hot chocolate slime

https://www.fantasticfunandlearning.com/hot-chocolate-slime-sensory-play.html?fbclid=IwAR3MmmExWUWXwj7EyF_3pFcFTr24yGwETpImEnEryRKf_25yp-pjAaY5LoQ

paper strip cardinal

<blockquote class="embedly-card"><h4><a href="https://buggyandbuddy.com/paper-strip-cardinal-craft-kids-free-template/?fbclid=IwAR07YNUma6IqrcoHkZt0CwvCNEkBAEzPl2MJpXSoiIxOQm4a26PwTq7Ib_U">Paper Strip Cardinal Craft for Kids with Free Template - Buggy and Buddy</a></h4><p>Make this adorable cardinal craft for kids using just strips of paper! This cardinal craft is perfect for winter, a unit on birds, and even makes a cute Christmas ornament! Follow our Crafts for Kids Pinterest board! This post contains affiliate links. I love the simplicity of paper crafts.</p></blockquote>
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Leave my Job at Jcc

It is sad to say goodbye to my job at JCC but exciting for the new beginning of teaching students at my new job at the Y. I am going to continue this blog for toddler and up ideas and made a new blog for one-year-old ideas. Here is a picture of the fingerprint tree the students made for me for my last day from my toddler class. Here is the link to my blog for one-year-old ideas. https://leahfalkowski1yearold.blogspot.com/

CVC words

CVCC Word Family Rhyming Matching Cards

I love having different types of activities to work on reading. I love coloring pages, reading pages and more. But it is also nice to have some hands-on rhyming games as well. The CVC word family rhyming cards were so much fun I thought I would do a few more of them.

Above, Below, on

Rabbits and Roo's

stand up sit down

Present the following challenges. Feel free to add to these!

uStand up if you’re wearing blue.

uSit down if you’re a boy.

uStand if you have a dog at home.

uSit down if you have a cat at home.

uStand up if you have a bird at home.

uSit down if you have blonde hair.

uStand up if you have brown eyes.

uSit down if you’re a girl.

uStand up if you’re wearing green.

uSit down if you can


 hear me.

üBecause this activity involves active listening, it falls under the content area of emergent literacy.

screen shot on shape activity

screen shot of body part break from Rae Pica's training on brain breaks

üBody-part identification falls under the content area of science for young children.

üIf you vary the tempo at which you call out body parts, you’ll be introducing the children to an element of music.

Brain breaks

Cathie Summerford, Action-packed Classrooms, K-5:

Using Movement to Educate and Invigorate

[Brain breaks] are purposeful interludes that you use strategically.

Teach like fineland book

understanding Dypraxia

What Teachers Need to Know About Dyspraxia and Apraxia of Speech

Lucas has always been a clumsy kid, bumping into walls and knocking things down. His parents worried when he didn't start speaking until he was more than three years old, and even now, in first grade, he mixes up sounds in words, saying "hopsital" instead of "hospital."

Article on reading aloud to kids

It's science: Reading aloud to your kids makes them smarter and kinder

Inside: When it comes to raising smart kids who are kind, you need this powerful but simple habit. It's completely free, it takes just 10 or 15 minutes a day, and anyone can do it. As parents, we have big dreams for our kids.

Body part Boggie

For this game you’ll need recorded music that lends itself to movement. Ask the children to stand in a circle or have them scatter throughout the room. Tell them they must stand completely still, like statues. Play a piece of music and designate just one body part for the children to move to the music (for example, a head, an arm, a foot, a leg, fingers). When you pause the music, they must freeze again This is an experience with the content area of music. The activity requires active listening, which is part of emergent literacy. Body-part identification falls under the heading of science.

Being seeds

Talk to the children about how seeds are planted in the ground and how, with rain and sunshine, the seeds slowly grow into flowers, vegetables, trees, or other plants. Ask the children what they would like to grow into if they were seeds. Once the children have made their decisions, invite them to get on the floor in the smallest possible shape, imagining that they’re tiny seeds planted in the earth. Move around the room, alternately pretending to be sunshine and rain, and encouraging the children to grow very slowly until they’re as big as they can be, taking on the shapes of whatever plants they’ve chosen. The concept of growing seeds is science. You might choose to do this activity when you’re planting actual seeds in your setting or in your outdoor area. The word slowly is an adverb, which falls under the content area of emergent literacy.

