As early educators, we do a lot of ‘stuff’ that educators of older children and adults do not do. A few of these are scraping glitter off of tables with popsicle sticks so the janitorial crew doesn’t complain; plunging toilets clogged by stuffed animals and duplo blocks; peeling screaming toddlers from the arms of weeping mothers; checking heads for lice and bottoms for worms; waking up in the middle of the night with “Wheels on the Bus” or “Three Fat Turkeys Are We” running incessantly through our heads; and being paid less than any other educator in the system.

Most difficult may be the creation of absolutely adorable parent-friendly administrator-acceptable Lesson Plans!

I call them Experience Plans – because “Lesson” puts the emphasis on the TEACHER and the TEACHING while Experience encourages us to stress the LEARNING the child will own and be actively responsible for. Experience lets us know it is the child’s active learning rather than our stellar teaching that should be uppermost in the process.

Two Plans are Better than One – I call for the posting of two Experience Plans, but  teachers are responsible for creating only one. The first is a general plan that program administrators (using the curriculum of their choice) give to the teachers, and post for parents. It is a non-theme-based overall plan for the year that describes the general program expectations (learning objectives) and the generic experiences that will be offered to the children on a daily basis, every day of the year no matter what theme or unit is being used. I call mine Every Day We Grow in Body, Mind, and Spirit.

(The second Experience Plan is a teacher-created, theme-based picture of the specific events happening weekly).

 Every Day We Grow shows what children must be offered every day, theme or no theme, rain or sun, picture day or fire drill. It shows parents, administrators, and licensing agents that the children are not just “playing”. It answers the questions most important in the process: What will they learn? and How will they learn it? It does not emphasize how the subject matter will be “taught” because it is THE CHILD and THE LEARNING that must be emphasized here. Every Day We Grow, is permanently posted for the year

If teachers have an Every Day We Grow plan posted in their rooms, and they follow it on a daily basis, they are meeting the basic requirements of offering appropriate experiences to reach program expectations, and if your theme-based plan with specialized props and specific art and music doesn’t work out, doing what‘s on this plan will be sufficient for you to not feel as if you have “failed” the children in any way – it’s all right there.

Every Day We Grow in Body, Mind, and Spirit

Next Blog: Lesson Plan #2 – Weekly Doin’s