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As your daycare center grows, coming up with fresh and exciting lesson plans and activities to keep children interested and motivated to learn can be a challenge. Fortunately, there are many websites that offer free lesson plans, activity ideas, craft project ideas, printable worksheets, Ebooks, materials lists, and resources for early childhood education. Below is website listing for free preschool lesson plans and activities:

First School Preschool Lesson Plans: First-School provides free, fun preschool lesson plans, and activities for early childhood education. Here you will find printable crafts, a wealth of worksheets, and a host of other free preschool-related resources for preschool age children. There are also preschool materials lists and lesson plans categorized by theme.  All activities can be modified to so that they are developmentally appropriate for the age group. [First-school.ws]

Enchanted Learning: Enchanted Learning offers creative, fun, and educational early childhood education materials. Print out lesson plans, worksheets, crafts and activities for preschoolers in a variety of categories. The site is user friendly, colorful, and includes printable books, tracing and cutting templates, games, rhymes and jokes. While this is a free site, members have access to print-friendly and ad-free pages. [Enchantedlearning.com]

TLS Books: TLSbooks.com provides free workout sheets for preschoolers in a variety of categories. There are shape, number, pre-math, concept, letter, fine motor skills, thinking, and color worksheets made specifically for preschool aged children.  There are also teacher resources, reading tips, and craft ideas.

Gayle’s Preschool Rainbow:  This site is great for both early childhood educators and parents.  While the Resource Room is members-only and fee based, Activity Central provides a wealth of ideas for lesson plans and activities. There are free craft ideas as well as ideas for circle time activities, rhymes, songs and finger plays. [Preschoolrainbow.org]

KidZone: If you are looking for free, high-quality worksheets for Pre-K in a variety of categories, KidZone is a great place to start. There are worksheets for alphabet recognition and printing practice, basic skills worksheets, math worksheets and reading worksheets.  There are also lesson plans that have been submitted by website visitors. [Kidzone.ws]

Curriculum books and software can be costly for licensed daycare providers.  Instead of investing in expensive activity books and lesson plans for your child care resource center, consider searching the internet for lesson plans and activities that are free of cost. As an alternative, early childhood educators can join a membership site for a small yearly fee in order to have access to additional, superior material. Please keep in mind that it is legal for individuals or organizations to make copies of website materials for individual or classroom use only, but reproducing these materials for the purpose of commercial use is strictly forbidden.

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Parent-teacher conferences are important in the daycare and preschool environment. Child care providers should be the experts in Early Childhood Development and have the ability to direct parents so that children have the proper developmental foundation.

What is the purpose of a parent-teacher concert in the daycare or child care setting?  A large part of jobs in child care center around supporting the child’s development socially, emotionally, physically and academically.

Early information about a child’s development can lead to early intervention. Preschool teachers can recognize speech issues, fine and gross motor development, social appropriateness and basic learning styles. If parents have an objective understanding of how their child is developing they can go forward and make better choices for their child’s future.

Parents and teachers should have at least two scheduled conferences: One in the fall and one in the spring. Daycare providers should make themselves available to meet with parents at any time necessary. Conferences should at least a half an hour per child and both parents should attend even if they don’t live together if possible so that parents are on the same page when it comes to their child’s development. If meetings occur separately, so much can be lost in translation.

Prior to the first conference, daycare providers should distribute a questionnaire for parents which asks them what their expectations are for their child. The child’s social, emotional, physical and academic development should be discussed and suggestions for home should be made. For example, parents may want to receive ideas about outside activities, reading suggestions, reducing television hours, proper discipline, etc. These answers can be used as a template for the entire year.
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Tips for parent teacher conferences:

Parents should take and keep notes and be prepared to listen more than talk. This is the daycare provider’s chance to tell parents their very well thought out experience with the child. Only when we are quiet can we truly hear what is being said.

Parents should be completely honest with home daycare providers and not hide things from caregivers. Whatever goes on at home will affect the child at and school, so it is important to keep the lines of communication must be open.

Be open and willing to cooperate. If the childcare providers or teacher suggests therapy to help strengthen the child’s gross motor skills take the suggestion seriously. If they see that your child is lethargic and tired during the day, and suggest that you put your child to bed at an earlier time, heed the advice. The childcare provider is the professional and should be treated as such.

Parent-teacher conferences are a vital part of early childhood education. Child care center staff and parents are collaborative partners and it is imperative that they work together.

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Child care jobs are rewarding and lucrative. Many daycare head teacher job positions require that the candidate have 12 units of ECE (early childhood education). Early childhood education courses or child care courses are designed to help you acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to guide young children. Through daycare courses and training you will gain an understanding the emotional, physical, social and intellectual growth of children that will help you land a child care job.

While every educational program is different, you can expect that the following courses in most early childhood education programs:

Introduction to Early Childhood Education: Usually child care education programs start with an introduction to early childhood education.This course usually provides an overview of early childhood education programs and practices. Usually there is introduction to a wide variety of child-care setting s and orientation on how child care programs are organized.

Growth and Development of the Child: This type of early child development course will provide an overview of the features of the growth and development of children from conception through adolescence or from conception to age 5. It also should discuss developmental milestones and cultural influences.

Care of Infants and Toddlers: These courses for daycare providers focus specifically on the development and needs of children under the age of three. It also is a study of the theories and research related specifically to this age group and examines infants and toddlers in a variety of child care center settings.

Child Care Curriculum and Guidance: These courses support early childhood educators in designing developmentally appropriate learning environments for children. This includes curriculum, scheduling, themes, and activity development. You will understand learning goals and objectives for young children.

Health, Safety, and Nutrition: Health, safety and nutrition courses focus on the health of young children. You will learn the basic principles of nutrition, safety and hygiene. You will also learn effective methods of teaching health, safety and hygiene to young children. In addition, you may earn Infant and Child CPR and First Aid and receive National Safety Council and American Heart Association Certification

Language and Literacy Development: Language and Literacy for young children courses will teach you how children learn language, language skills, and activities that promote language development. You will learn about children’s literature and how to foster in children a love for reading.

Observation and Child Care Field Experience: In observation courses you will observe young children on-site and become familiar with the child care environment. These courses are for the observation and reflection of and interaction with young children. With field experience you will be introduced to teaching and learn administrative procedures. Many daycare field experience course require 200 hours of participation.

Usually the program or educational instituting will require two or three core courses that are mandatory for all students in child development education programs. These are the basic foundational courses for early childhood education programs. Other early childhood education courses are electives that you may choose based upon your individual interests or specific needs.

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