Circle Time (not so) Fun

I am writing this out of frustration hoping it helps new teachers out there.

I have been a lead preschool teacher for quite a few years now, but due to my choice of working part time I had to step down and be an assistant/floater. I am mostly with two year olds and the lead teacher that I help most of the time is new with preschoolers, she is an elementary school teacher mostly kindergarten and first grade, so two years old is quite different to what she is used to.

As I watch her “teach” a small group of two year olds, I have come to learn that a lot of things that are easy, common sense and second nature to me is not to others.

Let me start with circle time…

·       Please, please, please put a little more life to circle time that you normally would.  Circle time sets the energy for the rest of the day, either the kids are going to love it and enjoy it or hate it and start fuzzing, moving, wanting to go away or crying.

·       By putting more life to it I mean, add songs with hands and body movements, if you don’t know any… make them up. Learn sign language for the words you are using on your songs.

·       Add movement to your circle time, using songs that require children to get up and dance, stretch or touch something.

·       How about adding a marching band to circle time, maybe you can find a song that is suitable to march around the classroom giving each child a musical instrument.

·       When you see your kids (in your classroom) moving around, getting up, wanting to leave, why not follow their lead, you are not always going to have a perfect circle time, just let them get up and put a song that everybody can dance to it. And while you are all there might as well make it two (songs).

·       Once in a while bring something different to start the day with, maybe:

1.     Playdough

2.     A big hoola hoop for the kids to jump IN as you call their names

3.     A tunnel for them to go through as you call their names

4.     A limbo game to start the day

5.     Musical chairs

6.     Line up the chairs and pretend the kids are coming in to the school 1.     bus or train.

I mean the ideas are unlimited, maybe you can start the day with a felt story with you making funny voices for the characters.

Whichever of this ideas you decide to use just remember they are very young children that like to play and move around A LOT,  not sit for most of the day as most "teachers" believe so.

With all my best intentions, I hope this helps a lot of teachers out there :)

teaching responsibility

Young children begin to learn about responsibility earlier than most people think.

Toddlers and pre-schoolers can be included in helping with our family chores

when they are able to understand simple instructions and can imitate our actions.

After cleaning they'll find more things to play with,

help them put their toys back in the drawer, box

or on the shelf and explain that it is time to clean up.

The putting away or cleaning up will soon become part of playing,

and the completion of putting things away will be an accomplishment.

Most of the time it's easier and quicker for us parents

to do things like cleaning up for our little ones

But with some patience and guidance,

children will learn that cleaning up and putting toys away

can be the end part of their playtime.

Children will soon begin to have clean up become part of their routine

after playtime :)

How to start teaching my little one to read?

That was my question for Kari "Momma Snail"

(who is working on my PhD in Early Childhood now)

after What's In The [work]BOX? Handmade Word Family Game post in her blog.

I loved her answer so much that I asked her for permission

to share it here in my blog...

here is her response...

From my experience, and from my professional research,

a great way for kids to learn how to read is to write...a lot.

Here is my suggestion and an idea

that is often used by kindergarten and first grade teachers.

Have her start a journal.

Each day, she draws a picture and writes a sentence.

At first, you teach her how to write "I see the..." or "I like the...".

Then, she can dictate to you her story...

she watches you sound out words as you write.

She also writes her own words and sentences...

she might use random letters,

she might use inventive spelling,

she might try to sound them out.

So there are three things that you can do when she writes in her journal...

she can use simple words that you teach her

(you can even have a "word bank" for her),

you dictate her story and she watches you write,

and she writes using her own letters.

The journal is not for corrections..."teaching"...

it is for her sole use of exploring her own writings.

If you do this everyday,

by Christmas you will see a change in her reading and writing...

but remember that it is a process

and you are helping her to learn

that the sounds she hears are the sounds that she writes.

Writing is the true application of reading...in other words,

it is the "hands on" part of reading.

The more she writes in meaningful ways

(making a shopping list, making a wish list for her birthday,

making cards for family members, writing stories, making books),

the better reader she will be.

Also, go to the dollar store, Walmart...whatever and

buy reading games and alphabet games.

