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Should Learning to Read Happen in Preschool?
Most early childhood educators would agree that learning about language is a lifelong process – we begin hearing and decoding words at birth, and continuous growth happens from that moment! But when you specifically ask if preschoolers should be taught to read, you’ll get a wide variety of different answers. The truth is that preschoolers are already learning to read – whether we intentionally introduce activities that support this or not – they notice letters, the ways that these are oriented on the page, how combining them creates words, and that letters can be strung together and used to share information. These are foundational pieces for sure! My answer to…
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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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Travel Products for Kids
When I was sharing all of my travel tips earlier this week, it occurred to me that I should give you a peek into the items that I always make sure to have with us when we head out on a road trip. These are all affiliate links and I may receive a portion of the sales. Here are my recommendations for kid’s road trip must-haves: This unicorn travel pillow is one of my all-time favorite Amazon purchases. It’s adorable and SO soft. The cover zips off so it can be washed, and the mask and little ear plugs are included. It comes vacuum sealed in this tiny little bag,…
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Tips for Traveling with Preschoolers
If you’re like me, you get all kinds of questions from parents about tips for daily life with preschoolers. Our family is planning a road trip, and since we’ve gotten pretty good at traveling this way over the last few years I thought I’d share some tips that I’ve picked up along the way. Here are my top tips for traveling with preschoolers: Road trips can be a great way to travel with little ones because you can bring EVERYTHING with you, and they make getting there part of the adventure – with a little planning and grace.
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St. Patrick’s Day Math and Science
St. Patrick’s day is such a fun holiday to celebrate in the classroom because there are some very different opportunities for exploration than we see with other holidays. Because of this, I’ve included some science activities – which means that this is a math and science center for Preschool St. Patrick’s Day! Let’s take a look at some of these materials. 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…
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Dealing with Hard Days in the Classroom
We all have tough days in the classroom – but what about when those hard days start happening regularly, or even every day? How can you turn things around and get more of the days that you really enjoy? Let’s talk about this, what can help when you’re dealing with never-ending classroom challenges? I’m big on reflection, taking time to dig deep and think through what’s really behind what’s happening in the classroom. This can be hard when you’re right in the middle of it. If you’re in a place where it feels like nothing is going right and there’s nothing you can do about it, then we need to…
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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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President’s Day with Preschoolers
President’s day can pose a challenge for preschool teachers because so many of the concepts that we connect with commemorating this day are extremely abstract for young children. They don’t understand history, what it means to live in a certain country, or the job of a president. In many cases, not only are these concepts difficult for children to grasp, they also aren’t relevant to their day to day experiences. There are still some great ways to acknowledge President’s day and help children make connections that increase their understanding – here are my favorite President’s day lessons. I’ve created a couple of vocabulary sets that help children have the words…
