Barrett Goes to Preschool
Breaking down the process
My dream schedule and preschool setup has been realized! We have just successfully wrapped up our first week. Barrett is 3.5 years old and is, as many kiddos his age are, headstrong. He knows what he wants and usually that is to be in charge! His quick quips and antics will most likely be included for your reading pleasure. As I go through this process I’ll be sharing our progress, mine as a preschool teacher and his as a big kid student with Teacher Mommy!
The number one key is to keep it fun at this age. I want to encourage and build a love of learning. Learning classroom skills is a huge part of what we’re doing. All of my interactions with him during this time are led by him. If he’s really struggling or not interested I need to change it up to pull him back in…or even leave the lesson for the time being. If he’s not able in the moment to meet learning behaviors and expectations then that is my signal to switch gears and come back to it. An example is learning to write his name. If he has his head down and is pretend sleeping, refusing to sit up with prompts, then I’d rather leave the activity than have him write with his head down.
I’m aware that for 3 years old play-based learning is huge and important. I know that having “learning” based learning is a topic of conflict for many people. I’m not here to debate it. I am Direct Instruction based in my interactions and how I have modeled our preschool time. If this isn’t your jam I encourage you to keep reading to get insight into this approach.
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