Community Helpers, FREE Homeschool Preschool Curriculum, Week 25
It’s community helpers week! You didn’t think I’d let the year go by without acknowledging all of the amazing people in your neighborhood now did you? Whether they keep us safe, fed, or connected, community helpers are a great way to teach our preschoolers about the interdependence of community.
This week you will work together to complete a community helper scavenger hunt, and a simple map of your neighborhood. The letter of the week is “E”, and in math we introduce our preschoolers to the concept of skip counting. The field trip this week is an exciting one! You are tasked with setting up a tour of your local firehouse so your preschooler can see community helpers in action.
As always, there are a lot of fun and educational activities to sift through below. And, it’s completely up to you on whether or not you choose a handful, or complete them all. That’s the beauty of homeschool! Welcome back for week 25…
Pre-K Homeschool Week 25 Free Resources
Here are some of the free resources I gathered from across the web to pull together our week 25 community helpers theme:
Feature Image by Ron Fisher
Math Activities for Preschoolers
Grab a deck of cards and practice addition and subtraction or comparing numbers. Remove all face cards, shuffle the deck, each player pulls a card, and work on those addition and subtraction skills. You can even practice more/less. I’d spend 15 minutes max on this activity (all three).
Practice Counting to 100 by 1, 5 and 10 this week. Counting to100 is a skill that will be developed further in Kindergarten. Skip counting is likely to be introduced in first grade (if not sooner) so, no pressure here. Just make it fun!
Introduce your preschooler to word problems. Only if, they understand the basic concept of addition and subtraction. We Are Teachers has 50 word problems to get you started. You might consider working on one each day.
This number sequencing worksheet from Worksheet Fun will keep those first 20 front of mind for your preschooler.
Introduce the concept of odd an even numbers. Start by using manipulatives. Create two groups, ask your preschooler to put an equal amount of manipulatives into each group. If they can, the number is even. If not, its odd. Cue Math has 4 worksheets to choose from if you’d like.
10 Frame Addition – this is an exercise that helps kids visualize their math equations. Again, only use this worksheet if your preschooler understands the concept of addition.
Fine/Gross Motor Skills
Here are some activities to develop your preschoolers fine and gross motor skills this week:
Puzzle Time
Play Catch with a tennis ball – overarm
Buttons, zippers, snaps and buckles practice
Practice a forward roll
Play snake/ practice jump rope
Language Arts
Introduce the letter “E” – show your preschooler the capital and lowercase letter “E”, and introduce the sound of this letter. Next, have your little one try to create the letter “E” on a playdough mat or geoboard. Watch the letter “E” on Starfall.
Letter “E” phonics and writing practice (Daycare Worksheets)
Letter “E” phonics review (Flashcard Fox) – build your preschoolers vocabulary by sharing the “E” words on these flashcards. Make sure to print out two sets to create a memory game.
“E” is for Earth craft
The sight words this week are “red” and “run”. Kindergarten Mom has a great free printable to introduce this sight word to your preschooler.
**Remember to read 1 level C book with your child each day.
Read Aloud Books:
What Do People Do All Day, Richard Scarry
Career Day, Anne Rockwell
Clothesline Clues to the Jobs People Do, Kathryn Heling
Whose Hands Are These, Miranda Paul
Community Helpers Science/Sensory Activities
This invitation to play is fantastic to set out on the table when you might need a little quiet time to get some of your own work done. And, a great alternative to using the clip art you could use lego/peg people. Or, scale down the size of these free flashcards.
Create a simple map of your neighborhood – you will want to note your house, landmarks, signs, and neighbors houses. It might help if you take a walk before and after this activity. This is a great way for your preschooler to become familiar with their neighborhood.
Go on a community helper scavenger hunt – depending on where you live this might take some time. We did this with our girls when we were living on Long Island, and it took less than an hour to find everything on the list. Now that we live in rural Tennessee, it’s going to take a bit more time. So, if you live in a rural area, you might want to make this an activity to last the entire week. Just leave the printable, a clipboard and pencil in the car for your next trip into town.
Use toys to set up a neighborhood in your home – Sadie has a ton of tiny toys, and was recently gifted a playmobil castle, and another dollhouse. Setting these up along with magna tiles or blocks or legoes- whatever you have on hand! And, create an afternoon of play.
Music
Stephanie over at Music for Kiddos has a list of 10 songs for community helpers week. Pick 2 or 3 to learn with your prekinder during morning circle time or cycle through them all!
Arts + Crafts for Community Helpers Week
Create community helper stick puppets (First Palette)
Design a thank you card for your favorite community helper. An easy one would be your favorite mail carrier!
Print and color a community helper hat, then head off to the land of make believe!
This “When I Grow Up I Can Be” emergent reader from Totschooling is perfect for our community helpers week!
Field Trip
Plan a firehouse tour for your little one this week! Most fire departments are happy to have you visit. It wouldn’t hurt to bring a sweet treat along too, like donuts, cookies, or a fruit plate if you want to be healthy.
