Reading Together is Top Priority
Reading to your child is a treasured, shared experience. The opportunity taken to sit together in a comfortable corner and open a picture book, new or regularly requested, invites a welcomed adventure for you both. The motivation may be your child’s simple request to “read to me” or just moving to the groove of the regular nap or bedtime routine. Taking the action to focus on reading to your little one communicates his importance to you and reassures reading together is top priority. What if you could extend this precious reading time together even further with picture book lesson plans?
Parent/Child Teaching and Learning Opportunity
With an understanding that reading to your little one is an act of love, Golden Days at Home enables this reciprocal goodness to expand into an at home parent/child teaching and learning opportunity. Our founder, Janet Nicole Meyer, was motivated during her young mothering years to develop an early childhood curriculum based on beloved, timeless picture books. These books are at the heart of the Golden Days at Home picture book lesson plans. Each book inspired an entire week of lessons by offering an abundance of ideas and creative content. Seventeen subject lessons are offered within each weekly lesson plan. The subject lessons bring the picture book to life with interactive tutorials, activities, food, fun, and even a little bit of magic. Forty-eight picture books were hand picked for content, illustration and an audience of three to five year olds. The forty-eight weekly lesson plan collection provides a full year’s preschool curriculum. Golden Days at Home is a thoughtful and high quality early childhood curriculum gifting parents the opportunity to continue nurturing, reading and learning together through the precious, preschool years.
Caldecott Award-Winning Picture Books
Discerning choices were made by our founder for the best and most appropriate books to inspire the picture book lesson plans. Fond memories of favorite picture books from her own childhood came to mind. Janet Nicole soon realized many of these books shared a common trait, Caldecott Awards! The Caldecott Medal is historically recognized as the most important children’s book award. The Medal is awarded to the illustrator “who created the most distinguished picture book of the year.” The first Caldecott Medal was presented in 1938. Each year since then, a committee of fifteen members of the ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) review the books under consideration for the award. Members list their first, second and third place selections. When all votes are in, the book placing first is awarded the Caldecott Medal. The runner-ups are named Caldecott Honor Books. With Janet Nicole’s desire to provide only the best for children, Caldecott Award and Honor Books were the exclusive vision and inspiration for all forty-eight Golden Days at Home picture book lesson plans.
Golden Days at Home Preschool Lesson Plan
Kindergarten Readiness
Golden Days at Home picture book lesson plans are designed to prepare young children for kindergarten-readiness. Seventeen subject lessons comprise each weekly lesson plan. Subjects lessons include Pre-reading/Writing, Music and Rhyme, Science, Arts and Crafts, Perceptual, Geography and Pre-math to name only a few. The lesson objective and its learning measurement is stated for each subject lesson. The parent teacher begins lesson time introducing a subject and then is supported to creatively teach a short, interactive lesson. A hands-on activity follows for learning reinforcement. The remaining subject lessons follow one by one during the family’s scheduled lesson times of the week. Careful planning was taken in lesson design considering young children’s interests, abilities and attention span. Interactive conversation for learning and sharing is always encouraged and supported. To enable each subject lesson’s smooth introduction and delivery, a list of the required lesson items or props enable efficient lesson preparation. With consistent reading, teaching and learning, the Golden Days at Home Curriculum of picture book lesson plans ready the age-appropriate child with a well-rounded foundation to move onto kindergarten.
Parents Know Their Child Best
Parents know their child best. Using this advantage as well as Golden Days at Home early childhood curriculum’s user-friendly design, parents are able to plan, adjust and focus on their child’s individual needs. Families are able to develop a teaching routine that works best to create a nurturing environment. Mornings are often a good time for preschoolers to focus when they are fresh and energetic. But, if a child is most alert after lunch or nap time that may be the teaching time that works best. At times, a certain subject lesson may captivate a child. Parents are able to support their child’s interest by taking time to expound on the lesson. If a child is having a difficult day, the parent teacher may stop the lesson. Quiet time or a run around outside may be what the child needs. There are no measurements nor expectations dictating how the teaching time should look. The advantage of parent as teacher assures the individual child’s needs are being met by eliminating external pressures. Golden Days at Home picture book lesson plans support the idea that parents are their child’s greatest teacher.
Inspired by the Past, Created for Today
Golden Days at Home picture book lesson plans are inspired by the past, created for today. Providing a timeless quality for today’s child is a characteristic our founder deemed necessary in the creation of the lesson plans. Based on classic picture books with stories and illustrations that have withstood the test of time, the curriculum’s foundation was securely developed from an enduring source. Throughout the curriculum’s development, the selected Caldecott picture books continually inspired classic childhood past times and lessons such as nature walks, nursery rhymes, basic art projects and hands on science discovery filling the lessons with qualities reminiscent of gentler times. With a deliberate goal to provide a learning environment that simply and genuinely nurtures young children, looking to the sensibilities of the past felt appropriate. Parent as teacher, screen-free and home gathered resources create zero waste and support a relaxed and loving setting for children to learn and thrive. The qualities of the Golden Days at Home picture book lesson plans encourage a healthy, developmental experience for today’s child.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Golden Days at Home with an invitation to visit goldendaysathome.com to learn more. Open your home and family to Golden Days at Home Picture Book Lesson Plans and begin teaching, creating, reading and enjoying shared experiences to influence a lifetime.
