• leprechaun mischief

    Leprechaun Mischief in the Classroom

    St. Patrick’s day is one of those holidays that seems to sneak up on me. After the crazy that is all of February’s holidays, I tend to find myself a little unprepared for this one – have you ever tried to find rainbow colored snacks at 10pm the night before St. Patrick’s day, or is that just me? This usually means that some traditions related to this particular day get pushed aside. For me, that’s typically the mischief and shenanigans that the Leprechauns cause. This can be so much fun for the kids, though so finding ways to incorporate it can make the day even more magical. I try to…

  • St. Patrick's Teacher Fashion

    Teacher Style for St. Patrick’s Day

    These are my favorite posts – I LOVE curating these lists of everything that I love for celebrating holidays in the classroom and sharing them with you. St. Patrick’s Day has a special place in my heart because I do have some Irish roots. Here are my picks for the perfect holiday teacher fashion! (All are affiliate links). Green oversize cardigan – I will never have enough cardigans. This one is oversized and full of character, it’s also just the right color that it can easily be worn any day of the year without screaming “I bought this for St. .Patrick’s Day.” Wooden rainbow earrings – These are so chic,…

  • preschool St. Patrick's Day centers

    Preschool St. Patrick’s Day Centers

    St. Patrick’s Day is such a fun holiday for little ones because it’s all about magic and mischief. This is the perfect day to get right into the fun with the children! Let’s take a look at some of the materials that I use for our St. Patrick’s day centers. Shamrock Observations – This set is designed to help children focus on small details, which is perfect when it comes to shamrocks and finding that elusive 4-leaf clover. There are images of a variety of different shamrocks, and then zoomed in images of the same shamrocks so that children can see if they can match these. There are also two paint-chip…

  • March preschool activities

    March Preschool Activities

    Can you believe it’s almost March?! February always flies by but I feel like this year was faster than ever. As we prepare to start a new month, I wanted to make sure that you had all of the help you need, and that includes a great big list of resources that you can access in one file. Here is everything that’s included in my March Month of Preschool set – oh, and just a note, the March set does NOT include Easter activities. All of the Easter materials are in the April set, so you may want to grab both sets (or the 12 month bundle at a discounted…

  • Classroom Eclipse Supplies

    Eclipse Supplies for Teachers

    March is going to fly by – with St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and spring break – so the eclipse on April 8th will be here before we know it! I’m already getting excited, and planning for the big day is definitely building that anticipation. Our area is in the path of totality, so all of our local schools are closed the day of the eclipse because we’re anticipating travel and communication challenges due to the large influx of eclipse tourists. That means that the week before the eclipse is the prime time for talking about it in the classroom. I’m also gearing up to keep my daughter busy with eclipse…

  • Solar Eclipse Activities

    Preschool Eclipse Activities

    I’m so happy to have these eclipse activities ready for you! Little ones can struggle with these kinds of special events because they just don’t have the frame of reference to understand why they’re a big deal to the adults in their lives AND what is actually happening. The eclipse activities that I’ve put together will help work through both of those challenges in a way that is developmentally appropriate, while also supporting the other work that they’ve been doing throughout the year. I firmly believe that none of us can truly understand any topic if we don’t have the vocabulary to discuss it with others. Vocabulary cards like these…

  • eclipse space clipart

    Eclipse Clipart!

    I mentioned that I’ve been working on an eclipse clipart set so I wanted to let you know that it’s available! My community is in the path of totality for the upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8th, so we’ve be getting really excited for the event. I wanted to commemorate it with some special clipart – and of course use these for other materials too. Make sure to check back for updates on those products!

  • Day in the Life

    Celebrate Valentine’s Day with me!

    Happy Valentine’s Day! I thought I’d try something a little different today and give you a full picture of what my day looks like. Here’s how I’m celebrating the holiday all day long: We started the morning early because my girl was EXCITED. She’s old enough to remember past Valentine’s day celebrations and she knows that I always have some special gifts for her, and once she woke up there was no holding her back! We use these felt heart envelopes for Valentine gifts – ours are a few years old from the Target Dollar spot, but these are similar and available on Amazon (affiliate link). I love having this…

  • Preschool Infant Toddler Assessment

    All Things Assessment for Preschool

    On Friday I shared a video that shows my early childhood assessments and how to use them. As you consider these and prepare to complete your own assessments I wanted to make sure that you had all of my resources in one easy place! Here are all of the posts that I’ve shared on assessments and portfolios over the years: Using assessment results to inform lesson planning Explaining assessments to families Sharing assessment results with families My favorite assessment products What does assessment evidence look like in preschool? Assessment strategies for preschool Collecting assessment evidence Google drive student portfolios Anecdotal Notes Please reach out if there is anything that I…

  • Preschool Infant Toddler Assessment

    Easy Portfolios and Assessments for Early Childhood

    It’s almost spring (I’m trying to be optimistic here…), and in many places that means that it’s time to think about finishing up assessments and portfolios for the end of the school year. If you’re about to jump into that, let me help! I’ve got another video for you today that walks through why I created my own assessments, and how you can take advantage of this for your program – they really do make life so much easier! If you want to read more about these assessments and some of the different ways they can be used, then this post is exactly what you’re looking for!