Just because our students are young children and all they want to do is play, does not mean our teachers needn’t prepare for the weeks activities. The writing of the lesson plan gives the teacher time to think about the class, the stage of development of the students and allows for challenging but achievable goals to be set for the week. Lake Mary Childcare’s curriculum allows for the teacher to be creative and match the children’s stage of development with fun activities that achieve the goals of the Florida Standards of education.
Lake Mary Childcare VPK class (photo by kind permission of parents)
The Florida Department of Eduction has published Standards for all age groups which our teachers at Lake Mary Childcare can use to design the lesson plans and feel confident that the lessons are bringing the children along at a pace which is neither to slow or too fast. Why not explore these standards yourself, http://flbt5.floridaearlylearning.com and compare your current childcare’s lesson plans with the progress that the standards suggest. They really are very helpful to the teachers and parents.
So lesson plans are very important. Here are some of the reasons why:
Prepares the teacher for the coming weeks activities
Allows the teacher to set challenging but achievable goals
Allows for observation and reflection when designing next weeks lesson plans.
Allows the Director to monitor class progress
Allows for a substitute teacher take over in a teacher emergency
A lesson plan posted on the notice board allows parents to see what activities the children are experiencing.
Lake Mary Childcare 3yr class (photo by kind permission of parents)
Next time you walk into your child’s classroom, ask to see the lesson plan. Hopefully you will be very pleased with it.