You may have noticed from a number of the posts on this site that I participate in a pre-school program with a few of my friends and their children. We each take a week and teaching our 3 – 5 year old children a lesson that includes circle time, crafts, writing practice, and fun activities. This year we’ve focused on the alphabet and had a great time teaching our children.
Interestingly enough I cam across an infographic recently that talked about the time and money that goes into preparing a single hour of learning for adults. You can check out he specifics here. I’ll admit that I wasn’t too surprised to see that a single hour of advanced elearning takes up to 490 hours of preparation and can cost $50,000. I know I took a few college courses online and their one hour course sessions were often pretty intense.
Seeing this infographic made me think about the time that goes into preparing for a simple lesson for our preschool. There is no doubt that there is a significant difference between creating a short 30 minute lesson to introduce someone to the letter Q but there is no doubt that a lot of time and effort goes into each lesson.
Here are some of the things that go into each weeks lesson:
- Find a craft for a letter of the alphabet
- Find and prepare the materials for the craft
- Identify a children’s book that can help the children learn more about the letter
- Think of and prepare a treat or snack that helps reinforce the letter for the week
Don't forget to have a little mini lesson on what a fruit is and have them count the watermelon seeds so that it can be a cross curricular activity as well!
There a plenty of other loose items that go into each weeks preparation for a 30 minute period of instruction. I would estimate that for a full hour of instruction I would need almost 2 hours of preparation. That’s a lot of time for a concept as simple as a letter of the alphabet. I can only imagine how much time it would take to prepare an hour of a full course.
What do you think? Does it surprise you to see how much time and money goes into preparing an hour of course instruction and learning?
About Jamie Hinckley
I am a mom of three crazy boys! We love life, play hard, and ALWAYS get messy! Life is busy and full of fun, jumping, crashing, skinned knees, rough housing, torn jeans, scratches, but most of all LOVE. Yes, life is crazy. Actually its completely nuts, but I wouldn't change a thing! We love life and can't wait for our next adventure... and one day, possibly a little girl! Haha!