and as such the theme "At The Zoo" 

was added to her thematics for this school year.

I hesitated before picking out themes for Zahavah's school year. After all, a toddler does not quite register that there is a theme going on through the day/week I thought. Still, having thematics can help establish a curriculum filled with activities and as such, I decided to use themes this year. My choices were based on basic concepts such as letters and numbers, the seasons and their holidays as well as themes I knew she'd enjoy.

Zahavah's Themes for School Year 2012-2013

September: 

Body Parts & By the Seashore

October: 

Shapes & Halloween

November: 

Colors & Thanksgiving

December: 

Pets & Christmas

January: 

Clothing & At the Zoo

February: 

In the Kitchen & Valentine's Day

March: 

Vehicles & Easter

April: 

On the farm & Springtime

May: 

Alphabet & Bugs

June: 

Numbers & Summertime

July: 

Independence Day & Picnics & Camping

As you can see, I've chosen only two themes per month...which means Zahavah and I will be exploring   each theme for approximately two weeks. At this point, I do believe it will be enough. Zahavah is still young and needs a lot of unstructured play as well, but I am willing to adjust, shall we fall short of concepts to explore.