Start the day with an interactive lesson or activity that will get students excited for the day. This could be a song that you teach the class, assigning daily helpers to perform a task such as helping you take attendance or collecting homework or asking students to write about a subject in a journal. Students can read their journals aloud to better engage the rest of the class.
Alternate classroom activities to better engage students. In an ideal schedule, there is time for the children to move and interact with one another, but also time for calm and lecture. With your schedule, you should strike a balance that will keep children engaged and focused. For example, your schedule could include an hour for reading to the class while they sit quietly followed by an hour of spirited game play or more interactive lessons.
Set priorities with your curriculum and activities to ensure a successful balance. Throughout the course of the day, it is likely for your schedule to be rearranged and portions to be shortened or extended according to the classroom occurrences. Be flexible with your approach, but budget your time wisely to include the most important tasks early in the day.
Allow time in the schedule for transition periods, such as cleaning up or calming down from other activities. For example, if you schedule an hour for arts and crafts time, you should include 10 minutes following for putting away supplies and preparing the students for a different activity.
Mix lessons from different subjects throughout the course of the day. In an early childhood classroom, the secondary school model of presenting information in increments of subject is not as effective. Instead, practice a more integrated approach that might include a spelling lesson between two math lessons.