Teaching preschool can be a rewarding career. Working with young children as they grow, learn, and develop is definitely an amazing journey. It’s not without its pitfalls, though. Being a preschool teacher can be rather time intensive, and early childhood educators often feel isolated.
But the right support can make all the difference!
The Preschool Teacher 101 community is designed specifically for those in the early childhood education field who are looking for help with lesson plans, organization, scheduling, instructional strategies, and more.
Benefits of Preschool Teacher 101 Membership
Our goals for Preschool Teacher 101 are to help you:
- Save time planning for your preschool classroom
- With printable lesson plans that include hands-on learning ideas
- Get more out of your day with planning and organizational resources
- Feel less alone with other early childhood educators who “get it”
What Does Membership Include
This membership site is brand new, so we are busily adding high quality content to it. Right now, members have full access to:
- Editable, printable lesson plan templates designed for teachers with 5-, 4-, 3-, and 2-day teaching weeks. No matter which weekly schedule you follow, you’ll find a template for you.
- Fully developed lesson plans that include hands-on activity ideas for playful learning. There are currently over 40 lesson plan packs inside the member area on both seasonal and nonseasonal topics. New lesson plans are added regularly, and we welcome members’ input as we create future plans.
- A year’s worth of editable, printable preschool “homework” calendars. These aren’t anything like traditional homework, don’t worry. Each weekday has a simple activity for the children to do (like “draw a picture of the friends in your class”, “help with the dishes”, “find 5 things that are red”, etc.).
See the Homework Calendars in Action.
- Monthly Self Portrait Journals to capture students’ drawings and writing throughout the school year. They’re a wonderful addition to student portfolios or memory books.
Take a closer look at the Self Portrait Journals.
- Our roll and color math games series full of differentiated math activities for seasonal events and holidays throughout the whole year.
Get a glimpse of the St. Patrick’s Day version here.
- The ongoing member forum is one of the main features of the Preschool Teacher 101 membership There you can post questions, share ideas, and read over ways other people have handled a challenge similar to yours. It’s also a place where we’ll be able to provide you with thorough responses to your teaching questions.
- We also realize each person’s situation is unique. All new members are invited to chat with us in a one-on-one 15-minute coaching call to ask questions specifically related to their biggest challenges and personal goals.
Become a Preschool Teacher 101 Community Member
What Can You Expect?
That’s just the beginning of what we plan to offer to Preschool Teacher 101 members. We are continually adding new features based on member feedback and requests.
We’ll definitely be adding new lesson plans each month so you’ll always have new lesson plan content and activity ideas to choose from.
We’ll also be adding special trainings on various preschool topics like best teaching practices, organization, time-saving preschool shortcuts, and more. We might even be persuaded to make some training videos if there are preschool lessons you’d like to see in action. There’s a long list of ideas under consideration, but we assure you whatever we choose it will be practical and relevant to your needs.
Bonus materials and hands-on printables that align with our theme packets and basic preschool skills are also in development.
As members you can help us choose projects you are most interested in. Maybe we’ll start a book club to learn about early childhood education. Or maybe we’ll develop a member exchange forum so you can share your own lesson plans.
Our focus is working together so that we create a community that is of continuous value to you!
Join the Preschool Teacher 101 Community
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Preschool Teacher 101 membership for?
If you’re teaching preschool already, or are about to begin, you’ll find resources that will help you. In particular, our members are people who are looking for hands-on activities and time-saving lesson plans to use in a preschool setting with children between the ages of 3 and 5. These resources will be applicable to public, private, an in-home preschool classroom teachers and their assistants.
I homeschool my preschool-aged child. Can I join, too?
While a lot of the content would be helpful to you, there is a lot of information specific to teaching in a preschool classroom setting. But don’t worry! Our sister site Home Preschool 101 will have the resources you’re looking for.
Is this a preschool curriculum?
Not exactly. It isn’t one massive kit with a set sequence or schedule, but you can certainly piece together a comprehensive preschool curriculum by selecting and implementing the lesson plans packets.
These lesson plans are created with a multi-disciplinary approach that will allow you to teach the most essential preschool skills in a playful manner. As early childhood educators with degrees in education and classroom experience, we’ve chosen activities that are age-appropriate and effective for preschoolers. As we add new lesson plans a full curriculum will emerge for you to use with your children.
What topics are covered in the lesson plans?
Right now we have opted to do theme-based and book-based lesson plans.
Theme based lessons include an in depth exploration of a common preschool theme (i.e., seeds, apples). The themes can be selected based on your child’s current interests, or they can be selected based on a letter focus (i.e., A is for Apples).
Book based lessons include a wide variety of learning activities based on a popular children’s picture book.
We’ll be working to build a full library of these two lesson plan types, but we may also expand to include additional variations based on member feedback.
What does each lesson plan packet include?
Each completed lesson plan packet includes hands-on learning activities that teach kids skills in the areas of reading, math, science, sensory play, fine motor, gross motor and more. Within the packet you’ll find:
- a materials list
- a completed 5-day lesson plan outline (along with blank templates for alternative schedules)
- a recommended book list
- detailed activity descriptions
- independent activity ideas that can be used for centers or work boxes
- related printables
That’s a lot! Will it be too much for me to implement?
We did include a lot in each lesson plan packet. We want there to be enough material no matter your teaching schedule. Some teachers have class every day of the week, while others teach two days a week. Some teachers teach a full day, while others run half-day classes. Our lesson plan packets are designed to meet all of those approaches.
Depending on your teaching schedule, you may choose to spread the lesson plan activities out into two or three weeks. We’ve included editable printable lesson plan templates with each pack so you can easily readjust the activities to best suit your schedule.
How long will each lesson plan take?
That’s really up to you. The plans are designed for one week. As mentioned above, though, you can adjust the activities to best suit your teaching schedule.
How does a membership site work?
In a membership site you will login to a main site and have access to all of the content we have produced for Preschool Teacher 101. We’ve designed special members-only pages and discussion areas where you’ll easily find the information that is available.
And here’s the really exciting part…whenever we produce a new product that will be sold outside of the membership site, you’ll automatically get access to it as long as you are a Preschool Teacher 101 member. Your monthly fee will cover the cost of all old and new resources, so there’s no need to worry about buying new products as they are released.
We hope you’ll visit the site regularly, but we know you’re busy. If you’re worried about remembering to visit the site, we’ve got that covered. We’ll be sending you a regular email to let you know about new additions to the member area and any noteworthy events and discussions taking place.
Can I share my lesson plans and other materials with others?
No. We are working hard to create these resources and sharing them without permission is a violation of our terms of use. If you love our content and want to share it with others, please refer them to our website so they can become members too. The more the merrier! As a member you are getting access to a massive amount of resources for a fraction of the cost it would take to buy them all individually. We trust that you will respect that honor so that we can continue to provide access at such a reasonal low rate.
Will the price change?
Absolutely. The current rate is a steal, and we’ve been advised multiple times to move to a higher price point. As we grow, and the site includes more content, the price will definitely increase for new members. However, you will keep your same monthly membership rate as long as you are a current Preschool Teacher 101 member, so join now to lock in the existing rate.
