Hoppin' Into History
I have spent many weeks looking for a History/Social Studies curriculum for Pre-Schoolers due to the fact that School Zone Preschool workbooks do not contain much about the subject. What did I find? Not a whole heck of a lot actually. History is just not a big part of the lesson plans in most preschool programs. I think it's important to start children off early in all subjects, but I do not concentrate heavily on the other lessons besides the basics.
So, that being said, I wasn't too worried about it at first but when Peanut started getting upset that she wasn't doing everything that everyone else was doing I decided that I needed to remedy what she saw as a great injustice. This is not meant to be done every day only one - three times a week when your child is ready and willing to do the lessons.
So, that being said, I wasn't too worried about it at first but when Peanut started getting upset that she wasn't doing everything that everyone else was doing I decided that I needed to remedy what she saw as a great injustice. This is not meant to be done every day only one - three times a week when your child is ready and willing to do the lessons.
Weeks One - Three are all about Christopher Columbus. A globe will be helpful for at least one of the lessons, and you can google search free printables, crafts, and videos for your child.
Lesson One - Who is Christopher Columbus?
*You will need to explain the words explorer, voyage, and Viking to you child.
Today we simply tell about Columbus.
" Christopher Columbus was an explorer who sailed all the way from Europe in 1492 and came to what we now call America. That was over 500 years ago!!! He, and the sailers who were with him, had no idea when they crossed the big Atlantic Ocean that they were going to land here! Their voyage took a long time and after they found America a lot of people from Europe came over here to explore and live.
Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 when people in Europe were starting to think about new ways of looking at things and doing things. They were making maps and building ships to find new places. And you know what? They thought the world was flat!!! But, Christopher Columbus thought that it was round ... just like like a man named Pythagoras. And he wanted to find a shortcut to somewhere else when he found America!!
But, he didn't really discover America. There had been other people here for a long time! Vikings from Europe had landed here 500 years BEFORE Columbus! And there were Native Americans here. But, his coming here did mean that there was going to be people coming here regularly for years to come."
Today we simply tell about Columbus.
" Christopher Columbus was an explorer who sailed all the way from Europe in 1492 and came to what we now call America. That was over 500 years ago!!! He, and the sailers who were with him, had no idea when they crossed the big Atlantic Ocean that they were going to land here! Their voyage took a long time and after they found America a lot of people from Europe came over here to explore and live.
Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 when people in Europe were starting to think about new ways of looking at things and doing things. They were making maps and building ships to find new places. And you know what? They thought the world was flat!!! But, Christopher Columbus thought that it was round ... just like like a man named Pythagoras. And he wanted to find a shortcut to somewhere else when he found America!!
But, he didn't really discover America. There had been other people here for a long time! Vikings from Europe had landed here 500 years BEFORE Columbus! And there were Native Americans here. But, his coming here did mean that there was going to be people coming here regularly for years to come."
Lesson Two - Columbus as a boy.
Again this is basically a story...You can start by saying "Remember when we talked about Christopher Columbus the other day? Well, he was born..."
" Christopher Columbus was born in a town in Italy and his parents called him Cristoforo Colombo. His father sold wool and make clothing and other things out of wool. No one really knows if he went to school a lot or not, but he did listen and learn everything he could. When he was 13 he actually started going out onto big boats and sailing. He didn't own the boats he went out on, he went on them and worked for someone else! The boats he went on were really big and made out of wood, they had sails not motors, and no GPS! Columbus had to learn how to get around on all that water just by looking at the sun and the stars!!!
Some time later he went to a place called Portugal where he and his brother, Bartholomew, made and sold maps. Some people say he ended up there because the ship he'd been on was attacked by pirates and sank!!! And everyone in Portugal, and all around Europe, wanted to find a good way to go to Asia to get spices. So, everyone began to look for the shortest way to get there. While everyone was sailing around Africa to get to Asia Columbus wanted to sail West because the Ocean didn't look very big. He thought he'd get to China in just a couple of days!"
Having a globe would help in this lesson. You can point out Italy, Portugal, Africa, and China ... showing just how far Columbus would have really had to sail to get to China. Also you can show why he ended up here in America because you can't sail a boat over land.
" Christopher Columbus was born in a town in Italy and his parents called him Cristoforo Colombo. His father sold wool and make clothing and other things out of wool. No one really knows if he went to school a lot or not, but he did listen and learn everything he could. When he was 13 he actually started going out onto big boats and sailing. He didn't own the boats he went out on, he went on them and worked for someone else! The boats he went on were really big and made out of wood, they had sails not motors, and no GPS! Columbus had to learn how to get around on all that water just by looking at the sun and the stars!!!
Some time later he went to a place called Portugal where he and his brother, Bartholomew, made and sold maps. Some people say he ended up there because the ship he'd been on was attacked by pirates and sank!!! And everyone in Portugal, and all around Europe, wanted to find a good way to go to Asia to get spices. So, everyone began to look for the shortest way to get there. While everyone was sailing around Africa to get to Asia Columbus wanted to sail West because the Ocean didn't look very big. He thought he'd get to China in just a couple of days!"
Having a globe would help in this lesson. You can point out Italy, Portugal, Africa, and China ... showing just how far Columbus would have really had to sail to get to China. Also you can show why he ended up here in America because you can't sail a boat over land.
Lesson Three - Sailing
You can sing this to the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" or treat it like a poem...
"Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue,
Ocean blue, ocean blue,
Columbus sailed the Ocean blue
in 1492.
He sailed West instead of East,
instead of East, instead of East.
He sailed West instead of East
in 1492.
Shores of China he never reached,
never reached, never reached.
Shores of China he never reached
in 1492.
Instead a whole new place he found,
place he found, place he found.
Instead a whole new place he found
in 1492!"
You can make paper sailers hats to decorate and wear during the Christopher Columbus lessons!!!
"Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue,
Ocean blue, ocean blue,
Columbus sailed the Ocean blue
in 1492.
He sailed West instead of East,
instead of East, instead of East.
He sailed West instead of East
in 1492.
Shores of China he never reached,
never reached, never reached.
Shores of China he never reached
in 1492.
Instead a whole new place he found,
place he found, place he found.
Instead a whole new place he found
in 1492!"
You can make paper sailers hats to decorate and wear during the Christopher Columbus lessons!!!