freebies
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Friday Freebie – Leaf Patterning
Happy Friday! Somehow it’s already the second week in September, and because of the strange weather we’ve had this summer, our leaves have already started to change. Nothing like messing with my seasons! This freebie is a cute patterning activity that uses different colored leaves. This would be a great center or a fun activity to send home for families to work on together. Download your copy here and enjoy your weekend!
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Friday Freebie – Calendar Practice
I’ve shared my love for traceable calendars before, so I feel like ABC Helping Hands made this freebie for me! Go download their free year’s worth of traceable calendars and follow the link above to see how I use these in my classroom.
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Discussing Routines with Preschoolers
Every year my back to school activities include experiences that are designed to help my kiddos get used to our daily routine. One of the activities that I do with them s to discuss routines, and help them put this idea into perspective by considering the routines that they follow at home. I give them each the opportunity to tell me what they do when they wake up in the morning – the kinds of things they have to do to get ready for school. This takes some prompting at first, but after they get going they have pretty good memories, and it’s fun to see what their priorities are…
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Friday Freebie – Parent Letter about Holiday Celebrations
It's a little early for this particular freebie, but it fits really well with this week's parent communication theme, so you can download it and file it away for later in the year. This is the letter that I send out every year before winter holidays (usually the beginning of November so I have plenty of time to get it out, get it back, and start planning). It lets parents know why I like to include holiday activities on my lesson plans and gives them the opportunity to share what their preferences are when it comes to discussing holidays in the classroom.This is a great way to make sure that…
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Sharing Positive Messages with Families
Kids do great things during the day - they share, they tell funny stories, they help without being asked, they melt our hearts with their sweet comments. In an effort to share these great moment with parents I created Happy Notes, which you can download for free! I really need to be better about sharing great stories with parents, so the idea behind Happy Notes is that you can write down something great right when it happens, then share the note with the child, and they can take it home and share it with mom and dad. These are a great way to reinforce positive behavior, and a perfect way to let…
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Friday Freebie – Reading Logs
Happy Friday! Many of you are in full back to school mode, so I wanted to share a great idea for keeping track of all if the books little ones read. I am all about encouraging readers, I created this reading log last year, when the children I was working with were participating in our local library's summer reading program. Don't get me wrong, I love any program that promotes reading, but keeping track of all of the books they read was not fun. This log is one that even preschoolers can complete independently - they just color in one of the pictures each time they finish a book.August is…
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Friday Freebie – Positive Behaviors
I have found the cutest freebie ever! I can’t even wait to share these with you – these are Beehavior Beads (they all have a bee theme). The idea is that you print a bunch of them, laminate them, and punch a hole in the corner of each one, then each child gets a necklace (a ribbon, lanyard, or piece of yarn) and they can collect them as you catch them “bee-ing” helpful. Such a great idea! Go download your set from Double Trouble.
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First Day of Preschool Freebie
The first days of school can be a little difficult for everyone. Children are nervous, parents want your attention, and you desperately want to start your routines off right. I’m hoping I’ve got something that will make you end that first day just a little less exhausted! I put together a freebie to help make the first day run a little more smoothly. It is designed so that parents can complete the simple activities with their child, giving them something to do while they wait for an opportunity to talk to you one-on-one. The freebie includes: A sign and keepsake photo mat. Parents can take a photo of their child…
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Friday Freebie – Summer Graphics
Happy Friday! It’s been a week, let me tell you – but I’m off on another camping trip this weekend and looking forward to relaxing a little! I have two freebies for you today, I figured since I’m sharing graphics I’d give you papers and clip art so you can make something fun! This beachy clip art set is from Graphics from the Pond. I love the sketchy look, and it comes with background scenes. This would be great for learning activities or summer scrapbook pages! The summer paper set is from Teaching Super Power. The bright colors are perfect with the clip art set, and make me wish summer…
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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!