If you have found this blog post then you already know there is more behind micro schools than just seeming like the newest trend in education. You may even know that while these schools seem like a new concept they have been around for decades.
Even though micro schools have been around for years it is still a new concept for many people. Therefore, there are more and more people looking for micro school lesson plans.
Before diving into the micro school lesson plans for 3-5 year olds we have provided below, it is important to understand how micro schools are set up. Moreover, to understand how individual classes are organized. This will help you better know what type of content you need for lessons.
How Micro School Classes Are Created
A significant difference between micro school classes and traditional school classrooms is how the classes are created. In a conventional school, classrooms are based on grade levels.
These grade levels are established around the common age of all the students. For example, kindergarten students are all about 5 years old. While some may turn 6 during the school year, the majority of students are 5 for most of kindergarten.
However, in micro schools classes are created by age groups. In contrast to a traditional kindergarten classroom where everyone is five years old, a micro school class may include a group of 3-5 year olds.
While this may seem like a big range for students to be learning together, there are several benefits to grouping students like this. One of the key benefits is that it allows students to learn at their own pace and encourages teachers to create individualized instruction.
What Does a Micro School Curriculum Look Like
Although micro school classrooms look different in how they are organized they still have many similarities to the curriculum taught in traditional schools. Students are still provided a curriculum focused on the common core standards.
A micro school curriculum will include the same subject areas taught in other schools.
- Math
- Reading & Writing (literacy)
- Science
- Social Studies (including history and geography)
In addition to these standard subject areas, many micro schools include also include STEM in the school curriculum.
Ready to Teach Micro School Lesson Plans for 3-5 Year Olds
One of the great things about micro schools is that teachers often have more time for planning. However, this doesn’t mean that teachers need to use ALL of their time planning!
Moreover, depending on how your micro school is set up you may be a parent that has taken on the role of a teacher. Therefore, you may be looking for lessons created by teachers that you can easily implement into your school.
Whether you are a parent who is starting your own school or a teacher that just got hired at a micro school, we have lesson plans in every content area to support you!
Although they are easy to implement, they are still rigorous! Therefore, you know that every lesson you select (in any subject) was created with the highest educational standards. Combined with the personalized instruction and support of micro school classrooms, you students will excel in learning.
How to Choose A Micro School Lesson Plan
Even though micro schools don’t use traditional labels for classes (like PreK and 1st grade), it can be helpful to choose activities in these traditional formats. Use this quick breakdown to see what grade level is usually associated with what age.
- PreK lessons are taught to students ages 3-4
- Kindergarten lessons are taught for students 4-5
- 1st grade lessons are taught to students at the age of 6
Using this general guide you can select a range of lessons to have abaialbe in your classroom. This allows for you to provide students with activities that are at their level of learning (regardless of their age).
For example, even though first grade lessons are traditionally suggested for 6-year-olds you may have students ready for these lessons when they are 4 or 5 years old. Therefore, it is important to have a range of activities to help provide students with instruction for where they are as learners.
Ready to Teach Math Lessons for Micro Schools
This is a fun and interactive way to do a calendar practice with your students each day.
In addition to helping students review the calendar it also helps them review key math skills.
This resource includes 20 independent digital activities that are designed to be used as extra math practice for students once they have been taught about numbers and counting to 120.
This place value digital math practice is designed for independent study. This is great for micro school classrooms because it can be used for indivdiualized student practice.
Literacy Activities for 3-5 Year Old Students
These letter sorting activities provide 20 ways for students to sort and work with letters. Straight lines, versus curved. Tall letters versus short. Holes versus no holes, Letters versus numbers and symbols.
This is great for younger students who are just starting to learn about letters. It is also a good resource to use as review for struggling students.
A Year of Interactive Read Aloud – Reading Comprehension
Read alouds are a great way to help students develop strong reading skills. This set of read alouds covers an array of topics like holidays and other themes related to specific events during the year.
Even if you choose not to use every single book in this bundle, this is a great place to explore all the titles available to purchase read aloud activities for.
Science Lesson Plans that are Ready to Teach
Earth Science Digital Learning Bundle
This bundle of four activities is part of our Learning Quest Series. Learning Quests are the perfect digital resource for micro schools! They are mini research projects that can be done independently, in small groups, or as a whole class.
In addition to being adaptable for different levels of learning, you can even let students choose what topics they want to learn about.
This differentiated research project is an excellent activity that can be adapted for students from ages 3 through 7. Included in this packet are fun and engaging printable texts. Moreover, each text type has differentiated levels to support every reader at every level.
This is a great research project for those who want a printable option to balance out digital learning.
Micro School Lesson Plans for History
As mentioned above, Learning Quests are one of the best resources for micro school lesson plans. In addition to science, we have Learning Quests that cover a wide range of events in history. Here are a few of the history quests we have that are perfect for micro school classrooms of three to five year olds.
STEM Lesson Plans for 3-5 Year Olds
STEM activities are perfect for a micro school curriculum. These types of activities are geared towards hands on learning. Moreover, they include several different layers of learning that can be easily adapted for different students.
These preschool STEM activity packs are perfect for a micro school classroom of students in ages 3-5 because there are two different choices! Therefore, you have more activities to choose from to support a wider range of learners.
Regardless of whether you are just starting a micro school or looking for new engaging activities these are just a handful of resources to get you started! Visit The Core Coaches Store on Teachers Pay Teachers to see all of our lesson plans!
