Happy 4th My Friends!

I played with my kiddos today! I'll post the lesson plan later!






We made suncatchers.






We made salt art. It's like sannd art in bottles. You take chalk in a bag of salt. The friction
Rubs the chalk and colors the salt.






And the finished product-



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I know. Another absence.

Well I've been MIA again. I'd say I'm sorry but I already did that.
We have had a endoscopy, colonoscopy, and allergy testing in the last week. I'm so glad it's over!
But my lil man is feeling lots better, and allergic to a lot of stuff. Em is being treated for really bad asthma.
But we are getting there. We have answers!
We are getting back into our routine. Yay!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The tea party preschool lesson plan

Here's this week's lesson plan. I know its very simple but my girl has been going to school all year in pre-K, and will be in kindy in the fall. a break is needed, but she (and I) need structure. She is a lot older than the other kids, and more advanced. I worry that she won't be challenged. BUT I love she is so ahead of the game.

You also see a section for Harrison. Also simple. But these are the activities that he needs to develop in his way. It is just as much a lesson plan, and curriculum.
See you next week! Have a great holiday!

Tea Party Lesson Plan

Preschool Lesson Plans:Cheap Teaching Supplies

With the way things are with the economy right now, you probably aren't getting a lot of supply money from you center. But you still need stuff to work with in your classroom. So what's a smart teacher to do?

The Dollar Tree!

The Dollar Tree is awesome for teachers- storage, art supplies, cleaning supplies, snacks, gifts for mothers/fathers day, craft sets, everything.

Yesterday I went to the Dollar Tree and got 3 bins, 2 baskets, calendar numbers, calendar months, preschool alphabet workbook, a kids ice pack(not shown) and two card games.


If you have ever went to a teachers supply store you know the calendar stuff is expensive!!! I spent $11 plus tax for it all!!!

And a great thing is you can buy in bulk online! Great for centers!

March Preschool Lesson Plan Ideas: Spring Fever

Spring is almost here. I am getting excited!!!! It is absolutely crazy that it is 73 today and last Sunday it was snowing! In Alabama!!!!!!

As I have said before, I am trying to work with my daughter at home, and we are excited to get started on spring lesson plans. Tomorrow we are starting on gardening. We are going to prep and plant the garden this week, paint a planter and plant something in it, we will be working on the letter F, making flowers, read poems and books about spring, take a nature walk, and make sun prints. We are also going to graph plant growth over the month. I also may start collecting environmental print. Monkey Girl does that any way.
So that's what we are going to. Stay tuned for more ideas.

What do kids learn from gardening?

• Ecology. there is a big emphasis on green living now. Kids learn if they care for the Earth, it will provide nourishment for them(i.e. yummy fruit and veggies).
• To enjoy nature, the fresh air. I know I love it!
• Responsibility- Caring fore plants teach them to be responsible for tasks and other living things.
• Cause and effect. If you provide seeds with sun and water, they will grow into a plant.
  

To name just a few.....

Preschool Lesson Plans: Great Deals on Teaching Books

I know I haven't posted in a long long while. Sorry, I have been a bit busy having a new baby, but promise to try to be better.

But my reason for this post is what I saw in a Education Supply store the other day- the discount table. Most places have these, usually in the back. But after Christmas they have great deals on idea books for fall and winter. You can stock up now for next year for next to nothing. A lot of times they will have the Mailbox series. I love those. And they usually have classroom management ideas you can use year round.

So go shopping and keep your eyes peeled for those teacher deals! We all need deals right now!

Preschool Lesson Plans: Time to Do a Kindergarten Prep Theme

It's that time of year! It is time to prepare our students in a year round 4K preschool programs for kindergarten.

They will be experiencing so many new things in a few short weeks, and it is our job to prepare them. They will be in a new class, with new kids, a new teacher, and a new way of doing things.

So that being said, you can take a few weeks and use a theme to prepare them. I have used a Kindergarten unit with my classes several times and I know how it made them more comfortable. I am just going to go through some elements that I like to throw in there.

I like to, of course, schedule a trip to a Kindergarten class or have a Kindergarten teacher come visit. This helps them get settled even if it isn't their teacher.