Zig Zag

The children begin scattered around the room or outside play area. When you call out, “Go!” they begin to run around. When you call out, “Zig!” they move quickly to the right (or in one designated direction). When you call out, “Zag!” they move quickly to the left (or in the other direction). Eventually you can begin calling out the directions faster and faster. The faster you go, the more self-regulation will be required! Active listening is a component of emergent literacy. Because the children will have to cooperate in order to share the space successfully, this adds another element of social studies to that of self-regulation.

Traffic lights idea from Rae Pica's training

Traffic Lights For this game you’ll need 3 large pieces of paper: one green, one red, and one yellow. Hold up the green paper and invite the children to walk around the room or outdoor area, pretending that they’re driving cars. When you hold up the yellow paper, the children walk in place. When you hold up the red paper, the children come to a complete stop. Only the green paper can get them “driving” around again. The concept of traffic lights falls under the heading of transportation, which is part of social studies. Color is an element of art

Blast off teaching idea from Self Regulation section of Rae Pica's training

Blast off. The children squat low, pretending to be spaceships on their launchpads. You then count backward dramatically from ten to one. When you say, “Blast off!” the children launch themselves upward. Repeat as long as the children stay interested Learning about spaceships places this activity under the heading of science. Counting backward, of course, is a math activity. If you hold a discussion about astronauts, you’ll bring in another aspect of social studies.

prayer for teachers

Article on why teachers deserve more.

6 Reasons Childcare and Preschool Teachers Deserve So Much More

Let me tell you, childcare workers and preschool teachers are saints. They are responsible for the education, as well as the physical, emotional and social well being of up to a dozen or more tiny humans for nine hours a day.

Reading rockets foundations of reading

Link when want to study for mtel.

Course Modules

These 9 course modules include in-depth information, classroom strategies, assignments, and additional resources on the building blocks of teaching reading and writing - including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension. In the accompanying video clips, you'll hear from literacy experts and see teachers using effective strategies and techniques in the classroom.

Names on clothes pins

The Jacket I wear in the snow.

The Jacket I Wear in the Snow: Winter Drawing Activity - Pre-K Pages

Winter in my part of the country can be anything from cold to hot. Recently we had some cold winter weather and it was the perfect time to think about seasonal changes and winter clothing. Children learn best through hands-on experiences and investigation. Using their personal experiences helps reinforce the information children are learning about seasonal clothing.

Blends bookmarks for first, 2nd and third grade.

This could help with mtel

Blends Bookmarks: 2 Versions

The Blends Bookmark printables are fun bookmarks that you can use with kids. There are two types in this set: single print and teacher print. Each bookmark has a picture of the blend and matching words. These are great for learning centers.The bookmarks come in two types short vowel words and mixed ...

Dear Santa. What we need for the children by Rae Pica

Dear Santa: Here's What I Want for Children - Rae Pica

At this time of year, our thoughts turn to wish lists and goals. So, with that in mind, I thought I'd let Santa know what I want for children in the new year. Here's my list, in no particular order: Free play! That means child-initiated and child-directed.

The power of play in kindergarten

This is why early childhood is so important as play is taken out of kindergarten curriculum.

The Power of Play in Kindergarten - NEA Today

Play is the work of children, Fred Rogers of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood always reminded us. But over the past two decades, the American kindergarten experience has become much more academic -at the expense of play.

Winter book ideas

Best Winter Picture Books for Preschoolers

Welcome to Pre-K Pages! I'm Vanessa, a Pre-K teacher with more than 20 years of classroom experience. You spend hours of your precious time each week creating amazing lesson plans with engaging themes and activities your kids will love.

snow man sensory bottle

Snowman Sensory Bottle - Pre-K Pages

If you can't make a real snowman this winter, you can make a snowman sensory bottle. This sensory bottle is super quick and easy to make and your kids will have a blast shaking it and watching the glitter swirl around inside like a snowstorm.

Painting on foil

Painting On Foil - an easy art activity inspired by Van Gogh

Painting on tin foil using cotton buds (Q tips) is an easy process art idea for kids. This activity is great for working on fine motor skills as well as colour mixing for toddlers and preschoolers. This art technique was inspired by Van Gogh's painting the starry night.

Little monster art ideas link

Kids art, craft and activity ideas - Messy Little Monster

Come and share your art, craft and activity ideas for kids and be inspired by others! This group is run by Louise from www.messylittlemonster.com and is a place for parents, grandparents, teachers, childminders and anybody else that works with or has children to find fun ideas.

