Educators reinforce alphabet letter recognition, letter sounds and uses through daily letter-centered activities. Focus on one letter each week and infuse games and special activities around that letter.
For example, teach the letter "a" with a different craft or activity each day. Teach the kids what a long and short sounding "a" should sound like and how to identify it in different words. Create a worksheet displaying words and pictures containing the letter "a" and ask the children to work independently and circle the words with a long "a" and put a box around the words with a short "a." Color the pictures.
Another way to teach letters is to focus on a special letter-driven craft. For example, if you are teaching the letter "a" you could teach the kids how to make paper airplanes or create a special acorn craft where they color an acorn on a page and then glue googly eyes and a smile on the page.
Early introductions to math are made during the preschool years. Before entering kindergarten, a four-year-old should know basic numbers and some early addition and subtraction.
Make learning math fun with some preschool math problems. Create a worksheet that asks the child to count and subtract teddy bears to formulate an early math problem. This activity can be done as a class with the teacher delivering instructions out loud.
For example, provide a worksheet with teddy bears instead of numbers for equations. Problem number one could have four teddy bears minus two teddy bears, equals and a blank. Ask the children to color the teddy bears that are taken away from the big number to arrive at their answers.
Create a number centipede as a math craft. Provide each child with eight pre-cut colorful construction paper circles. Ask each child to use a glue stick and connect each of the circles, end to end. Instruct the class to draw a happy face on the first circle then number the rest of the circles, from number one through seven. They can use their number centipedes for future math activities in place of a traditional number line.
Preschool is when children receive their first taste of science. Ready your class with fun, age-appropriate science projects.
Teach your class about how seeds grow with a pre-K science experiment, perfect for four-year-old children. Provide a small clay pot, potting soil and flower seeds for each child. Have each child plant the seeds in their clay pots and place them by the window. Be sure each child marks his pot with his name. Create a tracking worksheet for each child and ask them to record their plants' growth every day. Ask the children to water their plants every day, draw what they see and then write down if the plants grew or didn't grow. Discuss the plants' progress at the end of the month and ask each child to report on what he recorded in front of the class.