Egocentric

At the beginning of the year we took a photo of each student and put them into a book. We have a little song that we sing when we look at the book. The children get SO TICKLED when we turn to the page with their picture on it. In addition to "reading" the book and singing our song (we do sign language to it also), we also use it for transitions. For example, when it is time to wash hands, I might flip through the pages singing "Anna Mei, Anna Mei, go wash your hands.  Preschoolers are egocentric. They LOVE seeing themselves!

Note: The little boy who walks up as she is singing is the boy whose picture she is looking at.

You Know You are a Young Teacher When...

You know you're a young teacher when you and a student show up in "matching" monogram pocket tee shirts (perk of being a preschool teacher).

This little lady was so excited to tell everyone that she and Miss Lacie were matching. 

Technology in Our Classroom

Technology, if used appropriately, is a wonderful learning tool. Many educational experiences can be accessed with the click of a few buttons. So how do we incorporate technology in a classroom with two and three year olds? We have an abundance of phones and several fake tablets that the children have loved since the beginning of the school year. We have “old school” phones with actual numbers that can be pressed on them and touch screen phones. The children love to take pictures (pretend, of course) on phones and old cameras. 

Phone, guinea pig, and mirror all in one-could it get any better?

We also have keyboards that the students enjoy “typing” on. They press the keys, say numbers and letters they recognize, and pretend that they are on a computer. They are also very popular since most keyboards are off limits to small children at home.

(Excuse my hair. We danced to The Freeze on repeat this morning.)

 In this day and age, children can easily work iPads, iTouches, and similar devices. While they can provide many educational experiences, I feel that children get enough of those technology experiences at home. Right now we are going to respect their developmental levels and PRETEND to use our technology. 

Indoor Trike

We all know the feeling of rainy days. They are already dreary but then trap us inside all day and YIKES.  It makes for a LONG day.  One of my favorite things that we have in several of our classrooms is a trike mounted on wood so the students can ride it indoors. It comes in very handy on rainy days. I’m waiting to get twelve in our room so I can teach a preschool spin classJ

Large Motor Development

Running, skipping, jumping, hopping, throwing, climbing, and balancing come naturally to children, but they need ample opportunities to practice them. Large motor activities are an important part of a preschoolers day. Large motor experiences help children to practice fundamental movement skills that help them develop self-esteem and physical competence.

Movement curriculum that is developmentally appropriate facilitates basic movement skills and physical fitness, such as those named above. As with all skills, motor skills must be practiced to improve. You might even get lucky enough to see us moving like bears, snakes, or cats.

Get Moving!

Policy Update: NAEYC Children's Champions Update

A step in the right direction for all children. 

Source: http://www.naeyc.org/policy/federal/4_10_1

Playground

We spend a lot of time on the playground so we like to change it up every now and then. We have three sensory tables outside as you have seen in earlier posts. Some of the things we are interested in right now are:

Reading small board books. They ABSOLUTELY LOVE reading these tiny books on the playground. We change the books every few days. 

We flip the reading table over for more fun!

The children love to walk on and jump off our tree stumps. A big storm knocked a tree down on campus several months ago and after the tree company cut it up we saved it for different uses around campus. The kindergarten rooms have them inside for their science centers! 

Sometimes we just sit and talk. Recently, we have enjoyed drawing with chalk all over the tree stumps. 

Playing in the house is always popular. (Note: The door was quickly removed for the sake of the children's fingers. It was dangerous:) )

Riding our horse is fun. We like to pretend to feed him, too. You may notice the two dry erase boards hanging in the background. On the reverse side of them is a chalkboard. These came off of our Learning Towers. They are fantastic to have on the playground. 

Swinging! At the beginning of the year, we teach them to swing on their tummies because not all of them have the strength to hold themselves up for long. At this point in the year, they also swing on their bottoms. 

Miss Nelson is Missing YouTube Video

Miss Nelson is Missing is one of my favorite children's books so I was excited to find this video when I was exploring http://larremoreteachertips.blogspot.com. 

Watch these TALENTED kindergarteners from Ms. Avina's class at Olympic Primary Center in Los Angeles as they act out their hilarious adaptation of Miss Nelson is Missing. ENJOY!

 

Favorite Websites

There is an abundance of wonderful blogs and websites available that have great ideas for teaching young children. All of these resources have fantastic ideas for themes, activities, management, sensory experiences, games, songs, finger plays, and much more. Some of my favorites are: 

http://www.growingajeweledrose.com

http://larremoreteachertips.blogspot.com

http://pinterest.com

http://trainupachildlearnaswego.blogspot.com

http://theimaginationtree.com

http://www.playcreateexplore.com

http://www.brainpop.com

Take some time to explore these websites and see what ideas you can use at home with your own little ones or at school with your students.

Baby/Toddler/Child Proof iPads

I've heard many stories from frustrated parents and teachers about how they open an app for their child, the child plays it for 30 seconds, then presses the home button and opens up a world of inappropriate possibilities. Not to mention, they don't know how to get back to the app that they are supposed to be in. So, how do you baby/toddler/child proof iPads, iPhones, and iTouches?

http://www.zagg.com/community/blog/how-to-baby-proof-your-iphone-using-io6/

Hopefully this will help you to keep your little ones, at home or in the classroom, in the correct app. 

How to Wash Your Hands

 It is of upmost importance for people to keep their hands clean, seeing as almost everything we do is done with our hands, making it easy to spread germs and bacteria. Every germ that a person comes in contact with stays on the surface of their skin and then transfers to every object that the person touches.  Hand washing is only effective at killing germs if done properly. This vodcast uses pictures and audio to explain the steps that need to be taken to wash your properly wash your hands. Both young and old people need to execute the steps in this vodcast to keep their hands germ and bacteria free! Here's to no more germs!

Pasta PrimaPreschool

We wanted to do something fun and playful this week since it was a short week and the children would be adjusting to getting back into the routine of things after Spring Break. Pasta PrimaPreschool it was! The children really enjoyed the activities we did this week. Some of the things we did were...

Fill, dump, and pretend cook dry macaroni

Cook mac n' cheese (finger licking good!)

Glue noodles

Paint with spaghetti (So much fun for the children!)

Snack on more noodles

Squish cooked noodles

Break dry spaghetti

We had a great week! Many of the activities this week tickled the little ones. They were interested in all of the activities but they loved painting with spaghetti, squishing noodles, and breaking the noodles.  Enjoy your weekend!

Go With The Flow

Remember that post I wrote last week about sensory play? I showed you one of our outdoor sensory tables that was full of gravel, trucks, and various sensory tables toys.

Well, I walked outside today and opened the table and thanks to mother nature I discovered muddy water, wet gravel, and dirty toys. I automatically started to put the lid down before announcing that it would be closed today. Then I asked myself why? It's just like the water we play with in other sensory tables, plus dirt and mud. It's preschool, we get dirty everyday, and everyone has a change of clothes. The wet and muddy gravel table was open! The children loved it! They even had splashes of mud all over their clothes and face for evidence. 

I've realized that going with the flow (which is totally not like my "I have a routine and schedule for everything" self) is often more fun than original plans. I hope everyone got to enjoy the beautiful weather today. We spent the majority of our day outside and it was wonderful!