Snow window collage

Snow Window - Winter Activity For Kids - No Time For Flash Cards

Hello! If you are new here check out No Time For Flash Cards on Pinterest and join our Facebook community for more great ideas. Snow has clobbered many of you along with freezing temps but here in the Pacific North West we are still green and wet and needed to make our own snow .

Class texture book idea

If you want to make the book you can busy this on amazon

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Polar bear crafts

Polar Bear Activities for Kids - Pre-K Pages

Welcome to Pre-K Pages! I'm Vanessa, a Pre-K teacher with more than 20 years of classroom experience. You spend hours of your precious time each week creating amazing lesson plans with engaging themes and activities your kids will love.

Winter math ideas

12 of the Best Winter Math Ideas for Preschoolers

Inside: These preschool winter math activities are perfect for number recognition and practicing counting skills. All are hands-on and fun! Let's hear it for creative math ideas! I chose each of these winter math activities because they invite preschoolers to use their simple counting skills. Easy and fun.

Christmas sensory bottles

PAPER CUP COUNTING SNOWMAN - Hello Wonderful

Scroll all the way down to watch the video below for the step-by-step video in how to create this fun DIY Paper Cup Counting Snowman. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more fun videos! Toddlers are going to have so much fun learning how to count from 1 to 5 with this fun learning toy.

paper cup snowman

PAPER CUP COUNTING SNOWMAN - Hello Wonderful

Scroll all the way down to watch the video below for the step-by-step video in how to create this fun DIY Paper Cup Counting Snowman. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more fun videos! Toddlers are going to have so much fun learning how to count from 1 to 5 with this fun learning toy.

Vooks

I would love to try this in the classroom but still have the debate about using technology in the classroom. Books on technology.

https://www.vooks.com/

Rae Pica's training currently working on.

https://raepica.teachable.com/p/avoid-challenging-behavior-in-early-childhood-settings?fbclid=IwAR3Hs9IT3OWGprrf98NqwSsQ-J-ygZy-boeNrqfJQhmr6kIl2vixQ4ZYFds

New year idea

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Ring in New Year

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Snow man poem

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Science Activities

Simple Science Activities That Will Amaze the Kids

These science activities are sure to be a hit with kids in preschool and elementary! From lava lamps to magic milk to eruptions and more, these simple science experiments and STEM activities will WOW the kids and keep them engaged. So pick a science activity and try one out with the kids today!

snow flakes

Snowflakes Scissors Practice - Pre-K Pages

Cutting with scissors can be a difficult skill that takes practice over time before kids can cut with ease. Providing a variety opportunities to use scissors at home or in the classroom helps preschoolers develop confidence in their abilities and control in using their fine motor skills.

book ideas

Shop Hands On As We Grow® eBooks of Activity Plans for Kids

Save tons of time and stress looking for and planning activities to keep them busy! Have them right at your fingertips! What if this plan made it quick and easy for you to be present with your kids? What if you were prompted with a simple, doable activity each day to do with your child?

button color match activity in a bag

Matching letters with a box activity.

Upper and Lowercase Letter Matching with a Box!

post contains affiliate links. Working on letter recognition with your little one? Get rid of the flashcards, worksheets, and other nonsense and grab an empty box!! Ha! Random, but haven't you ever noticed that kids can have plenty of "toys" all around them, but bring in a box from the garage and they simply cannot stop playing with it?!

Winter 3 year old art ideas.

Winter Art Projects for Preschool - Red Ted Art

Hooray!! It is time for some Preschool Crafts.. sorry Preschool ART again! Toddlers, 2 and 3yrs olds, preschoolers - they are a wonderfully enthusiastic age group and a great age to make some wonderful Process Art with. As the Winter months continue, our days are short, the evenings are long...

22 Winter Crafts For Three Year Olds - No Time For Flash Cards

Winter lesson planning just got easier! These winter crafts and activities for three-year-olds are all great additions to your preschool lesson plans, your day at home with your own kids, or your home daycare. Oh and while I think these are perfect crafts for three year olds, many can be used with younger and ...

80+ Winter Activities for Kids: Art, Craft and Science

Awesome winter activities for kids: 25+ winter art activities, 30+ winter craft activities and 25+ winter science activities.

Book ideas

Books and sources's from Rae Pica's training.

