We already discussed coming up with ideas for different subjects using a book as a catalyst for a study. Now that you have your ideas you may be wondering how to make a plan or how many activities you will need. First you must determine the length of your study. When you are using stories for preschool through Kindergarten age the study should only last one week. To prepare for the week, I often read the story we will study as a bedtime store the Sunday night before we begin. Reading it in advance gets the kids excited about the study and prepares them for the lessons they will learn. However, this is not required and there is not a major advantage in doing this.
As an example of how to create your schedule and as before we will use The Three Bears for any needed detailed explanations or examples. Let’s start with an idea on how to schedule out math lessons.
Math:
Math should be taught daily. You need to determine what math concepts you will be focusing on for the week. The concepts can relate to what you are teaching in your math book or use the story study to begin teaching a concept.
Monday: Teach the concept you will be focusing on for the week. If you are using the number 3, then show the number, have the child write the number and count out three items. Your activity can consist of your child counting out three bowls, three beds, three chairs and three bears. Print out pictures of these items or use real items when possible and in the case of bears use stuffed animals.
Tuesday: Reinforce the lesson by asking your child questions from the day before. For instance you can ask your child to write the number three or point to the number three on a number line. Have your child count to three and then count out three objects. Once your child shows she can do these things then you can move on to using counting bears. You can use the counting bears to show addition up to three.
Wednesday: Get out the counting bears and have your child count up to three and practice adding to three. You can introduce a new concept now such as sorting, size comparison or subtraction.
Thursday: Briefly review the lessons already learned. Find new manipulatives to use to reinforce the lessons you learned. You may use print out sheets to teach or reinforce the concepts or combine math with nature study and get outside. Outside you can count three leaves, three trees, three bugs, etc. You can compare the size of a tree to a branch, etc.
Friday: Review all lessons learned previously. Find fun objects such a stuffed bears to use manipulatives. Have your child write the letter three using cake pan filled with rice or sand. Make your lessons active and come alive. If you are using this as your main math lessons you may want to quiz your child on everything previously taught however do so informally.