The Play Forest Classes
Private Group Classes for Pre-K and Kindergarten
🐌 🌞 🌳 👑 🐛 🌸 🌱 🎨 🍂 🐞 ✎
Would your group of kids like to experience holistic preschool and Kindergarten skills & lessons?
For a limited number of homeschooling families, I provide small-group classes which supplement learning at home.
In these classes for ages 3/4 and 5/6, we explore core educational needs in fun creative ways.
Through activities such as painting, sculpture, drawing, storytelling, arts + crafts, baking, cooking, gardening, drama, and seasonal nature studies, students will be attending to core educational standards for Pre-K and Kindergarten.
- Physical Development
- Approaches to Learning
- Social and Emotional Development
- Language and Literacy
- Mathematical Thinking
- Scientific Inquiry
- Social Studies
- Creative Expression Through the Arts
The Play Forest private group classes do not substitute your home education program. We provide additional instructions and learning, tailored to your specific needs!
Two 3-hr classes per week: $360/month (materials: $10/month)
Three 3-hr classes per week: $510/month (materials: $15/month)
Contact me to check availability and times for your group to join me @ The Play Forest: 352-647-7517
Class Descriptions
Each private group class is 1 of 8-12 in a month that includes circle time, two lessons, and play/snack in between.
Circle Time explores songs, poems, movement, and speech. These are lessons of themselves!
Here is an example of a 1-month layout of 8 classes:
WEEK 1
Class A
Lesson 1: Painting Nature
Paint what we see outside. A leaf. A Tree. A snail. A bee. Paint how it moves. Paint it’s home. Paint it’s food. This is fun lesson in observation, color, movement, size, and shape.
Lesson 2: Garden Math
How many plants can fit in our garden box? How many seeds do we have? How can we measure our garden and help it grow? How many days until our vegetables are ready to harvest?
Class B
Lesson 3: Beeswax Letters
We warm up and soften beeswax with our hands so that we can mold and shape it into the alphabet. For those who can spell, we shape 3 or 4 letter words.
Lesson 4: Baking Science
What is the formula for baking bread? How does the yeast interact with warm water and maple syrup? Wow, look at the dough rise! Wow, look at how it baked! Baking bread is a science and we are the scientists!
WEEK 2
Class C
Lesson 5: Nature Study
Every day we’re together we spend time in nature on our 3.5 acre property, and collect something for our nature table. There is much to explore through the seasons! Acorn season. A spider web. Pinecones. Leaves falling. Flowers blooming. Mud pies. Cold weather. The wasps’ home. We collect what is given to us and respect what’s alive.
Lesson 6: Obstacle Course
Sometimes we just need a physical challenge! As a group we create our obstacle course and then go through it. This requires communication, cooperation, and physical dexterity.
Class D
Lesson 7: Number Sense
Through a variety of art forms (drawing, sculpture, and nature art) we get familiar with numbers, addition, and subtraction.
Lesson 8: Cooperative Games
Avoiding competition with this young age, we play cooperative games which address social competency.
WEEK 3
Class E
Lesson 9: Seasonal Festival
We take some weeks and learn about seasonal and religious traditions in a non-sectarian way. These festivities include cooking, decorating, puppet shows, stories, songs, and crafts what
Lesson 10: Group Storytelling
Once upon a time, a group of Kindergarteners told a story!
Class F
Lesson 11: Clay Conversations
We talk about feelings and friends over smooshing and molding clay.
Lesson 12: Time & Rhythm
In lessons about time and rhythm I like to observe nature. Throughout the year we look at how the seasons are changing the plants and the weather. “It’s winter again.” We also use a clock on our nature walks (around the yard).
WEEK 4
Class G
Lesson 13: Hand-Eye Crafting
We craft objects related to the stories we are telling and/or according to the seasons or festivities/holidays.
Lesson 14: Make a Book
Making a book includes so many lessons: crafting, drawing, storytelling, and spelling. Lots to learn and fun to be had!
Class H
Lesson 15: ABC Mud Kitchen
We shape letters in our mud kitchen and spell words!
Lesson 16: Reading Day
The children will be given books to read that don’t have words. This helps with their imagination and speech.
Contact me to check availability and times for your group to join me @ The Play Forest: 352-647-7517.