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Friday Freebie – Environmental Print
Happy Friday! I’m so glad that February is almost over, bring on spring! Unfortunately, just because the calendar says March, that doesn’t mean it’ll be warm here. It’s supposed to be 36 degrees this weekend, and that sounds warm to me right now! This week I’ve spent a lot of time sharing ideas for letter recognition and alphabet activities, so today’s freebie, fits right in. I’ve used this Environmental Print Alphabet set in my classroom for a couple of years, and the students love it. They recognize the brand names, and are easily able to figure out the letter that each brand name starts with. Go download this freebie from…
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Sensory Alphabet Letters
Last year my class made sensory letters that smelled like chocolate. The kids thought they were fun to make and use for other projects. They were really easy to do and I’m going to tell you how so you can try it too! I cut cardboard rectangles and wrote a letter on each piece of cardboard. Then my kiddos traced the letters with glue (we used the glue bottles, but you could use a cup of glue and a q-tip). I took cocoa powder and mixed in it with cornstarch because cocoa powder…
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Easy Alphabet Match Activity
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A Teachers Pay Teachers Sale
Guess what everyone?! There’s a big sale going on over at TPT! It’s become a tradition for me to share what I’ve picked out to purchase during a TPT sale, so here are a few of the items on my wish list: I’ve never met a preschooler who doesn’t love science experiments, and there are so many out there to choose from. This book of 60 science experiments from Sara Hickman will make planning so much easier! I have been OBSESSED with Erin Bradley Designs since long before I started making my own classroom printables. I use her graphics on all of my classroom newsletters, and I am so excited…
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Using letter manipulatives in the classroom
Yesterday I showed you the cute alphabet letters that I made with Perler beads, and today I want to share some of the ways that I plan on using these in the classroom. These ideas can also be done with any letter manipulatives or magnet letters that you already have, so you don’t need to make the Perler bead letters (but they are really easy to do!). Obviously you can simply use letter manipulatives to spell words, but what about taking it to the next level?! Show your students how to place a piece of paper over their word and use a crayon to create a rubbing. This way they…
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Easy Alphabet Match Activity
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Perler Bead Alphabet Letters
I can’t take credit for this idea, I saw it on 1+1+1=1, but when I saw it on my Pinterest feed, I knew I had to try and make my own set of Perler bead alphabet letters. I picked up the supplies at Ikea when I was there last weekend, and let me tell you, I had a blast playing with them. I spent the entire afternoon making fun stuff, it felt like I was 10 years old again! It took a bit of time to figure out the correct shapes for the letters, but once I got the hang of it, I was off and running. I can’t wait to…
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Easy Alphabet Match Activity
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Friday Freebie – Classroom Labels
Happy Friday! When I looked at the calendar at the beginning of the week, I was in shock. The middle of February already?! I’m itching for spring, and it’s coming quickly (thank goodness). If you’re anything like me, you’re ready to freshen things up a bit, so I’ve got the perfect freebie for you. I recently revamped my classroom label freebie. It was one of the first sets that I ever added to my Teachers Pay Teachers Store, and it needed an upgrade. I’m planning on re-labeling my whole classroom (there’s just something about new labels that gets me excited, and I know I’m not the only one!), so go…
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Kindergarten Readiness
Every year in the spring I am inundated with similar questions – “Do you think my child is ready for Kindergarten?” and “What can I do to make sure my child is ready for Kindergarten?” Unfortunately, these questions can’t be answered easily. There are a number of factors that need to be considered when determining Kindergarten readiness, and on Tuesday I discussed some of the social skills that I generally look for, and I shared some suggestions for parents. Today I’m going to share some of the academic skills that are helpful for children to know before they go to Kindergarten. I have to preface this post by saying that…
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Social Studies Activities for Preschool
It’s Wednesday, and here at Preschool Ponderings, that means time to focus on the standards. Every Wednesday I choose an Early Learning Standard and share a number of activities that can be aligned with that particular standard. Remember, the Standards that I use every day, and am most comfortable with are Ohio’s Early Learning Development Standards – you can review them here, however I’ve found that even if your State’s standards differ, many of these activities can still be aligned similarly. I’ve rounded up some great ideas today!Domain: Social StudiesStrand: EconomicsTopic: Production and ConsumptionThis standard is all about understanding where our resources come from, and how they get to us. It…
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Kindergarten Readiness
Spring is coming, and with it, the flurry of parents signing up for Kindergarten screenings. As a Preschool teacher, this means that part of my job is to encourage that them their children are ready for kindergarten, or in the cases where their children may not be ready, give them the tools to work towards readiness, or make a decision to wait another year. The first thing that I take into consideration when making a recommendation is social skills – here are some things I think about: Can the child complete self-help tasks (hanging up his or her coat, washing hands, etc.)? Does the child interact appropriately with others (exhibits…
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Celebrating Mardi Gras in Preschool
Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday, and every year I celebrate with my students. Exploring Mardi Gras gives my students the opportunity to participate in a holiday that many of them do not celebrate at home, but they can definitely appreciate the basic components of this holiday – sweet treats, parades, masks, and music. I show my students some photos of Mardi Gras celebrations during circle time. You can find a lot of pictures on Google Images, just be sure to preview them first! It helps to search for children’s parades, and my students also love to see pictures from the dog parades, and of the big parade floats. We always start…
