Top of the Class: Preschool Unit 1, Day 1: The Color Orange!

As promised, I'm going to continue posting the rest of the lesson plans for the week. Day One is red, followed by orange on Day Two (can anyone sense a pattern??)

9:00-10:00- Free Play Time
10:00-10:30- Circle Time

Go over schedule for the day.
Weather Bear (Here is part of the pattern from A View From the Pew that I colored, glued to construction paper, laminated, and then cut out. Then, I placed magnets on the back so that they could be rearranged repeatedly on a cookie sheet or the fridge. My goal with Trevor is not necessarily recognizing what clothes go with what season yet, but I want him to recognize that the shirt goes on the upper body, pants on the legs, etc. He is still unable to dress himself independently, although he does put effort in appropriately. In addition, I saw a strong correlation between the way he practiced feeding his Ernie doll and the way he began to feed himself, so I am confident that experiences are an excellent way to make strides in the right direction!)
Day of the Week Song
Number Practice (1-10)
Alphabet Song

10:30-11:15- Outside Art and Play

Again, we will finger paint, but this time with the color orange. Again, my goal is to bring EXPERIENCES!
Go for a walk around the neighborhood (Since yesterday he had complete freedom to play outside, I'm going to change it up and give him a chance to explore the neighborhood. I find that when scheduling for a toddler, alternating activities constantly is key!)

11:15-Noon- Changing and Lunch
Noon-12:45- Art Project

We will continue working on our rainbow outline, but today, Trevor will tear orange construction paper and place it on the glue dots I stick on the second line.

12:45-1:15- Blocks

I like to make sure that Trevor gets the chance to move around on the floor as he wants while also intently working on his fine motor skills. Yesterday, we worked on balance and larger motions with occupational therapy practice, so to change things up, we will build with blocks today. It involves bigger movements than ripping paper but gives him a chance to balance while knocking buildings over (enter picture of King Kong here...)

1:55-2:15- Bible

In the goal to again change up the schedule some but also doing a more structured, sit-down activity, we are going to watch this kid-friendly video about Noah's Ark. Click here to see the video.

Something that I learned from working with his different therapists is that children, although nonverbal, should be given plenty of opportunities to communicate-and not just with sign language! I also learned a very cool trick for testing comprehension that I never thought of before. After playing a song or showing a video, I will ask Trevor to select the correct picture based on the video. In this case, I will ask Trevor "which one looks like Noah?" and ask that he select the correct one from the 2 options below (remembering to limit his options, but that a more advanced child could benefit from having 4-5 options to choose from).