Back to School Preschool Ideas

Preparing Your Child for School

Whether your child has attended the same preschool for several years or is just beginning preschool, you'll still need to prepare her for the changes that will inevitably come her way. For many parents, choosing a preschool involves several issues, including curriculum, convenience, and costs. For children, however, the start of a new school year can be daunting. While children who are first venturing away from mom and dad may understandably be anxious during those first days at school, even kids who are returning to the same school they attended the year before can still have doubts and fears. New classrooms, new teachers, new friends, and new curriculums can make a child feel overwhelmed.

However, with a selection of carefully chosen and applied back to school preschool ideas, a child can soon adjust to her new schedule and other new experiences. Parents can help prepare their child before the first week of school by introducing him to some fun activities, visiting the preschool the week before class begins, and talking to him about some of the activities he can expect to occur.

Some Back to School Preschool Ideas

Back to school preschool ideas should have several particular goals in mind, including the following:

• Introducing the curriculum
• Familiarizing students with schedules
• Introducing teachers and classmates
• Incorporating rules

Teachers often use back to school ideas to gauge their students' abilities as well. Most preschools try to follow a set curriculum that focuses on readying these children for kindergarten. Common skills, such as learning colors, letters, and numbers, are typical of a preschool curriculum and can easily be incorporated into daily lesson plans. The following ideas can be adapted for your classroom or home.

Letter of the Week

One of the simplest lesson plans you can introduce into your classroom is the "letter of the week". Focus your entire week on one letter. Repetition plays a big role in a preschooler's world. Do the following:

• Post the letter all over the classroom.
• For show and tell, ask children to bring an item that starts with that letter.
• Hand out coloring pages that focus on items which begin with that letter.
• Help children write the letter each day of that week.

Color of the Week

Plan to teach the color of the week in a similar manner:

• Ask children to bring an item that is the assigned color for show and tell.
• Ask children to wear a shirt that is the same color as the color of the week.
• Have children do various activities using the color of the week, such as coloring, painting, or playing with Play Doh.

Number of the Week

Numbers can be confusing for small children, so stick to one number of each week until they’ve mastered numbers one through ten.

• Post the number of the week around the room.
• Let children count items in the classroom, such as "one trashcan", "two windows", etc.
• Have children count items they are wearing, such as "one button", "two shoes", etc.
• Continue to count items throughout the day, including playground equipment, lunch tables, etc.

More Ideas

• Help children learn the names of their classmates by instructing them to sit in a circle and try to name everyone. You may need to create small circles of only three or four children to begin.
• Ask children to bring an item from a trip they took over the summer to share with the class.
• Be sure and practice rules over and over with your preschoolers until they are very familiar with what is expected of them.
• Assign a different role to each student each day, and rotate those roles. For example, roles could include "line leader", "teacher's helper", etc.

More Resources

For more ideas, visit the following sites:

• Preschool Rainbow
• Preschool Express
• Preschool Education