Prepare your preschool, kindergarten, or toddler program in minutes with our convenient ABC Method. Compile and sort activities that will be available for scheduling when you need them.
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For many early learning teachers, planning the preschool program can be both a welcome activity and a chore. Finding just the right book or activity for your theme gives you a feeling of accomplishment, but it can also be time consuming.
Our ABC Method of program planning can do the heavy lifting for you, compiling and scheduling daily activities with ease. Any steps you can take to make this job easier are a bonus, right?
As teachers and caregivers of early learners, your day is occupied with teaching, supervising, nurturing, and playing. You need a reliable system for gathering and storing ideas, a system that lets you create a lesson plan in no time.
A simple way to create lesson plans can be a game changer for your early learning program.
A.B.C Method for creating lesson plans
With the diversity of teachers and their students engaged in early education, no two early learning programs will be the same. But key components will be included in most early childhood environments.
These components are reflected in the the letters A.B.C., used to name our program planning method.
ABC method explained
A = Activity B = Book C = Craft
These general categories support early childhood development as kids play.
Each event within a category provides early learners with new or familiar experiences, in independent play or in small or large group settings.
Daily schedules will vary according to teaching styles, early learning environments, time restraints, as well as ages, interests, and skill levels of the children.
Here are the ABC categories explained in more detail.
Activities
This category can include a variety of play experiences that take place indoor or outdoor; in small or large groups; with or without props; engaging fine motor or gross motor skills.
Activities can be gross motor, such as indoor bowling, cognitive such as playing a memory card game, or fine motor, such as sorting shape cutouts on the felt board.
Activities may be introduced one on one or in a small or large group setting.
Books
This category can include a variety of literacy experiences: traditional story books; puppet shows; role playing; felt board activities.
Events can be teacher-led, such as reading a book at circle time, or child-led, telling stories with puppets during free play time.
While story time generally takes the form of a traditional book, a creative story telling method can be a fun alternative.
- For example, role-play The Three Bears after reading the book together.
Crafts
This category can include a variety of arts and crafts experiences: paints; craft materials; play dough.
Craft sessions provide opportunities for kids to imagine and create with a wide variety of art supplies and mediums.
- Include basic materials like paper and paint, glitter and glue, crayons and markers, as well as ribbon, yarn or stickers for more sensory and fine motor opportunities.
- Provide other mediums such as play dough, kinetic sand, and slime for additional creative play options.
Balance craft ‘tutorials’, that require following specific steps, with process art experiences, that require few or no instructions. This will provide kids with a variety of learning opportunities.
In all art sessions, encourage the process without focusing on the product.
How to use the A.B.C. Method to create a lesson plan
Compiling and scheduling are the cornerstones of the ABC Method. Filling your weekly planner requires both accessing and scheduling the events.
With the ABC method, program planning is made easy with just two steps!
Step 1. Compile content.
Create a storage system that is convenient for you to compile and organize activities.
- Store content as a hard copy in a 3-ring binder.
- Retain information in a digital spreadsheet like the sample below.
Options for sorting content in a spreadsheet.
a) Sort content by theme or topic.
b) Add columns in the Activity section to separate gross motor and small group activities.
c) Label each entry with a skill category such as fine motor, sensory, or math. This will show you at a glance the various learning skills that are being supported through everyday play.
d) Make a separate category for special events like field trips, or visitors to your center.
e) Add links or cite sources.
f) Include song lyrics or instructions for games.
g) Follow up any activity in a comments column, to alter or improve it in the future.
The categories – and columns – you create will depend on your preferences, and range of activities offered. You can start with broad categories such as ‘seasons’ and ‘animals’, then become more specific with sub-categories such as ‘autumn leaves’ and ‘dinosaurs’.