Have you ever found yourself three months into school and realized that your students appear to have no understanding of the classroom rules? That’s probably because you did not spend enough time at the beginning of the year making sure that the rules were clearly explained and followed. Never be afraid that you will lose valuable instructional time by doing so. It is quite the opposite!
Here is an example of a typical daily schedule for a half-day preschool class:
9:15-9:35, 12:45-1:05
Arrival: Students wash hands, hang coats and backpacks in lockers, and sign in. They then go to a mat or table and read books.
9:35-10:00, 1:05-1:30
Table Time: Students are sent to one of the tables to work on activities that have been set out. They must rotate to each of the three table activities before going to center time.
10:00-10:45, 1:30-2:15
Center Time: Students have free play at all centers. Call students over to teacher tables to complete directed activities outlined in lesson plans.
Snack: Students may go to the snack table at any time during center time. Three students may eat at the designated table at a time. On the chart next to the table, students must move their picture to whichever snack they decided to eat.
10:50-11:10, 2:20-2:40
Recess
11:10-11:40, 2:40-3:10
Circle Time
11:40-11:45, 3:10-3:15
Prepare for dismissal. Wash hands before leaving room.
For the first few weeks, you might consider allowing center time to be as long as 60 minutes while reading after arrival, table time, and circle time could each be reduced by 10 minutes or so. Another option would be to extend recess to all students to release pent up energy. You may need to adjust these, according to what happens day to day. Flexibility is key!
Although the end goal is pull students to work on academic activities, art activities , or IEP goals while the rest of the class is at center time, hold off on starting that until you feel that most of your students are able to follow the rules independently (or with little prompting). Review classroom rules each day and utilize your classroom aide to help you monitor activities and remind students of the rules along the way. You should find that after three weeks or so, most of your students are able to help their peers remember what they should be doing, and you can move on to your regular lesson plans.
“The instructions of the teacher consist then merely in a hint, a touch—enough to give a start to the child. The rest develops of itself.” —Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook