September Preschool: Water

Last year we followed the official joy school curriculum with three of our neighbors, meeting twice a week.  It was a wonderful experience and the kids loved it.  This year we decided to create a simplified preschool option that was realistic for three moms with eight kids (soon to be nine) between them.  We meet once a week, each teach once a month, and go on a field trip the last week of the month.

In September we choose the theme of water.  The first week the kids learned about the water cycle and built terrariums.  The second week they learned about things that float and things that don’t.  The third week I taught about how the water is cleaned and comes into our homes (thank you Magic School Bus Visits the Waterworks).

The kids made a water filter and were amazed how the dirty water was cleaned.  They tried their hand at carrying water to the “house” like they would have done in the era before plumbing.

During free play time they all became engrossed in making a really dark fort.  Then there were monsters in the fort that they had to scare away.  They collected supplies and came up with plans.  In the end we cleaned up and chased them all out of the house.

We were hoping to go to the canal museum in Delphi, IN but it was closed in the morning so we opted for Columbia Park Zoo instead. The two year old crowd enjoyed playing in the little fountains and the four year old crowd loved the animals.

I really enjoyed this first month and I’m super excited about our plans for the rest of the year!