Make it personal

One of my favorite things to do in the classroom is to bring the children into every area.  I don’t mean by physically dragging them over to the blocks or dramatic play areas.  What I mean is make each area personal for everyone.

Children love to see themselves, don’t they?  A great way to bring them into the areas and activities is to bring in pictures of them.  Here is a simple list of ideas that I enjoy:

Make block play people out of their pictures.  Print out pictures of the children making each child about 4 inches tall.  Glue those pictures onto cute and sanded 2x4 blocks that have been cut to size.  You can even take intentional pictures of the children and ask them to pose however they want.  Don’t tell them what it’s for.  They will get a kick out of it and love to play with each other’s blocks.

Recreate Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  Using pictures of the children, write your own book having each child on the page.  Write the words as in the book, substituting the children’s names for the animals. “Suzy, Suzy who do you see?  I see Alyssa looking at me.”  I did this once in a toddler classroom and used laminated pages so that when a child left and a new child came it was easy to change the children’s names on the pages as necessary.

File folder games!  There is so much you can do with this.  First is a matching game.  Real simple, a picture of John matched a picture of John.  There is the puzzle one where you glue half the picture to the file folder and they have to match the other half.  Use their pictures for this!  For a bit more creative, take pictures of the children in specific numbers of group so they match the picture with the written number on the file folder board.  If they are getting more advanced in letter sound recognition, have them match the child’s name to the letter on the board.

Make lacing cards with their pictures glued to cardstock, teach them how to wave them together to make a long line of classmates together!  Have a stack of pictures where they can sort by color shoes, boys and girls, color of shirts, etc…

What other ideas do you have to integrate pictures of the children into the environment?

Experiences in Geomotry and more

I obtained these blocks at a training I attended for free. If you want to order some, they are over here.

Yes, it does say they are for Kindergarten to 4th grade, however they are very appropriate for the 4 year old if it's a teacher guided activity.

It has some small pieces that a child who explores orally will need to be closely watched; but everyone else will be fine.

I used the term teacher guided activity, let me explain what I mean. First, let's look at how I set it up:

It's a very simple set up. I get some masking tape out and tape 6 squares on the table. This is a defined workspace for each child who would be participating. I then put a handful of shapes into each square (taking out the spheres because these just turn into throwing and destruction tools).

I put the tape down to give them for children who are working on Shared use of Space. (For those using the DRDP-r, this is measure 11). This allows a child who is possessive of their materials to have a clear line of what is theirs.

I use tape and not trays because it opens up the children much more to sharing their materials and also it is very difficult to build on some trays.

When the children come to the table, the teacher is sitting at one of the spaces as well. Remember, this is a teacher guided activity. When the children first come to the table I give them about 2 minutes to explore. I explore the items as well. Stack them, line them up, move them around.

Start "sports casting" what they are doing: "Ian is lining his up on the tape. Karla, are you stacking your up? I see you have made many little houses."

Then the guiding starts..."I'm going to stack mine by colors. Watch! Can you do this?"; "Ian, I wonder what you have more of, cubes or cylinders. How can we find out? Maybe if we line them up next to each other."; "Karla, can you make all your stacks look the same?"

These are suggestions only; if they go along with it, great. If not, at this point they may just walk away. Typically they will walk away if the task you give them is too challenging, so make sure that you are well aware of their ability level when you are guiding them through these challenges.

Also, make sure you are praising the work they put into it, not the work itself: "Wow Ian, you worked for a long time lining those up."; "Karla, high five for sticking with it. You're towers kept falling over but you figured it out!" You are praising the process, not the result. This is very important.

These shapes and this activity work on geometry, patterning, teacher interactions, peer relations, sticking with a task. For those using the DRDP-r, the measure numbers are: 11, 13, 16, 17, 24, 26, 28, 35.

Sneaky Education

So many times parents come into the center and think their child is "just playing" all day long. They think that we aren't doing anything with them.