I did the research part of Rae Pica's course this morning:

Teaching Strategies:Handling Young Students Who Just Won't Sit Still

Rae Pica with Dr. Christy Isbell, Holly Robinson, Carla Hannaford & Susan Latanzi Roser Why won't Johnny just sit still? How can I teach a child who is constantly fidgeting and moving? In this segment our guests examine this problem and share a considerable amount of research challenging the notion that children need to sit [...]

Quotes:
Physical activity has been shown to: improve mental clarity and focus, improve memory retention, reduce stress and produce a better attitude toward school

"Children who are more active show greater attention, have faster cognitive processing speed, and perform better on standardized academic tests than children who are less active."
_Researchers from the Institute of Medicine

Children are going to class with bodies that are less prepared to learn than ever before. With sensory systems not quite working right, they are asked to sit and pay attention. Children naturally start fidgeting, in order to get the movement their body so desperately needs and is not getting enough of to ‘turn their brain on.’ What happens when the children start fidgeting? We ask them to sit still and pay attention; therefore, their brain goes back to ‘sleep.’"
Pediatric Occupational Therapist Angela Hanscom


"When we tell children, ‘Sit down, don’t move, stop tapping, stop bouncing,’ the kids are spending all their mental energy concentrating on that rule."Dr. Dustin Sarver, ADHD Researcher

"Who’s to say we have to sit down to learn? Why can’t we stand to learn? Why can’t we lay on the floor on our tummies to learn? Why can’t we sit in the rocking chair to learn? There are lots of other simple movement strategies. Just changing the position can make a big difference."
-Dr. Christy Isbell, Pediatric Occupational Therapist"

"Teachers Don't Like Boys, Mom"

A couple of weeks ago, I was volunteering at my son Aidan's elementary school after hours. The building was empty but for a knot of teachers clustered in the hallway. As we entered his classroom, Aidan leaped up to touch the door frame. Immediately, one of the teachers scolded him about safety.

Issues in Early Childhood Education - Rae Pica Blog

My mission is to ensure that children have the right to be children! Whether we're talking about developmentally appropriate practice in the classroom, teaching the whole child, letting children play, or understanding child development, I'm going to address it in this blog.

Snowman at night book

Snowmen at Night: Coffee Filter Art - Pre-K Pages

The colors in the book Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner are cool with blue moonlit snow and warm with glowing snowmen from the lights around the town. The pictures are very appealing and the story is a fun one to read.

Another book idea

Toddler Book ideas

New years teaching idea

DIY Noise Makers

DIY Noise Makers are a great way to ring in the New Year. This quick and easy kids' craft is fun and the perfect addition to our Noon Year's Eve Kids Party. Made with supplies you most likely have on hand.

Embedly: How I put curriculum link ideas into the blog.

Embed Code Generator | Embedly

Enter a URL and Embedly will generate HTML you can embed in your site or blog.

Christmas tree button idea for next year

As Cute as a Button Christmas Tree Craft for Kids -

I love buttons because they come in all shapes, sizes, textures, and colors. We use them often for hands on learning activities like in our Pete the Cat activity. The other day as we were sorting buttons and putting them on pipe cleaners, I came up with our Christmas tree button craft.

pom pom drop

https://busytoddler.com/2016/02/simple-pom-pom-drop-activity/

Caterpillar Toddler sensory toy

Snowstorm in a Jar idea

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Winter songs link

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It is Not a Box Book

How to make homemade play dough

Homemade Playdough Recipe - Pre-K Pages

Let's face it, is life in any preschool or pre-k classroom. Play dough is always a favorite with young children, and they have lots of fun playing with it, too! Have you ever opened up that store bought play dough, ready for a great learning experience, only to find it crumbly and not fit for use?

Christmas ornament teaching idea for next year

https://www.pre-kpages.com/christmas-ornaments-kids-can-make/?fbclid=IwAR0c3018pSokj3ae6PdKb6A10ex5IpWu6mASAR1gw08ekjpRBxZeR0NqoYo

Magnitle Idea

Winter free art

This is an art project I did yesterday with the older toddlers.

Magic Olaf paint

Magic Olaf Paint Recipe for Kids -

I am so excited to share this activity with you because it is fun, magical, scientific, and not very messy (I let my kids paint while wearing white..."gasp"). The magic paint is taste-safe so this activity was prefect for Mr. Tickles (age 1.5) to join in.

cardboard shape stamps

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sponge paint stamps

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Sticky yarn activity

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Strengthing hand mustle activtiies.

