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Kindergarten Readiness
Spring is coming, and with it, the flurry of parents signing up for Kindergarten screenings. As a Preschool teacher, this means that part of my job is to encourage that them their children are ready for kindergarten, or in the cases where their children may not be ready, give them the tools to work towards readiness, or make a decision to wait another year. The first thing that I take into consideration when making a recommendation is social skills – here are some things I think about: Can the child complete self-help tasks (hanging up his or her coat, washing hands, etc.)? Does the child interact appropriately with others (exhibits…
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Celebrating Mardi Gras in Preschool
Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday, and every year I celebrate with my students. Exploring Mardi Gras gives my students the opportunity to participate in a holiday that many of them do not celebrate at home, but they can definitely appreciate the basic components of this holiday – sweet treats, parades, masks, and music. I show my students some photos of Mardi Gras celebrations during circle time. You can find a lot of pictures on Google Images, just be sure to preview them first! It helps to search for children’s parades, and my students also love to see pictures from the dog parades, and of the big parade floats. We always start…
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Friday Freebie – President’s Day
Happy Friday! Today is one of my favorite days, I know a lot of teachers don’t like party days, but I love them and Valentine’s Day is my favorite of the entire year. I think it’s because the celebration with my kiddos has always taken the pressure off my husband đŸ™‚ I get all my mushy love from the little ones and all I expect from him is a card. I also have some serious girl time planned for this weekend, an Ikea trip with my best friends from high school, which is definitely a reason to look forward to the weekend! Then, Monday is President’s day. We always have…
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Reggio Inspired Dramatic Play Centers
A couple of weeks ago I gathered photos of some incredible Reggio-inspired Math and Writing centers to share with you. These have been some of the most popular posts that I’ve done, so I thought I would do a few more centers this week. I shared some incredible science centers, today I want to show you some inspiring dramatic play centers. My students favorite materials to use in the dramatic play space are; Any kind of costume Authentic items related to the play topic (old cameras, real stethoscopes, old cell phones, hair dryers, bakery boxes, etc.) Related printables, such as pretend library cards, shopping lists, airline tickets, recipe cards, etc. There are a few…
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Social Studies Activities for Preschool
It’s Wednesday, and here at Preschool Ponderings, that means time to focus on the standards. Every Wednesday I choose an Early Learning Standard and share a number of activities that can be aligned with that particular standard. Remember, the Standards that I use every day, and am most comfortable with are Ohio’s Early Learning Development Standards – you can review them here, however I’ve found that even if your State’s standards differ, many of these activities can still be aligned similarly. I’ve rounded up some great ideas today! Domain: Social StudiesStrand: EconomicsTopic: Scarcity This standard is all about understanding that supplies are limited, and sometimes you have to make choices. When…
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Reggio Inspired Science Centers
A couple of weeks ago I gathered photos of some incredible Reggio-inspired Math and Writing centers to share with you. These have been some of the most popular posts that I’ve done, so I thought I would do a few more centers this week. When it comes to the science center, my students especially love the following science-related materials: Authentic science tools (magnifying glasses, specimen jars, microscopes and slides, etc.) Mirrors and prisms Flashlights Binoculars I also like to include some of the following materials: Clipboards with paper or notebooks where they can record their findings Photographs related to topics of interest (like close ups of snowflakes or photos of…
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Keeping Preschoolers Germ Free
If your classroom is anything like mine, there are a lot of germs floating around it right now. I do my best to teach hand washing routines at the beginning of the school year, but right about now I feel like we need a refresher course in getting rid of some of those germs. I’ve come up with a couple of things that I’m hoping will help my students to A) remember to wash their hands after they blow their noses, and B) remember to wash their hands properly. The first thing I’m doing is making sure to spend some time going over hand washing routines, so I made these…
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Handwashing Routines for Preschool
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Friday Freebie – Valentine’s Day Writing Paper
Happy Friday! This was a surprise short week for me with my snow day on Monday, so it flew by! Since Valentine’s Day is next weekend I’m saying that this is the official start of Valentine’s week (yes, Valentine’s week) who doesn’t love taking time to share their love with people who are important?! I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve for my favorite people, and since I’ll see them at different times throughout the week, I’ve made it Valentine’s week đŸ™‚ Today’s freebie is one of the first things that I created for my Teacher’s Pay Teachers store, it’s a great little freebie that you can use a few…
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Valentine’s Day Bags and Boxes
If you’ve ever hosted any kind of Valentine’s Day Party in the classroom, you understand the need for some sort of container to corral all of those cards and treats. I generally like to create ours in the classroom – it makes my life easier because I know that everyone will have one and they will all be the same size. I think that spending the week prior to the big day doing little activities to get ready helps my students understand what the day is all about, and it ensures that they will know what to expect, because they’ve been a part of the planning. In the past my…
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Social Studies Activities for Preschool
It’s Wednesday, and here at Preschool Ponderings, that means time to focus on the standards. Every Wednesday I choose an Early Learning Standard and share a number of activities that can be aligned with that particular standard. Remember, the Standards that I use every day, and am most comfortable with are Ohio’s Early Learning Development Standards – you can review them here, however I’ve found that even if your State’s standards differ, many of these activities can still be aligned similarly. I’ve rounded up some great ideas today!Domain: Social StudiesStrand: GovernmentTopic: Rules and Laws This standard really focuses on rules, why we need them, and how they keep us safe. You…
