Saturday, November 7, 2009

Preschool Learning Centers

Hey everyone,

My finger is healing and I'm back to writing work, which means I can also get back to the blog. I don't have my stuff ready for November yet, but I did want to share something we did last month.

Avlyn seems to thrive on the whole concept of preschool learning centers. In daycares these are usually areas dedicated to one particular learning concept. In our homeschool, these are spots on my dining room wall that cover certain concepts. Since including these 'learning centers' as part of our daily routine, Avlyn has picked up concepts without me even having to try. Part of the reason is because she loves changing the weather center, referring to the letter center when writing, counting out money at the money center, marking off days at the calendar center, and showcasing her work at the arts and supplies center.

Creating simple preschool learning centers is fun and beneficial to your homeschool. Below I'll detail our centers and what we have in them.

1. Calendar center

Here I post a printed out calendar. I used seasonal pictures from DLTK's Custom Calendar Centerto print out a calendar page for each month. Every day we review the month, day of the week, all the days of the week, the number of days in the month, and then she marks off the day.

2. Money center

Here I taped up paper coins I found at the Dollar Tree store. Above those I taped the actual coins for a better reference. She reviews the coins and how much they're worth at the money center. I will add dollar bills and a 'store' to the money center later on this year. If you don't have a dollar store nearby, you can find free money printables at Money Instructor.

3. Letter center

This is the spot on our wall where we hang our letter strips. We use these strips to review letters, letter sounds, and when handwriting.I also purchased these from the Dollar Tree store.

4. Weather center

This is one of her favorite centers because it changes everyday. I put up a sign that says, "Today's weather is". I then attached two magnets to the wall and to paper weather pictures. (Yes, Dollar Tree store again)She has pictures of a sun, snow, rain, clouds, wind, and a girl wrapped up in a scarf looking at a below 0 thermometer. I did print out the wind and cold girl since our weather package didn't have those elements.

5. Art and supplies center

This is the area where I hung a pocket folder to keep all her supplies. She also showcases her craft projects. This will soon be the art/sight words center as I'll be hanging up the monthly sight words on this wall.

And that's it. A really simple but fun way to incorporate traditional learning centers into your homeschool routine. Happy Homeschooling!

1 comment:

  1. Great ideas! Alexander would love the learning centers. We have our center on our frig and it is most recently getting attacked by Annaliese, since she's on the move and into everything. These are wonderful ideas!THank you for sharing.

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