17 of the Best Preschool Fine Motor Activities

Thank you for visiting! This post might contain affiliate links. Read disclosure here. Inside: Our favorite collection of preschool fine motor activities! Each one involves some sort of squeezing that strengthens the hands and fingers, getting them ready for writing. A free fine motor checklist is included for you to download today!

pinecone ideas

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Sleeping bunnies song idea

Hats jacket pants and boots

The song for the children to dance and listen to on the Ipad is in this blog spot.

Winter Warm-Up Song: "Hat & Jacket, Pants & Boots!"

Hello from balmy Chicago! Miss Carole of Macaroni Soup here, anticipating tomorrow's predicted 60 degree temps in FEBRUARY and persisting on singing WINTER songs! I know the East Coast has had 3 blizzard-y storms in the last few weeks. I know the West Coast has seen some truly chilly weather.

Tissue paper circle collage idea.

Miss Carole's cd and about her

I got on amazon for the classroom for the hat jacket pants and boots. I wish we had the old fashion cd player in the classroom still but we depend on the technology of Ipads and youtube. I am going to have to learn from ideas from my technology class how to put the songs into my desktop and then figure out if there is a way to email the files to the iPad.

♫ Season Sings! - Miss Carole (Stephens). Listen @cdbaby

Miss Carole has been a favorite wherever children can be found for many years - EC classrooms, library programs, in the car, at home - all over the world! Why? Because Miss Carole's makes music with a smile! Children should be jumping, crawling, listening and following directions, laughing, rhyming - just turn on the music and it's guaranteed!

Workshops * Macaroni Soup

"Best workshop in the 16 years I've been coming to this conference!" - Chicago Metro AEYC Conference attendee "Carole Stephens is a FANTASTIC presenter! The information that she shares is very user friendly. She has many practical ideas that teachers can use in their classrooms immediately!

Jingle bells and stop song

free paint with clothes pins, cotton balls and pipe cleaners

A fun project I did at work today.

snow ball fight and put the carrot on the snowman

snowball fight curriculum idea

pin the nose on the snowman.

channukah art project

indoor snow ball game

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Don't push the button book

Tiger comes to tea

Mog the Forgetful cat book for age 2 to 5

This is a book one of the students brought in from my class.

Dinosaurs say happy Chunnakah book

Never Touch a Shark book

Cute idea for toddlers.

Block menorah

Found this to be a cute idea.

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Paint with toliet paper rolls snowman

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Christmas teaching ideas

I know we do not do the Christmas curriculum at my current job but saving it anyways.

Christmas Sink or Float: Toddler Science

Want to try an easy to set up toddler science activity? This Sink or Float science activity is popular year round with any materials you have on hand, but today we're giving it a Christmas twist! I always love a good theme.

Holiday Bow Prints Art

I liked this idea from Teach Preschool using gift bows to make textured holiday bow prints paintings. We just folded the tab on the back of the bow back and painted with it like that. We made our paintings look like presents with bows on top. What a fun yet very simple holiday activity/craft!

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Free art sponge paint idea

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January newsletter example

Room 6  January Newsletter



Dear Parents,

            Happy New Year! We look forward to enjoying 2020 and having your children keep learning, exploring, playing and building friendships in our Room 6 classroom.

In December, the children had fun participating in various projects based on Chanukah and learning about their shapes and colors. In class, the children learned about the dreidel and the menorah.  The highlight was the menorah lighting during circle time. The children sang and danced to a variety of Chanukah songs especially “I Have A Little Dreidel.” The children enjoyed pretending to spin like a dreidel. The children were very focused and engaged in using watercolors to paint and talking about colors while using their creativity during art.  They did many art projects such as gluing shapes, shape puzzles and listening to shape stories such as “Brown Rabbit’s Shape book” by Alan Baker.

 In January the children will be learning about winter. The main focus will be on winter clothes and why we need them to keep warm.  The children will do exploration while playing with snow if weather permits. We enjoy teaching your children and look forward to a fun month of January and the new start of 2019.

Reminders: ·         Please label all your child’s belongings. ·         Please make sure children have extra clothes at school. ·         Please bring winter clothes such as hats and mittens to go outside. ·         Please bring home nap bedding on Fridays.              Sincerely,  Leah