To get an idea, you can visit my store on my blog and go to "Language & Literacy."

Help her make her own language and literacy games...

buy workbooks and cut them up to make games.

In a few days, I will be showing some games on my blog that I just made.

Read about 10 books a day or for 30 minutes a day.

It sounds like a lot but teachers tell parents

to read 30 minutes a day for your child...and

early childhood teachers read between 8-10 books a day to their students.

You are on the right track and doing a great job!

Remember that she needs to be writing in meaningful ways

and she needs to be doing it a lot!

Thank you so much Momma Snail

Of to buy a journal today :)

let's talk about laminating...

One of my readers has ask me about laminating,

I have done it in two different ways,

I started laminating with clear contact paper

It is inexpensive and easy to apply,

I like it because is flexible, good for infants and toddlers

my only advice with this is to make sure

both sides of the paper are covered and leave a little extra

contact paper on the sides of what you are laminating

to protect the paper from getting wet.

After doing this for nearly a year,

I decided to buy my own laminating machine

Wal-mart has a very affordable one, around $20

and it works great, it fits regular size paper

the only thing is that you can only laminate flat items.

I also bought the laminating sheets on e-bay

which made it really affordable for us,

is easy to use, but items won't be flexible as they are with the contact paper

to use the laminating sheets just cut all your items first

slide the items up in the laminating sheet

until they just touch the top edge.

Make sure items do not overlap

close the laminating sheet

and feed it into the machine,

wait until it completely comes out the back of the machine

and that's it. Make sure you clean your machine

once in a while feeding a plain paper through it.

Another method of laminating is with wax paper

I haven't try this one, but here is what ehow.com

says about it:

Step 1
Tear off two sheets of wax paper 3 or 4 inches larger all the way around than the item that you want to laminate. The items to be laminated should be flat, such as a paper document, a card or a leaf.

Step 2
Center the item between the two sheets of wax paper.

Step 3
Lay a thin cloth on an ironing board and spread it out to remove any wrinkles. A thin kitchen towel works well for this purpose, as do pillowcases or cloth table napkins.

Step 4
Place the item, which is now centered between the wax paper sheets, on the cloth.

Step 5
Spread the second thin cloth on top of item.

Step 6
Press the warm iron down on top of the thin cloth. Move it back and forth slowly and smoothly for several minutes to allow the wax paper to melt together to encase object between the two wax sheets. Let the ironed items cool off for several minutes.

Step 7
Trim around the edges of the laminated object, leaving at least a half inch of wax paper around the edges.

I hope this helps :)

Solving her own problems

There has been lot of free play for Jessica this days

my older daughter (14) had a 104 F fever for 3 days

and the doctors couldn't find anything (???),

now she is doing better :) thank God, anywyas...

here is Jessica finding solutions to her own problems

she got this little doll house for Christmas, which she plays with a lot

but when she puts the furniture and the dolls in it

and she moves for any reason, everything falls off

so she took matters in her own hands

she taped her dolls and the furniture in the house lol

how clever is that!

and is funny, she has no problem

sticking it and unsticking it everytime she wants it out lol

In this one she is playing mommy

after watching a show on TLC about birth stories

so she decided to go take care of her baby

and inb these two las pictures

she continues her free play

with her my little pony and a pet shop

that she loves so much

thanks so much for reading :)

Another use for flashcards... Copywork

Copying words!

Jessica wanted to write something,

so I gave her flashcards to copy the words from there.

That's called Copywork,

it starts in the very early stages,

children trace or copy the letters of the alphabet,

after having some practice and doing this for a while

they progress to words and phrases

which it has its benefits,

like introducing and practising

spelling, handwriting, punctuation, and grammar.

It also involves more than one of their senses.

Children learn so quick when their hands and eyes are involved in the learning.

Spinning activities improve brain development

Did you know...When preschoolers spin, different parts of the brain are stimulated all at the same time. This builds new and more developed pathways throughout the brain – pathways that improve learning potential, spatial awareness, rhythm and more. Spinning activities actually develop pre-reading skills and concepts while at the same time improving balance, muscle control and gross motor skills.

You can read more is this article that I found here