During the month of October, we learn all about community helpers and jobs.
We invite the local firefighters and police officers to come to our school and talk about their jobs. We also encourage parents to come and share about their jobs. This year we had a chemist come do science experiments!
We also went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch and learn about farmers!
One of my favorite days during this unit was Career Day Centers. We have 3 kindergarten classrooms and we each set up 5 career centers in our classrooms (we had 16 total jobs). The kids rotated in each of the classrooms. We spent about 45 minutes in each class and about 5-7 minutes at each station. The kids experienced many types of careers!
Here are some!
Jeweler Hairdresser
Real Estate Agent Store Clerk (grocery worker/bagger)
Musician/Singer
Banker
Teacher
Archeologist
Vet Marine Biologist
Painter Postal Worker
Architect
Pediatrician
Baker/Chef
Construction Worker
The kids had so much fun and stayed very engaged.
The centers allowed the students to be creative, use their imagination and experience real careers.
Some of the centers required writing.
For example, the vet and pediatricians had to write prescriptions.
The real estate agents had to create brochures and describe the houses (big, small)
and create a price.
The teachers had to model for their "stuffed animal students" how to write correctly on the lines using a white board and read a book from their book bags.
The bakers used math to measure and make "Hunter's Hash"
(cheerios, pretzels and marshmallows).
The postal workers had to sort mail by letters and numbers.
The bankers had to sort coins by size and type.
At the end of the unit, the kids finally decide on their career and DRESS UP as what they want to be when they grow up. They come to school dressed in their career costume and present in front of the class. The kids answer the following questions:
1. What do you want to be when you grow up?
2. Where do you work in the community?
3. What tools do you need?
4. What is your job responsibility?
