• Friday Freebie – Art Supply Labels

    Happy Friday! I have been waiting for this day since January because as of 2:30 this afternoon I am officially on vacation!!!!! I’m sure many of you are in the same boat, so therefore, today we are celebrating together! I also have a fabulous freebie for you.  These art supply labels from Joanna Minor are amazing because they include real photographs of the supplies.  These are perfect for organizing your art supplies, which somehow have a mind of their own – I know, I’ve been there! Download these labels and have a wonderful holiday weekend!

  • Friday Freebie – Phone Number and Address Practice

    Happy Friday! As we slowly get closer to Easter (and my spring break, yay!) I can’t help but be amazed that it is already that time of year – you know, spring, the time of year when we really focus in on those academic skills and making sure that our oldest preschoolers are going to be ready for kindergarten.  They’ll make it, and they’ll be successful, whether we stress about it or not. This freebie makes one of those pre-kindergarten skills just a little more fun (therefore making your job just a little easier). This phone number and address freebie includes three simple printables, all of which are editable so…

  • Age appropriate chores for children

    I saw this list years ago and have been looking for it ever since, I finally stumbled across it again today and knew that I just had to share.  When I taught toddlers and preschoolers I was constantly surprising parents by telling them what their children did during the day at school.  These simple chores teach responsibility, but more importantly, they are self help skills that build fine motor skills, coordination, attention, and listening skills.  This awesome list is from The Montessori Notebook, so make sure to spend some time exploring the other wonderful ideas on their blog after you print this list to share with your families! If you’re…

  • Favorite pins of the week

    I pin a lot of stuff.  If you’ve seen my pin boards you know that they are organized by domain and season (among other things…).  I use my pins to help me lesson plan, so I need them to be easy to find when I’m looking for them.  I appreciate that wen I need social emotional activities I can go to the social emotional board and be filled with inspiration.  At the same time, I also like to look at all of my pins at once and see what I’ve pinned recently. Here are my favorite ideas that I’ve pinned this week, I can’t wait to try these out! How…

  • Great app to share with families

    I am a self-proclaimed family engagement queen, I tend to collect ideas and resources for sharing with families and not have enough opportunities to share all of them! This one must be shared with all of you because it is amazing!!! Go check out Vroom – do it right now! This site is all about building parents up and reminding them that they have what it takes to help their child’s brain grow and develop.  From the videos and information on the site itself, to the great materials that families can download, to the free app that gives them daily activities personalized for their child’s age, this site is an…

  • How to keep from getting sick when you’re a teacher

    Yuck! There is a really nasty bug going around, I can’t tell you how many adults and kids I know who have the flue right now.  This is always my least favorite thing about spending the day with little ones, you just can’t avoid the germs.  When things get really bad there are a few strategies I turn to; Clorox wipes.  If you just can’t go around spraying everything with bleach all day, then these are the next best thing.  I love how easy they are to use, and they give me so much peace of mind.  Don’t forget to wipe down the door knobs, light switches, faucet handles, and…

  • Friday Freebie – St. Patrick’s Day Letters and Numbers

    Happy Friday! Those two words are music to my ears this week, and if you’re week has been anything like mine you’re probably ready for some down time – and a freebie! Are you ready for St. Patrick’s Day? This freebie will help get you there.  These letter and number cards will turn any activity into a St. Patrick’s Day activity.  Use these cards with any of the letter or number activities that you already have planned, or check out my Language Arts pinboard for more ideas!

  • Teaching responsibility with a class pet

    A class pet is a perfect way to help teach responsibility – the children not only have to remember to do all of the tasks associated with taking care of the pet, but they also have to be cautious when handling the pet.  Unfortunately, it’s not exactly easy to have a class pet these days, there are health and safety regulations, allergies, and insurance issues to worry about.  Even if you can’t have a class pet, there are other ways to encourage responsibility in the classroom, here are some ideas: Have a stuffed animal pet like Julie from A First for Everything Grow plant people like the Red Headed Hostess…

  • Classroom jobs that preschoolers can do independently

    I love the idea behind classroom jobs – children are responsible for taking care of the classroom, therefore taking ownership for their room while learning responsibility.  In theory it’s wonderful, in practice it tends to be chaos that takes more time than it’s worth.  I would start classroom jobs every year, and after a couple of weeks they would slowly fade away.  This was usually because the children weren’t able to actually do their jobs on their own, and I didn’t have the time to follow each student around and make sure that they completed their responsibilities. Now I work with teachers, and I have a really hard time recommending…

  • How to get your preschoolers to clean up after themselves

    Children don’t clean up after themselves, they’re impulsive and as soon as they decide that they are done with one activity they move on to the next.  It’s our job to teach them to clean up their materials so that they don’t get lost or broken, so that others can find them when they want them, and so that we don’t have to walk around them all day.  There are many different strategies for getting children to clean up after themselves, but the following three tips have worked the best for me; Let them see you cleaning up.  Children value the actions of adults, they mimic what we do in…