teacher resources
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New resources for summer!
I’ve been busy adding so many new summer resources to the Preschool Ponderings store! If you’re looking for preschool summer activities I’ve got you covered. Here’s what’s new: Ice Cream Clipart – These are perfect for any of your summer creations! I use them for planner stickers, prize stickers, and summer activities. They’re classic shapes and colors that instantly set the mood for summer fun. Bee Unit – Bees are fascinating and so important to our ecosystem, but they can also be very scary for young children. Taking time to understand them a little better and explore them in the safety of the classroom can help remove some of that…
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Preschool Graduation Round Up
Preschool graduation is one of my favorite events of the year! I just love celebrating my students’ accomplishments and I definitely go “all-in.” Sometimes it sneaks up on me though, so I thought it might be helpful to pull together all of the posts I’ve written about this over the years, and links to all of my resources so that you have everything you might need for graduation right in one place. Here you go! Blog Posts: Friday Freebie – Graduation Song DIY Graduation Tassels Tips for a Smooth Graduation Ceremony Graduation Decorations Making Graduation Easy Friday Freebie – Graduation Countdown Graduation Keepsakes for your Students Snack Ideas for your…
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A full month of preschool lesson plans!
Have you grabbed your copy of A Month of Preschool for April yet?! Four weeks of April preschool lesson plans, art ideas, dramatic play plans, and printable activities – and this month has an exclusive social emotional lesson that you can only get in this set: Children will build confidence and understanding of themselves as they put together this flower! The activity comes in two options – a cut and paste, or a color and write: These monthly sets are everything that I’ve used in my own classroom, printable and meant to make your life easier. I hope that you’ll try April’s because I’ve got a ton of new stuff…
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Shop the Sale!
March is always the hardest month for me – I want it to be spring, but it’s definitely not, we’re still dealing with lots of cloudy days, and we’ve been stuck inside with each other all winter – so it feels right to celebrate the end of this long month with a sale! TPT is hosting a sitewide sale on the 28th and 29th (tomorrow!) so you can join me in a little retail therapy. Here’s what I suggest taking a look at to help you prep for the next couple of months: Happy shopping, go find some amazing deals!
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Introducing CVC Words in Preschool – Resources
There are SO MANY different activities that you can do with CVC words – just do a quick Pinterest search, it’s a little overwhelming! After trying a ton of these in the classroom, I realized that I really needed some activities that could be used any time of year, and that were easy to store. Here are the resources I’ve created and use regularly for practicing CVC words: CVC Ring Books – These are the best because the pieces are all self-contained, and they’re really easy for children to use independently. The large colored strip has the word family ending, and the smaller white boxes have a variety of letters…
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Holidays in the classroom; What to do when you can’t celebrate
I’m the first person to say that I love celebrating holidays – in my personal life that’s definitely something that I’m known for, and it feels natural for me to incorporate that into the classroom. While it is something that I love, there are a variety of reasons that holidays might not be appropriate for the preschool classroom. Some programs don’t allow teachers and students to celebrate in order to create a space where all of the families that they serve feel welcome. Others have specific funding streams that require no holidays be acknowledged, and still others will eliminate these to support specific families and staff. These are all completely…
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St. Patrick’s Day Writing Center
I’m so ready to share my St. Patrick’s Day language materials with you! The focus of this center is storytelling, and the items that I have available for the holiday really support that. So let’s dive in! Leprechaun Dress Up – Who wouldn’t want to be a leprechaun?! Chasing rainbows and searching for gold sounds like an amazing adventure, and children can use these materials to act that out. I’ve got tutus, bow ties, feather boas, fun glasses, and headbands. I’ve also included top hats, blazers and vests, and messenger bags in the past. Shamrock Cupcake Letter Match – These cupcakes are just the cutest, and sometimes that’s all it…
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March Clipart and Planner Stickers
We all need a hobby right?! I used to be a scrapbooker back in the day, but that got hard to keep up with – and who prints photos anymore? Now I use my planner as a pseudo-scrapbook, and I’m obsessed with planner stickers. Making this clipart each month is an extension of that for me and I love that I can share it with all of you. The set of March planner stickers that I’ve put together just might be my favorite yet! I use this with my Cricut to print and cut out the stickers that I want. This makes it really easy to get the sizes I…
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REALLY Changing Challenging Behaviors
A couple of weeks ago I shared a free sample of a behavior tracking system that can be used to identify patterns related to challenging behaviors. Now, I want to dig into what happens after you’ve identified those patterns. Let’s reflect so that you can really starting changing challenging behaviors in the classroom. Part of this system is a reflection sheet: This reflection starts by exploring what is working WELL for this child already – what parts of the day are they successfully able to manage their behavior? For some children, this will be easily evident, and for others you might have to continue observing to get an even better…
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Managing Challenging Behaviors
I promised you some real solutions to the tough stuff that you have to deal with everyday, and the number one thing on that list is challenging behaviors. These are the kinds of things that can derail the entire class and make you feel like nothing you do will make a difference – I’ve been there. I’ve put together a resource that will help you understand, manage, and change these difficult preschool behaviors step by step. I’m also giving you a FREEBIE so you can try it out right away! Behaviors are so tough because we aren’t always able to understand exactly where there coming from, and even if we…
