WEE Resources

Whether you're an administrator of a new or established program, the Weekday Early Education Administrative Guide is a vital tool of the trade. This resource serves as a step-by-step guide for providing quality weekday education experiences for preschoolers. You'll find helpful planning and implementing instructions for either a Parents Day Out or a Full-Day Program.

WEE (Weekday Early Education) - Administrative Guide

WEE Curriculum
Curriculum is the framework on which teachers can build an early childhood program that allows children to grow and develop as Jesus did-"in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52).

A child's growth and development is viewed as a process, not an event. Development begins when the child is conceived and continues throughout life. Spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, and social development are equally important.

The teacher's responsibility is to select activities that provide a balanced program of early childhood education. Curriculum is the guide for a child's total experience while in the weekday program. It must be carefully selected to include the elements that make up a positive preschool experience.

To appropriately meet the needs of preschoolers, curriculum should:

• Be Activity-Based
  Preschoolers are active learners and must be involved in activities that do not force all the children to do the same thing at the same time. Learning center activities allow children to learn through experience rather than simply listening.
• Provide Choices
  Preschoolers need to be able to choose which centers to work in, what to build with the blocks, or where to put the paint on his paper. Teachers provide an environment filled with unit-related choices and a child chooses what interests him.
• Allow Physical Activity
  Because muscles are growing and developing, preschoolers need to be able to move about freely. Learning activities allow children to move about as they choose a center, work a puzzle, draw a picture, play in the homeliving center, or enjoy a book.
• Encourage Creative Expression
  As a teacher develops activities related to a unit theme, creative expression in art, writing, puzzles, music, and other activities belong to the child. Every child is creative. He should be allowed to express himself and experiment with his own design rather than a teacher providing a "pattern" or assisting him with an art activity. The experience, rather than the finished product, is the goal. Children become confident as they use their own ideas.
• Provide Balance
  Since curriculum provides a guide for the day, it should provide a balance of activities: quiet/active, indoor/outdoor, working alone/interacting with a group, rest/physical activity.
• Include Beginning Group Experiences
  While younger preschoolers will only be aware of themselves and their own activity (solitary play), they will eventually move to parallel play, and finally to group participation. Plans for group-time should always consider the age of the preschooler and his short attention span.
• Be Biblically Based
  Each unit should include a Bible story, Bible thoughts, and suggestions for meaningful conversation. The same phrases and verses should be used throughout the unit of teaching.
• Make Learning Fun
  When preschoolers are allowed to move around, express their own creativity, and choose what interests them, they will be successful, relate positively, and enjoy learning.
• Invite Conversation
  Preschoolers learn through simple conversations about God, the world He made, and how to treat each other.
• Provide a Flexible Schedule Within a Familiar Routine
  Flexibility allows a teacher to meet the needs of the children while helping them feel secure in a familiar routine.

Wee Learn Curriculum Guides and Teaching Pictures
Provide a range of age-appropriate activities designed to lay a foundation for understanding God, Jesus, Bible, church, self, family, others, and the natural world. These guides support learning centers, group activities, home activities, and parent letters for effective communication. Each guide contains 24 units, a full year's worth of material. Guides are available for infants and toddlers, twos, threes, and pre-k. Companion picture sets are available for the guides for twos through pre-k.

Infants and Toddlers

• WEE Learn Curriculum Guide for Infants and Toddlers
  (Infant and Toddler Pictures are included with the Curriculum Guide.)

Two-Year-Olds

• WEE Learn Curriculum Guide for Two-Year-Olds
• WEE Learn Teaching Pictures for Two-Year-Olds

Three-Year-Olds

• WEE Learn Curriculum Guide for Three-Year-Olds
• WEE Learn Teaching Pictures for Three-Year-Olds

Pre-K

• WEE Learn: Pre-K - Curriculum Guide
• WEE Learn: Pre-K - Teaching Pictures

Foundational Training for Leaders

Teaching In Chistian Weekday Early Education 
This training guide helps teachers understand the preschooler, how he learns, and the skills needed to provide positive learning environments and experiences. This basic concept book is foundational material for training leaders. Through it, teachers can gain new understanding when it comes to preparing the learning environment for preschoolers.

Other Weekday Resources

• Puzzles - What's a preschool department without puzzles? Puzzles offer a great way to teach Bible stories through activities preschoolers enjoy. Find a complete listing of puzzles in Using Puzzles to Teach Preschoolers.
• Giant Game Floor Mat -  Looking for new ways to enhance my your teaching skills as well as helping other teachers in teaching preschoolers?  There are hundred of ways to use the Giant Game Floor Mat in your Weekday class. Read just a few of our suggestions.
• Teaching In Christian Weekday Early Education
• Weekday Early Education Administrative Guide

For more information about Weekday Early Education or Parents Day Out, e-mail your comments to Editor-in-Chief Mikey Oldham.