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!