Toddler Co-op Class: Before Five in a Row

Last fall I taught a 2 & 3 year-old class at our local homeschool co-op.  I used Before Five in a Row as my main curriculum, but added a few of my own ideas.  I purchased or created a “story treasure” to go with each book we read.  I created the lessons with centers in mind, where an adult helper is available to assist the children with whatever activity they chose.  With a smaller class you could also do each activity together as a group.

Over the next 10 weeks I’ll be sharing my lesson plans from this class.  I highly recommend purchasing Before Five in a Row: A Treasury of Creative Ideas to Inspire Learning Readiness by Jane Claire Lambert.  The ideas I provide are as additional suggestions, not meant to replace the manual.  These are the stories I’ll be covering:

Corduroy by Don Freeman
Yellow Ball by Molly Bang
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by N.W. Carlstrom
Caps For Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
The ABC Bunny by Wanda Gag
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

The children really enjoyed the class and my son still quotes and talks about the books, several months later.  I hope you enjoy them as well!