How do you know what to teach?

Kristen @ A Day in the Life is hosting a Blog Cruise... She is setting it up like a blog carnival, but in the notes section of the Crew's Facebook Fan Page. 

This week's question is 'How do you know what to teach?'

Hmmm...good question...How do I know what I should be teaching?  Well, before kids, I was the director of a child care center, so I knew preschool curriculum and preschool scope and sequence/milestones that needed to be reached.  That is where I started...with the kiddos and them being preK, I was able to use my 'daycare days' knowledge.  I started off with them with unit studies and using Five In a Row.  At the preK and K age, around here, it wasn't about *learning* anything specific, it was about having fun - about making learning fun- making it where they didn't know they were learning.  At the end of their Kindergarten year, I started searching the scope and sequence links online.  I ended up using the AR Department of Education Frameworks as my main guide, along with the WorldBook Typical Course of Study. I don't stick to these strictly - they don't run our days, but I do refer to them on occasion to make sure we are somewhat close to where we need to be.

Another way that I know what to teach is by listening to my kiddos...they go through phases where they strike an interest in something and there are times when we put our normal routine on hold and focus on what they are excited about..I think there is no better way for them to learn than with their own excitement about something.  Riley spent 2 weeks reading World War II books and watching videos about WWII.  He would talk to my Pepaw about when he was in Africa, we stopped at the Veteran's Wall numerous times to find our relatives names...and he learned a lot from just him being interested in something and us chasing that!

So, that is how I know what to teach...how about you? How do you know what to teach? Blog your answer and get it to Kristen before Monday!