I would do a calendar activity where we counted down until Kindergarten. I gave each child a calendar page print out to hang in their cubby. Everyday at the end of circle time they got a graduation cap sticker and marked of a day. this helped them better predict how much time was left.

I have a bunch of books about Kindergarten, my favorite being Ms. Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten. I would read this book in circle time a lot, and created an activity to go with it.

I would have a child's backpack and a teacher's bag, and I would have a bunch of stuff that a child or Ms Bindergarten would use to get ready for school- i.e toothbrushes crayons markers, ABC strips. And had each child pick one and decide which bag it belonged to. We would pack the bags.

I also had a activity called a "bubble race" in which I taught good hand washing skills. This was important for healthy hygiene in kindergarten because the teachers might not be able to help as much as we did. The idea was to do every step correctly 3 days in a row. When they did they got a bubble race award I made up on the computer.

That's just a few ideas from my arsenal, but if you have some of your own leave them in the comments section.

The main idea is just prepare these beautiful kids for the adventure they are beginning.

Preschool Lesson Plans:Classroom Garden

One of my favorite things about spring is starting a garden with the kids. there are so many things they learn through it. Patience, responsibility, and a sense of accomplishment are some. But cognitively, there are math skills(counting the seeds you plant), science (photosynthesis), and cause and effect (if the plant gets water sun and soil it will grow). You can do a gardening unit, and then make your garden a part of your daily routine. if you are able to grow enough, pick it and serve it. You may encourage healthy eating while you are at it!! Here is a resource for teachers about gardening in the classroom.

Preschool Lesson Plans: Going Green

There is a lot of talk now about "going green". And if you have read my earlier post then you know I think teachers have been doing this for a long time. But why don't we really practice what whe preach. I have a few ideas about how we can "go green" in our classrooms. Here are just a few.

• Don't use paper paint cups. Use yogurt containers with lids. That way when you are finished with the paint for the day, you don't have to waste it.
• Use old wallpaper books for painting. Not only does it add to your project, it puts use to something that was going in the landfill anyway. Ask wallpaper stores for them. I have gotten the old ones for free, and I have had to pay a $1.00 for them.
• Make your own play dough. If you have read the ingredients of store bought play dough, you have seen things you can't pronounce. (And it is gross,but sometimes the kids eat this stuff.) It is easy to make and you know flour is not going to hurt the environment.
• Have a organic garden in the spring time. The kids will have a blast, and you can teach ecology at the same time.
• This last one seems obvious but it is big. Stop using paper towels or at least cut down. Buy a pack of 20 cloth hand towels, and wash them when they are dirty.

Walking softly on the earth is something we should all do.

Preshool Lesson Plans: Centers

Do you adapt your centers for your preschool lesson plans? If you don't, you should. That is really how you really enforce the concepts. We all know children learn through play, and during play is when the most learning takes place. So, if you arrange the environment and toys to reinforce the important concepts, you will be more successful.
An example-
If you are doing apples- have trees in blocks, have a bowl of apples in home living, have apples at the water center, have apple related manipulatives. Using a computer, making an apple file folder game is easy!

Here is a WONDERFUL book on classroom design. Check it out!!!

Preschool LessonPlans: Teachable Moments

There is one teaching method that isn't on that preschool lesson plan form that is probably the most important. Teachable moments. A teachable moment is a moment in your day, where if you take advantage of it, can bring home the concept you are teaching.

You can think of a spilled glass of water as a mess to clean up, or a science lesson. As you and the kids clean up, you can discuss water and it's properties. They will ask questions. You can discuss that the sponge fills up with water, and you have to squeeze it out. You can study the pores of the sponge. You can discuss that natural sea sponges live in the ocean. It can go on forever. But these times are precious resource to teachers. Because in some way the kids are signaling to you that they have their ears open and they are ready to learn.

So be aware of these moments, and take advantage of them. Those are the moments in your day that you will be the most productive.

What is the Purpose of Preschool?

Tonight, I started going through what articles "bloglines" had for me. I, of course, am interested in things about preschool. I saw several people wondering about preschool, it's purpose, and any damage it can do. I am going to give my opinion.

