circle time
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Conversations with Preschoolers about Current Events
We know that kids are sponges – they’re ALWAYS listening! Because of this, they catch onto things that we don’t always realize they’re hearing, and without context and all of the information their minds make the most interesting connections. It’s fascinating to get their take on the things that are happening in their world because they look at them with such a unique filter! When it comes to discussing current events, it can be a bit of a minefield, we never know what might come up, and we definitely can’t predict what a child will say. There are some ways to navigate these conversations without prompting those comments. Here are…
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Circle Time Seating Solutions
I’ve observed a ton of circle time routines in many many different classrooms. I can definitively say that there is one thing that the best circle times have in common. It isn’t the content, the strategies used to engage the children, or even the time of day that it is held. No, the one thing that the most successful circle time routines have in common is a successful strategy for identifying each child’s seat. Little ones love boundaries (really, they do – that’s why they test them so often). So giving them a clearly defined place to sit helps them to focus more successfully. The visual reminder helps them learn…
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Conversations with Preschoolers about Current Events
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Friday Freebie – Name Song
Happy Friday! This week has been a whirlwind, have you ever felt like you need a vacation to recover from your vacation? That was definitely me this week, so for today’s freebie I turned to a very trusted source. This Name Song freebie is from Play to Learn Preschool. This song would be perfect for circle time the first few weeks of school. You can help the children learn each others’ names and work on name recognition at the same time. Make sure to download this cute set and enjoy your weekend!
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Conversations with Preschoolers about Current Events
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Encouraging Preschoolers to Read Aloud
One of my favorite things to do with preschoolers is to have them read to me, and by read I mean look at the illustrations in a book and make up the story to go with them. It's fun to see which part of the story they remember, and what kinds of things they come up with to fill in the gaps. I also love to see how they interpret the illustrations. I've noticed that toddlers and young preschoolers are happy to read to me, but as those same children get older, they become more reluctant. They understand that the words have meaning, and they know that they can't read those…
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Conversations with Preschoolers about Current Events
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Tips for reading wordless books
Some of my favorite books to read have no words, on the other hand, some of my least favorite books to read have no words. The illustrations in a wordless book make all of the difference, and my personal comfort level with the book helps too. If I know that I’m going to read a book with no words to the class, there are a couple of things that I like to do to prepare; Flip through the book and familiarize myself with it. I pay attention to the sequence of events, the characters, and the ending. This way, I will be able to use my verbal and nonverbal communication…
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Conversations with Preschoolers about Current Events
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Dealing with difficult behaviors during read alouds
Preschoolers are smart! They know that when you are sitting in front of the group reading a story, you are less likely to stop what you’re doing to address their ridiculous behavior. Every group usually has at least one who will take advantage of this, and that can make any teacher dread read alouds. I’ve been there. You desperately want to ignore the behavior, you try, but it gets worse and then the other children are beginning to notice, and all of a sudden no one is paying attention to the story anymore. So I thought I’d share some behavior management ideas that have worked for me, hopefully these will…
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Read Alouds that keep them interested
I have always loved to read stories to children, I can capture their attention and keep it for twenty minutes or more just by using a few very easy strategies. These strategies have nothing to do with cute props, or even the story itself, they are all about how I read the book. Know the story – I don’t just mean “oh yeah, I’ve read that book before” it is so helpful to know the story inside and out. You want to know what is on the next page before you turn to it. It’s also helpful to be familiar with the rhythm of the story, this will carry the…
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Conversations with Preschoolers about Current Events
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Friday Freebie – Name Cards
Happy Friday! Do you feel like your summer is slipping away, or is it just me?! I can’t believe it’s the end of July already, how did that happen?! I’ve been trying to avoid the back to school blog posts because I find them slightly depressing, instead I’ve been trying to focus on tips and routines that will help you throughout the year. This week was all about circle time, and today’s freebie fits right in with that topic. Yesterday I talked about games that I love to play during circle time, which included games to play with name cards, so here are my free name cards; These cards are…
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Conversations with Preschoolers about Current Events
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Great games to play at circle time
I love to play games during circle time because they keep the children’s interest, but I still get to teach specific concepts through the games. It’s a great way to make sure that I am getting time to do large group instruction, but the children think it’s a ton of fun. Here are some of the games that I love to play, these can all be differentiated so that everyone gets to be challenged, but still successful; Letter games – I use letter cards to play a ton of games, I usually start the year with capital letter cards, and as we explore letters and the children become comfortable with…
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Conversations with Preschoolers about Current Events
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Making Circle Time Easier (and Developmentally Appropriate!)
I am all about setting up systems to make everyday classroom activities easier – especially when it means that I won’t have to spend as much time planning! I wanted to share my circle time system with you. It is designed to make sure that circle time is enjoyable for everyone, which means that I am able to get through the content I want to get through, the children are able to move around a little, and the whole thing is over in ten minutes or less so we can dig into our centers. The first set of printables are for calendar. I don’t spend a ton of time focused…
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Conversations with Preschoolers about Current Events
