As the holidays approach, you might be thinking about your own family and all the things you want to do for them, but don't forget to remember your child's teacher this holiday season too. Teachers are often overlooked during the hustle and bustle of the winter holidays, but they deserve just as much recognition as any other person in your life! If you're looking for gift ideas for a teacher, I've got you covered! As a teacher myself, I have ideas that teachers will love! Teacher Gift Basket One idea for a teacher's gift is putting together a basket of their favorite things. You can get creative with this one and spend as much or as little as you like! Simply use a basket, or ... Read More about Best Christmas Gifts for Teachers
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20 Color Books for Preschool
Colors are a popular learning concept for little learners! This post focuses on color books for preschool children. These books are perfect to read aloud to children learning colors and color words. Teaching Colors to Children Introducing Colors Often times. children learn colors without exclusively being taught them. Most parents and teachers introduce colors to children unintentionally. Simply using color words in your daily vocabulary with your child is oftentimes enough exposure for students to learn color words. Teaching colors is best done through playful everyday life experiences. and play. When developmentally ready, many children easily learn their colors as adults ... Read More about 20 Color Books for Preschool
Class Books to Make in Kindergarten
Class books are one of my favorite ways to Kindergarten students excited about writing! They are always a favorite in the classroom library and it is so important for kids to share their writing and illustrations with their peers. This post has tons of ideas to get you started creating class books! What is a class book? A class book (also called a class-created book or a class-made book) is a book created by the students where each student contributes a page. They can be created about pretty much anything and are frequently used in preschool, Kindergarten, and even first-grade (and beyond) classrooms. Class books should be a safe choice for any reader regardless of ... Read More about Class Books to Make in Kindergarten
Printable numbers 1-10
Most preschool students are ready to start practicing basic math skills like number recognition, counting skills. This post is full of free printable number activities and fun worksheets to help kids love learning math! Learning Numbers 1-10 It's important to think about how children learn numbers and basic math skills. First, children usually learn rote counting. Rote counting is just simply saying the numbers in order and counting orally. A child saying, "1,2,3,4,5," is an example of rote counting. It is a skill that comes before learning to count actual objects and is often one of the first math concepts that young children learn. With rote counting, children don't ... Read More about Printable numbers 1-10
Elements of an Engaging Dramatic Play Center
I don't think you can have a preschool classroom without a dramatic play center! Setting up an engaging area for your children to play and learn will have huge benefits for your students. What Is Dramatic Play? Let's start with defining dramatic play. Dramatic play (also called pretend play or imaginative play) is when children act out scenarios and take on different roles. Children can take on the role of something or someone they have seen in their real-life environments like a doctor or a fantasy role like a talking dragon! Dramatic play happens in stages. In preschool, most children are ready for cooperative play with others. You can read more about the stages in this article, ... Read More about Elements of an Engaging Dramatic Play Center
Preschool Classroom: Intentional Design and Classroom Setup
Are you wondering how to set up a preschool classroom? This post will walk you through everything you need to know about preschool classrooms. What Do Kids Learn in Preschool? Preschool is typically focused on developing a strong academic and social foundation for younger children before they enter Kindergarten. Preschool children learn so many important academic concepts, plus develop social skills, emotional regulation, and so much more! Here are just a few of the concepts kids learn in preschool: What Makes the Best Pre-K Classroom? The best Pre-K classroom is one that is safe, inviting, and set up in a way that fosters student learning, engagement, and exploration. There ... Read More about Preschool Classroom: Intentional Design and Classroom Setup
ABC Books You Must Have in Your Preschool Classroom
Are you looking for ABC books to include in your preschool classroom or to enjoy at home with your own preschooler? As a teacher, I read many different alphabet books and I’m excited to share my favorites with you! First, let’s start with the basics of ABC books. What are ABC books? ABC books are also called alphabet books. These are books are written with the intent of teaching the letters of the alphabet. Some books focus on uppercase letters, while others focus on lowercase letters. Many ABC books will also show both uppercase and lowercase letters. ABC books usually go in alphabetical order introducing the letters and words that begin with each letter. Some ABC ... Read More about ABC Books You Must Have in Your Preschool Classroom
Pumpkin Books for Preschoolers
Planning to teach your preschoolers about pumpkins? Here are my favorite pumpkin books for preschoolers! These books are a great addition to pumpkin learning! Books About Pumpkins for Preschool Seed Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie: This is a non-fiction pumpkin book that has some really great pictures and vocabulary! It’s a short read. Preschoolers will love seeing the real-life examples of how pumpkins can be used including using a big pumpkin as a boat! Pumpkin Jack: Learning about the pumpkin life cycle? This is a great story to read! Preschool students will love watching the pumpkin rot and watching Tim experience the pumpkin life cycle. If you are teaching your students about the ... Read More about Pumpkin Books for Preschoolers
Preschool Themes for Every Month
If you are planning your school year, you definitely need to check out all of these preschool theme ideas! Let’s start by talking about preschool themes. What is a theme in preschool? Themes are a way for preschool teachers to organize and plan learning for their students. A theme is a concept that students will focus on and experience across subjects. Themes are usually chosen based on the time of year and experience that students may be having in their world. For example, pumpkins may be a theme during the month of October. What are good preschool themes? The best preschool themes are those that preschoolers are interested in and can relate to! Children are very ... Read More about Preschool Themes for Every Month
50 Simple Activities for 1 Year Olds
Are you tasked with entertaining a 1-year-old? This post is here to help with over 50 simple and easy activities for 1 year olds. First, let’s talk a little bit about your 1 year old’s development and some of the activities and toys they may enjoy playing with. What activities should a baby do at age 1? Thinking about what activities your child should be able to do at this age can help you find activities for them. Here are a few activities that typically developing children are usually able to do around age 1. As always if you have any concerns regarding your child’s development, always talk to your pediatrician. What should a 1 year old play ... Read More about 50 Simple Activities for 1 Year Olds
The Best Valentine’s Day Preschool Activities
Are you looking for the best Valentine's Day preschool activities to keep your class or little ones learning this February? This post is a round-up of my very favorite preschool Valentine's Day centers and activities for Pre-K students. Valentine's Day Preschool Sensory Play Sensory play is so important and one of my favorite things to do with little ones. I love setting up simple sensory bins. Sensory bins are just a fancy name for a bin of stuff that kids (or anyone) can touch, taste, smell, see and/or hear. If you are new to sensory bins, be sure to read this post: Getting Started with Sensory Bins. It will walk you through what a sensory bin is and how to set ... Read More about The Best Valentine’s Day Preschool Activities
How to Promote Social-Emotional Learning Skills in the Classroom
Social-emotional learning plays an important role in child development and in the classroom. Has. This post has some simple activities to promote these skills in the classroom. This post contains affiliate links and I may be compensated for your purchase. This won’t cost you anything but helps to offset the costs of running this website to help parents and teachers like you! What is Social Emotional Learning? Simply put, social-emotional learning (often called SEL) is the process of learning to comprehend, process, and manage emotions. Many skills factor into SEL including self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, responsible decision making, and social ... Read More about How to Promote Social-Emotional Learning Skills in the Classroom