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Change is a good thing
From Spokenly It took me a long time to feel this way, but after a year and a half of living my life in chaos and trying to be positive and see the silver lining ALL THE TIME, I think I actually get it. I’ve been a little down for the last couple of weeks, you see, this is the first year that I haven’t actually had my own class to welcome back to school. While I know that I’m doing exactly what I’m really meant to be doing, and I love that I get to spend so much time working on projects that I’m really passionate about, It does…
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Fine motor skills – folding paper pinwheels
Our school is going to be in a local parade in a couple of weeks, so during free play I’ve been working on a couple of projects for our float, today I was folding paper pinwheels, and the kids wanted to help. After a quick folding lesson, they were of, and they did amazingly well. This is a great activity for practicing fine motor skills, so I thought I’d share a quick tutorial. The key to making these with young children is to be accepting of imperfection, they can still work even if the accordion folds are not straight or even. 1. Start with a sheet of paper. We used…
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Friday Freebies
Four-day work weeks are always better aren’t they?! Happy Friday, it’s time for another weekend, and another freebie. Tonight we are doing a local family event for school, we’ll be having a photo both for children and family to take silly pictures, and I’m looking forward to helping build some really fun memories. I thought I’d share some of the free photo booth props that we’ll be using. Both of these sets are from Oh Happy Day. I also love to use them in the classroom. They are perfect for a number of different dramatic play scenarios, I’ve even set up dramatic play photo booths with old cameras so…
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Currently!
I’m linking up with Farley at Oh Boy Fourth Grade for September’s Currently! How do I forget about this every month?! At least this month’s is up earlier than August’s was. Listening: I might be obsessed with Pandora, I have about a million different stations, but my current favorites are Today’s Country and Pitch Perfect Soundtrack. Between Pandora radio and Amazon Prime instant video my ipad is permanently charging. Loving: Yay for PSL! This is just part of why I love love love autumn. I will mourn on the day that Starbucks introduces Christmas flavors. Thinking: We’ve been so busy lately that we haven’t been home for dinner much, at least not at…
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Activities that meet social emotional standards
I’m going to start something new here on my little blog, and I’m kind of excited about it! Every Wednesday I’ll focus on a different early learning standard and offer a number of activities that align with that standard. I hope that you’ll also add to my list so that we can all collaborate together. For the first eight weeks we’ll focus on Social Emotional Standards, so here we go;(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…
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Wisdom for the overwhelmed
I try to keep my posts at least somewhat related to preschool, but we are all multifaceted individuals, and the things that are on my mind at the moment have nothing to do with school. This fall is a bit overwhelming for me personally – My sister and my husbands brother are both getting married within a month of each other, and in between those two events I also have two big marketing events for school, oh yeah, and I’ll be speaking at the NAEYC Conference in Dallas (Eeeek!). All of these events are awesome, but there is a lot of prep on my end, and I’m already feeling like…
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Friday Freebie
Happy Friday! It’s even happier because it is a long weekend, thank goodness! I am excited to just ENJOY this weekend. A Friday evening to myself (shopping anyone?!), getting away for an out of town wedding on Saturday, back home for one of my favorite local fairs on Sunday and beautifully nothing to do all day Monday. I hope that your weekend is just as relaxing! I’ve spent a lot of time this week talking about dressing and behaving professionally. I always feel more professional when I am able to be prepared and communicate clearly, so I wanted to share something that I made to help you do both. This…
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Recycled loose parts
I’m used to using loose parts in the classroom, I love them. I’m known for using recycled materials in the classroom, really, what preschool teacher isn’t? Another thing that I just might be notorious for – I cannot throw away craft materials, I just can’t do it. These facts make the project that I’m currently working on the ideal project for me. I had a ton of strips of scrapbook paper left from another project, and I had pinned this photo awhile back: What an awesome idea! I thought that I could roll up the paper and my students could create with it. I started rolling, taping each new addition…
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Practicing Professionalism
How many times have you heard “Oh, your job is so fun, you get to play with little kids all day!” Yeah, and can you still manage to keep from rolling your eyes? I’ve found that the more professionally I behave, the more that my job, and the challenges it presents, are taken seriously. I’ve always worked at lab schools (with ECE students from local colleges and universities), and I’ve often had students who don’t take my work seriously because I am young, and in some cases, younger than they are. So over the years I’ve come up with some tried and true methods for being taken seriously, which has…
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Preschool Stains
It is impossible (seriously IMPOSSIBLE) to go a single day in a preschool classroom without getting a stain on something. It could be the carpet, a child’s clothing, the teacher’s clothing, dress-up clothes, a nap blanket, or a lunchbox. If it’s in a preschool room, it has the potential to get a little messy. This is for two reasons; Small children do not comprehend the word “careful”. No matter how hard they try, they are not completely steady on their feet, and with a lack of balance comes a general unsteadiness that makes carrying things incredibly difficult. This being said, children need to have these experiences. In my classroom, students…
