routines
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Back to school, back to a routine!
We had a whirlwind week at our county fair last week, all work and routines were thrown out the window! Now we’re home, getting all of the laundry done and SO READY to get back into a routine as we prep to head back to school. We still have a month before my daughter’s first day, but it’s never to early to start easing into those daily rituals that are part of the school year. If you’re teaching, helping a group of preschoolers ease into the school year, or preparing your own children for this schedule shift, here are some tips to make this transition a little easier! We’re personally…
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Easy way to share favorite preschool songs
I distinctly remember having a conferences with a parent who’s only request was the words to all of the songs that we sang in the classroom – she wanted to sing them with her son, but she couldn’t understand the words he was singing well enough to figure out what the songs were! I finally had a chance to put together a quick an easy resource that I could have shared with her, and I’m sharing it with you too. There are so many ways that this collection of common preschool songs can be used! There are two different pieces to this set. The ribbons all have a name of…
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Germs Germs Germs
I have to apologize for being MIA this week, my household is sick sick sick! I know that its a rough year for cold and flu, and I’m not complaining because we could have it much worse. I did want to take a quick minute to share a resource that might be helpful if you’re fighting the germs with your students. Please take a minute to check out my hand washing visuals to help build those healthy routines!
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Routines that increase happiness
I live for routines. They make my life run smoothly and they help me feel like I’ve got everything under control. Routines help me make sure that I get everything around in the morning and that I stay on top of tasks that need completed regularly. I’ve found that I can build little things into my routines that go a long way towards making me a happier person. One routine that brings me a small bit of joy is to stop at Starbucks before work on Mondays and Fridays. I have a Starbucks obsession, and I could stop every single day – but that would cost me a small fortune. …
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Re-establishing Classroom Routines after the Holidays
I may have gone back to work last week, but last week was all about survival. This week, on the other hand, is about getting back into routine and evaluating those routines as I think about the rest of the year. That means making sure that I’m planning ahead, following the schedule, and setting up systems that are helpful – not ones that create more work for myself! If you’re thinking about some of those same goals, here are some of my favorite tools for re-establishing routines and organizing all of my plans: Picture schedule cards are perfect for this time of year. They help the entire class get back…
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Re-Thinking Transitions
I’ve been all about routines this week, probably because I’ve been super-conscious of my own personal routines for whatever reason. I can’t talk about routines in the preschool room without devoting some time to transitions. Transitions, that’s one of those buzz words that we use a lot in early childhood. Do you ever stop and really think about that word? To transition means to change from one thing to the next, when we use the word transition in the context of early childhood education we are usually talking about helping children move from one activity to the next. Some transitions are very natural, like singing a clean up song when…
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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…
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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…