First of all, preschool's purpose is to prepare young children for life, not school. It is supposed to help them build character, a sense of self, a inner barometer of right and wrong. Essentially, if a child were a house, preschool is the foundation. It is below the surface, but still holding up the house.

Developmentally appropriate preschool doesn't mean every child is reading before kindergarten. It means that if a child is interested in reading, and in the right developmental stage, teaching reading is great. But pushing them into it to be "prepared for kindergarten", before they are ready isn't right.
Preschool teachers (and parents, for that matter) are just feeling the pressure to prepare their kids for the dog-eat-dog world out there. But I feel the preparation we need for life is play, fun, getting messy, splashing in puddles.... Good preschool celebrates childhood, doesn't kill it.

Okay, I am stepping off the soap box now.......

Preschool Lesson Plans: Cooking activity!!!

I saw this recipe on Rachael Ray this morning, and immediately saw it's use in preschool lesson plans! A few posts back I talked about the value of cooking activities in the classroom. And I do think cooking is important to every domain of development. But it also important that every cooking activity not involve a desert. This recipe from Rachael Ray is perfect for snack time, and it is healthy!

Have fun!

Cool Preschool Lesson Plan Website!!!!

I found this website today-ALFY and think it is so cool! It has a feature where you can enter your individual lesson plan information and save it or print it out. The only thing I don't like about it is that you have to submit your ideas if you save your lesson plan. But it is a great idea and a good tool. Here is a link to a lesson plan I created to try it out- Lesson Plan.

Try it. I have seen others kind of like this on the net, but not to this quality. It gives you a lesson plan like I was taught to in college.

I hope it makes preschool lesson planning easier. I know teachers need all the time savers we can get!!!

Free Preschool Lesson Plan Ideas

A good bit of publishers of teacher resources tend to put free activities on their websites. And these are usually really good preschool lesson plan ideas. Here are a couple I use a lot.

Gryphon House

Mailbox Books

Teacher Created Materials

The ideas on Teacher Created Materials tend to be for elementary school, but it has some preschool. Look at the publishers of your favorite resource books, and many have free lesson planning ideas.

Preschool Lesson Plans: Guide from NNCC

I found a preschool lesson planning guide online from The National Network for Child Care. It really has a lot of good information. Click here to read it.

Cooking Up a Good Preschool Lesson Plan

Cooking and baking are so much fun and so educational! I don't know why teachers don't use cooking more in preschool lesson plans. It could be spreading icing on a cookie, making a peanut butter sandwich for lunch, or even making a salad. It adds so much.

In those simple activities what knowledge can they get from that? Well, hand-eye coordination, self help skills, and healthy eating for a start. But if you go a bit deeper, you find they would learn lots of math concepts (measuring, counting, fractions), science (one matter being changed into another by heating or cooling), or pre-literacy(reading a recipe).

So try and work a cooking activity into you lesson plans. It's worth the hassle!

Preschool Lesson Plans: Portable Circle Time Center

Here is an idea for a circle time center for home preschools, teachers with small classrooms, or who have kids who won't leave things alone. It is a portable circle time center. I came up with it as a part of a preschool co-op my friends and I started.

It is one of those presentation boards used for science fairs, and then just done like a standard bulletin board. This is also a good idea for an environmental print board, or other bulletin board in a small setting.

Enviromental Print in Preschool Lesson Plans

Well, I am big on literacy, and in turn creating strong readers. Print rich environments tend to be better at strengthening reading skills. I touched on this a bit with classroom labels. We need to put word labels on anything that will stand still. We need to have each child's name everywhere. We need to have environmental print in the classroom. Many times this is a designated bulletin board in the classroom, but it doesn't have to be. Have the children bring in labels and boxes and even pictures of print (ex. McDonald's fry package, pizza box, coupon from Chuckie Cheese). Parents can be great facilitators of this too. The more children see print, the better.

A great book on the subject would be Everyday Literacy: Environmental Print Activities For Young Children Ages 3 To 8

A Cool Site for Preschool Lesson Plan Help

I have used Preschool Printables for years. I think it is awesome and is a website that should be supported... I even used it for my Kindergarten unit I blogged about earlier. Try it.