First Week of School Basics: The Building Blocks for Pre-K Success!

The first week of pre-k.. what exactly do I teach?!  

Rules & procedures... rules & procedures... let me repeat.. rules & procedures! 

From learning how to put a marker top back on... to learning how to sit and listen to read aloud... starting the year off teaching rules & procedures will build a strong foundation for a successful year! 

The first week of pre-k is a not just a mere beginning; it is the start of a little one's first journey into the world of learning (alongside other little human beings)! It's a fun time with teachers, parents, and caregivers come together to create an exciting environment that fosters growth, curiosity, and meaningful connections! 

It's also a time to get to know our new friends and build a classroom community! But in order to do that, students must learn the class rules, how to handle materials, how to sit & listen, how to line up, where things are, bathroom procedures, how to clean up, fire drill procedures,  etc. 

You are not going to start off teaching scissor skills OR those cute math board games with all the tiny pieces to go with it! There will be PLENTY of time for those things later on! Right now, your focus is on introducing rules & procedures and then practice, practice, practice those rules & procedures! 

You can still have FUN while teaching these things! It makes me think of Mary Poppins when she says "annnd SNAP, the job's a game!" Introduce how to use glue bottles with the picture book, Too Much Glue, and then it with an easy craft. Teaching clean up procedures for centers or snack? Sing a clean up song.. sing it every day.. three times a day if you have to! Children learn best through repetition taught in engaging ways! 

Here are some rules & procedures you will want to teach in your first two weeks of pre-k:

• Morning arrival - Where do they hang their backpack? What do they do next?

• Circle time - Where do they sit?  What does good carpet behavior look like? 

• Center time - Do they stay in the same center or is it free choice? How do they clean up? What happens when they misbehave? What is not okay?

• School supplies - How to they share? How to use them? Where do the supplies go? 

• School tour - Where is our room? Where is the principal's office? Where is the library?

• Lunch - How long do they sit? What if they have to go to the bathroom? How do they clean up?

• Fire drills - What will happen? Where do we go? 

• Line up procedures - How to not run to the line. How to keep hands to themselves. How to walk quietly.

The list goes on and on... but you don't have to do it one day or all in one week! I wouldn't introduce ALL the school supplies in one circle time either.  One morning, show a glue stick, model how to take the cap off and on, pass around the glue stick, have students practice an easy glueing task.  Pretend you are a 4 year old and you have never seen a glue stick in your life. How would you teach that procedure? 

Here's a handy list of must-reads for the first week of pre-K! 

Another day, read the tale of friendship, The Crayon Box that Talked." Talk about what makes us unique, introduce crayons and sharing, model coloring, and let students color a 1st Day of Pre-K journal page or coloring page. Introduce a little each day for two weeks and you will have confident little pre-k kiddos ready for more in depth learning! 

Here are a few resources to help you out! 

Below, is a sample schedule and of course you would adjust it to however your own school schedule allows: 

8:00 - 8:30 am: Arrival and Greeting 

8:30 - 9:00 am: Circle Time & Bathroom Breaks

9:00 - 9:30 am: Name Recognition Activity

9:30 - 10:00 am: Snack

10:00 - 10:30 am: Morning Recess

10:30 - 11:00 am: Learning Centers & Art

11:00 - 12:00 pm: Lunch & Cleanup

12:00 - 12:30 pm: Story & Bathroom Breaks

12:30 - 1:00 pm - Afternoon Recess

1:00 - 2:00 pm - Naptime

2:00 - 2:30 pm - Snack & Dismissal 

Helpful Tips:

Morning arrival - This is usually when parents drop off and sign in. Or sometimes you might be in a setting where you have to go pick up your students from cars, daycares, etc.  Smile & greet each kiddo! When entering the room, instruct them how to hang up their own backpack in their cubby and where to go next.  In the past, I always had students get their own daily folders out and put them in a tub. Set out a couple of baskets of manipulatives and a basket of books on different tables. I would not have learning centers open or exposed. 

Circle time - Begin with a few warm up music & movement songs. This gets the wiggles out! Read a picture book such as "The Kissing Hand" and pass around a racoon to hug. It might seem silly, but this is actually teaching children how to sit for a period of time, how to follow directions, and how to pass an item to another! You can also read books about characters following the rules & books that have an "All About Me" theme.  

Bathroom procedures - During circle time, is a good time to tell each child to go to the bathroom. (Hopefullly you have the luxury of having a bathroom in your room, if not.. make sure you schedule lots of potty breaks throughout the day!) You will have to teach how to use the soap, how much soap, how many paper towels, what to do with the paper towels, etc. 

Name games - We don't need to teach letter formation or how to grip a pencil just yet! Not in the first few days. Right now we are focusing on learning each other's names and identifying our own names. A fun name game is that old familiar favorite... Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?! Put each child's photo and name on a construction paper cookie and put all the cookies in a cookie jar or basket. Repeat the rhyme and pull out a cookie at the end of the rhyme. You can do a few names each day! Or create a classroom book with a child's photo on each page. Flip through and read it together! 

Recess - Remember, some of those kiddos have never slid down a slide or swung the monkey bars. Walk around the playground in line, point out the equipment, model the equipment, and then let them play. They WILL make mistakes & forget the rules. It's your job to keep a watchful eye & give reminders. 

Learning centers - Have two or three centers open each day. Model the centers and go over what's in each center and how to use it. Practice with blocks and pretend the first few days. You can have other centers empty or I always faced the cabinets toward the walls. You can do free choice or assign centers, that's up to you. Allow extra clean up time at the beginning of the year. Centers is usually when I pulled kids to the art table in groups of four to do an easy activity. Your pre-k aide can do art time or they can watch over play in the centers. 

The laughter and discoveries about to be had will be the building blocks for the wonderful journey ahead! Remember to keep your schedule flexible and make room for modifications. Laugh, smile, dance, and enjoy this time and they will to!