Then, after a few months that same parent comes in all impressed because their child is writing his or her name, counting to 100, and recognizing shapes and patterns while on outings. Here's the thing, we don't let our children know they are learning most of the time.

Sure, at circle time the children probably can figure out that it is "lesson" time. But during free choice activities, they really think they are just playing! How do we do it?

We set up an environment that is conducive to learning and the children don't even know it. What to teach patterning? We do it so many different ways. My favorite is with Lego's. In the block area I put out a container or Lego's and I join in the fun:

When I approach I find out what they are making (usually airplanes, robots, or jet fighters). "Can I make one too?" Of course! Then, I talk out loud while I am building. "Hm, green, blue, green, blue, green, oh, I need another Lego for my robots leg." This draws them in. They hand me one (maybe red). I put it on, "No, that's not right. Look at the colors I'm using." They hand me a green one. "No, I have a green one there" They are now intrigued by what I am doing. I comment, "See, it doesn't fit my pattern." Now they are involved with what I am doing and are helping me to create the patterns.

That's all I have to do. I have created enough interest now that the next day when they are playing they are making patterns themselves...and showing me! Slowly, I start pointing out patterns around the classroom; slowly, they start pointing them out to me!

Another thing I do is put a sign in book for the children. Each child signs his or her name when they come in and when they leave for the day. Their name is written in big letters across the top of the page so they have a sample (I don't dot the letters or highlight anything, they copy it on their own). I also have a book in the writing area that has all of the children's names on a full sheet in protective sleeves with dry erase markers available. They can now write any child's name they want. At circle, and other times throughout the day, I listen carefully for that "how do you spell" or "what is this word". I take that cue and then create more pages in this book of "favorite words". These are words that they are interested in learning to write themselves.

We have treasure hunts. Cut out shapes of letters, shapes, numbers, anything and hide them all around the school. Then we have to find them! I also will create a map in which I put the location of the letters on the map and say "Let's go find the letter g" looking at the map we find it there, then we go look around the center for it.

When we are getting ready for a big activity or special event I ask them what we need. As they come up with the list, they write it out. Yes, I am writing it down as well so I can remember what it is if I can't read it, but that's on my own paper they know nothing about. Typically each child gets to write their own suggestions, but we might have a "secretary" who gets to write everything.

At the lunch table we might talk about what our favorite food on the plate is. As we are talking, I am writing down a graph on my clipboard. After everyone says their favorite, we talk about the graph I just made!

Another one of my favorite graph activities is in the manipulative area. I get one dice and a paper with columns of squares (six columns) I write the numerals at the bottom (1-2-3-4-5-6) and put a marker with it. Every time they roll the dice, they color in a square in the corresponding column. They just like rolling the dice, counting the numbers, finding the numeral, and then coloring it in. They don't realize they are making a graph and learning about probability.

When parents ask me what they can do at home to help them learn; they are typically looking for "Sit them at the table and have them write..." What I tell them is: have them write the grocery list and read it when they get to the store, show them how to find the price of an item and have them tell you how much it is (as they get older, have them add up the items as you shop-round up or down for the younger ones $5 and $2 is how much), look at signs on the street and talk about the shapes, read books and have them "read" aloud to you.

What things to you tell the parents to do at home? What is your favorite classroom activity that is teaching the children when they don't know they are learning?

Math essential

We know that every classroom should have puzzles and math activities no matter what the age group. In my opinion (professional at that) I think every classroom should have one of these or one of these or, better yet, both! The second of these is perfect for an infant toddler classroom. They can't choke on the pieces, and they can't miss in putting them in the wrong hole. They fit in all the holes! The long pieces are great for little hands to grasp as well. As the children get older, they can be introduced to this one pictured here. With the four different shapes there is a 25% chance that the pieces will fit into an appropriate hole. Eventually, as they age, they will begin to sort by color and size. They can also sort in short simple patterns. These are great for spacial relations, geometric shapes, color awareness, coordination, seriation, measurements, and even logic! And yes, the children will stack them and roll them, and build with them too; and that's okay! I am a very firm believer that this is a tool that every classroom should have in a preschool setting, every age from 0-4 years.

