Pre-school education

Pre-school education is usually for children aged between about 2-6, although it varies; in the UK, formal education typically begins at 4, in the U.S. typically at 5, and some countries, as late as 7.

Pre-school is also sometimes known as nursery school or day care. Early learning, by comparison, covers from birth to the end of preschool, and includes learning at home as well as externally provided education.

Pre-school education is followed by primary education.

Topics

Opposites

Left/Right
Before/After
Up/Down
Over/Under
Forwards/Backwards
Heavy/Light
Light/Dark
Long/Short

Social skills

Identifying emotions in others
Identifying emotions in self

Time

Analogue Clocks
Digital Clocks
Calendar
Seasons
Days of the week
Weekdays/Weekends

Skills

Tracing
Cutting
Taping
Gluing
Threading
Getting dressed
Pencil grip

Classification

Real/Fake
Alive/Not living
Has wheels/Doesn't have wheels
Floats/Sinks
Whole/Part

Language

Starts with (sound or letter)
Ends with (sound or letter)
Identify rhymes
Recite alphabet
Match uppercase with lowercase

Maths

2D shapes
3D shapes
Basic fractions: whole, half, quarter
Numbers 1-20
Count objects with one-to-one corrspondance
Sort by color
Basic measuring
Basic weighing
Simple addition/subtraction with small number objects
Sequencing

Activity ideas

Puzzles
Imaginary play
Painting
Coloring
Games
Outdoor exploration

Main article: Pre-school education/Activities

What do preschool children need?

We'd like them to learn through exploration, and also be able to collaborate, to learn co-operation and sharing. Older learners need more challenging activities.

Most importantly it needs to be fun and enjoyable learn through play!

They need rewards when they do things well (matching shapes to the names), and positive reinforcement when the get things wrong. (We're looking for the circle; try again.)

(also what do they want and what do they like?) They are young and need instant gratification no waiting they want a reaction right away! They love things that make sounds, noises, cause and effect, surprises, magic!

We do want to give our early learners the ability to explore and understand, but we have to make sure they aren't able to (physically) destroy parts, or hurt themselves. We should search for durable keyboards or expect them to be expendable.

Sleep is one thing they need.

Physical Activity is another.

What do preschool teachers need?

A child friendly computer.

For many teachers, they themselves will need computer training to be able to help facilitate any activities on the computer.

Good programs to enhance activities and themes that are being used in the classroom.