back to school
-
Back to School Boost
I’m not quite sure what it is this year, but I’m not really feeling like it’s time for Back to School quite yet. Yes, the weather is quite a bit cooler, I’ve definitely picked up a few school supplies (who doesn’t love brand new Sharpies?!), and I’m itching for college football season and some high school football games, but there seems to be something missing. Maybe I’ll get my Back to School boost tomorrow, because Teachers Pay Teachers is having a special one day Back to School sale. This is super special because TPT already had their annual Back to School sale, but being smart like they are, they totally…
-
Off to Kindergarten (update)
My big kids are all starting kindergarten this week. These are kiddos that have been in my class since they were 2 years old, so this is a bittersweet week for all of us. I wanted to do something special for them as they started a new chapter, and I shared some of my ideas a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to take some time to share the final product! This is the cute kit that I put together for each family to use on the first day of kindergarten. Each kit has a small pack of tissues (for Mom and Dad’s tears), chocolate hugs for a little…
-
Back to School Tips and Freebies
I know that I generally do freebies on Friday (don’t worry, I’ll have one for you tomorrow!) but this is even more awesome than one freebie, so I thought I’d give it a little extra special attention. I have to tell you about the Back to School Ebook from TPT. This book is jam-packed with tips from seasoned teachers and freebies from their Teacher’s Pay Teacher’s stores. There are a ton of great ideas here (140 pages!) so please take a minute to download the free ebook and click through the links to all of the free resources, I’m sure that you’ll find some great items for your classroom!
-
Extending a Portrait Project
Yesterday I shared one of my all-time favorite back to school activities – creating self-portraits. Today, I want to share some ideas for extending the learning that you’ve begun with this activity. If your students really enjoy this activity, pay attention to how they are working, and which aspects of the project seem to draw their attention. If the children are especially interested in inspecting their own features in the mirror, then you might consider taking close up photos of their facial features. You could then print these photos and explore them in a few different ways. First you could encourage the children to figure out which features belong to…
-
Preschool Self-Portrait Project
One of my absolute favorite back to school activities to do with my kiddos is to have them create self portraits. I think that encouraging them to take some time to look at themselves, and pay attention to what makes each of them unique, is a great way to help them recognize why they are each an important part of our community. Children learn a number of things from creating their own portraits – They get to practice taking time to focus on an activity, and pay attention to detail. They also begin to compare themselves with other students, and learn to recognize their own unique characteristics, as well as…
-
What I’m Buying
There’s a great big sale going on over at Teachers Pay Teachers and I’ve got some shopping to do! Today I wanted to take a minute to share what I’ll be buying during the Back to School Sale. 1. Interchangeable Clipart from Molly Tillyer. This is clipart, but I honestly think that it would make a great pre-k classroom center. The set includes a ton of different people (all skin tones) and then anything that you could possibly need to create thousand of different individuals – hair in different styles and colors, all kinds of facial expressions, and clothes and accessories like you wouldn’t believe. I think that my students would…
-
Back to School Sale!
You don’t want to miss this! It’s back to school time (yes, it’s really here) and Teachers Pay Teachers is celebrating with a huge sale! My entire store will be 20% off, and TPT is giving you an extra discount. Make sure to visit on August 4th or 5th and enter the code BTS14 to save on everything you need for the school year. It has become a tradition here at Preschool Ponderings to do two blog posts for each big TPT sale – I like to highlight the items in my store that are a great deal during the sale, and I also like to show you what’s on…
-
Friday Freebie!
Happy happy happy Friday! This week seemed to drag on forever, maybe because it finally got really hot and I was desperately seeking time in the air conditioning! I made a cute little freebie for you today. This one is a blog exclusive, so send all of your friends here to get it. I’m gearing up for back to school, and this year I have a lot of students who will be new to my teaching philosophy. I’m at a Reggio inspired school and I absolutely love all of the hands-on learning, exploration, and creativity that this philosophy promotes, but sometimes it can take a little getting used to for…
-
A Back to School Book
I know, I know, shame on me for gearing up for back to school already. In my defense I do have an excuse, I will be MIA for the next two weeks, so I want to make sure I get the good posts out before it’s too late! Plus, if I prep for back to school now, I might still be able to steal a week in August for fun summer stuff. The book that I want to share with you today is my absolute favorite back to school book ever. Yes, ever. Llama Llama Misses Mama is about Llama’s first day at school, and all of the feelings that…