Bonus today: what interactions should look like!

I walked into the classroom yesterday and saw this; of course I had to take a picture. This is one of the most awesome sights I see. This is our 3 year old classroom; and it is very typical for me to see this sight. Pictured is my an assistant teacher reading a book with a child. You can see from the picture that she is discussing with the child what is going on. He was actually discussing what he saw on the page and she was pointing to what he was talking about, asking questions to draw more information out of him. The two children in front of her were quietly playing together with domino's (using a math and matching game out of it). She was constantly aware of what they were doing, yet letting them make their own game. She only interfered when they asked her to help out (i.e. "is this 3 or 4" response "let's count together"; or "NO! Miss J, he's putting the wrong ones together" response "tell him 'these two match' and show him how to do it."). As a director, I love walking into this room. The teacher and assistant are always aware of where every child is in the classroom; they are typically on the ground with the children, involved with them in what they are doing; and they easily take each child where they are at developmentally and work from there.

This is not to say my other classrooms aren't doing the same thing, however this is the picture that I got!

Countin Actvities

When I first started ordering things for classrooms, I was working in Head Start where I had more money to know what to do with. I ended up ordering these:

I never really saw the purpose of them, and I actually thought they looked pretty boring. Plus, until a child could really read numbers, the could never truly be successful at this game. Plus, all you really do is place things on a flat picture and take them off again. It could have been because of my lack of excitement over these materials, but the children in my classrooms never really seemed to enjoy these. What they enjoyed doing was playing with the small materials in other ways (including sticking them n their pockets to go home).

Last year I saw, and ordered, these:

Now, these are fun! They are totally interactive! There's a dice that you roll to determine how many of the item to put in. If your children can't read numbers yet, that's okay. Use a regular dice and count the dots. They can also sort this these (all the pink gems in one box, one of each cookie on each plate, etc). Yes, they use these for props in other games...and that's okay too! The materials are all very durable! Since they have a purpose that the children enjoy, they are more likely to put things away properly so that it will be available the next day. Everything is made with strong materials made to last; there is no cardboard pieces or paper things that will get smashed, ripped, or torn. The children can play with these items without needing much if any, explanation. They really enjoy these items!

I highly recommend these materials. Of course, the original purpose is for math skills, but they also promote social play and dramatic play experiences as well.

Multicultural puzzles

These puzzles were ordered back in October. Since then they have gotten a lot of use. I see both plus and minus with them. Actually, there is more plus than minus, so in the end (if you don't want to go through my ramblings) I will recommend these items for a classroom.

First, the pictures on these puzzles are fabulous! The are bright, realistic (as they are photographs), and fun! The children a really drawn to them.

Next, the pieces are cut jigsaw fashion on thick wood, in a frame. This makes it durable and challenging! Those cardboard puzzles do not last long at all in a classroom environment. These pictures aren't even beginning to show signs of wear after 3 months of continuous use. Plus, the children who are ready for this challenge seem to really like it.

Now, the only minus I have for these puzzles is that the picture is also printed n the frame. This makes me wonder sometimes as the children are doing the puzzle if they are actually looking a the pieces or matching the pictures. Once I start moving a child to jigsaw puzzles, I want to know that they are looking at the pieces and what will match the piece already in place.

One tiny little minus (only because I don't know how it could be improved) is that the pieces don't fall apart easily. This is really because of the nature of the cut combined with the thick pieces. If the pieces were thinner, they wouldn't be durable, and I wouldn't be recommending this. However, the drawback of this is that some children can't take them apart easily and then they are more memorizing the placement when putting it into the frame. However, if they can't take it apart easily, are they really ready for a puzzle of this challenge level? Maybe they are.

This is a perfect puzzle for the 3 year old classroom because it does introduce the jigsaw concept of puzzles; however it still has easy pieces that a child can find the solution without having to match the pieces (rather they match the picture in the frame).