BAT TIME! Even if you don’t celebrate Halloween, this adorable bat snack is sure to be a fun time for your kids and super easy to make. Make sure you keep reading for our favorite bat books and a learning video too! Ingredients Oreo sandwich cookies Brown candy coating or chocolate almond bark Candy eyeballs (I used these.) Candy corn…
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What are fine motor skills? Fine motor skills are the ability to make movements using small muscles in the fingers, hands and forearms. Examples include cutting, buttoning, carrying small objects, eating, etc. Strengthening these skills leads to the highest form of fine motor skills which is handwriting. In the early childhood classroom (and even sooner), it’s important to provide a…
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What is a sight word? Sight words are words that do not follow rules of spelling (standard phonetic patterns) or decoding so children must memorize them. Starting in kindergarten, students are required to learn sight words as part of their balanced reading instruction. Teachers usually pick either the Dolch Words list or the Fry Words list to plug into their…
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Building Stamina In Young Learners Why is building stamina in young learners important? What is STAMINA? Stamina is the ability to sustain prolonged physical or mental effort. Why is stamina important to teachers and for students? Just like you build the stamina to run long distance, you also need to build stamina to read, write, listen, and even sit. Everything…
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Teaching Names to Young Learners Names are meaningful which is why teaching names to young learners is so important. It’s actually the most important word your child will ever learn. As they grown, their name is the word that they recognize the most and holds emotional meaning to them. Because of this, they are usually more eager and willing to…
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No one told me When I started teaching, no one told me how to find balance. No one told me how to teach from abundance. The goal was to understand the curriculum and teach the children. I soon realized that there were a million missing pieces in what I thought my job was. I did my best, chasing my tail,…
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Creating a Calm Down Corner or Safe Place in your classroom is part of the process when teaching children how to cope with their emotions. Children experience the same emotions that adults do but they do not have the words to express how they feel. They often act out in inappropriate ways through physical and emotional outbursts because they lack…
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Handwriting is the highest level of fine motor skills for a young learner and more and more children are struggling to develop good fine motor skills. This is why teaching children print and cursive handwriting is incredibly important. If you are looking for ideas to help with fine motor before handwriting, click here. The Importance of Handwriting Did you know…
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Doesn’t it seem like kids are just destined to lose their belongings? School lost and found bins all over the country are typically chock full of shirts, shoes, and more just a few weeks into school year, all because kids keep losing things. Often these items are never claimed, and the items are never returned to their owner. Luckily, there…
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As an educator, I have heard all of the buzz words throughout my career. This month in The Kindergarten Collaborative, we did some deep dive learning all about Growth Mindset and this is one coined phrase I will definitely hold on to. So, what is growth mindset? Growth mindset is the belief that our abilities and our intelligence can…
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I’m excited to share with you 5 Nonteaching Tips For Back To School! Back to school. I know. Those three words do one of two things. They either burn your eyes or give you butterflies. It’s okay to experience either, or even both, of these feelings. There is SO much work that goes into preparing for back to school. It’s like…
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The Montessori Toddler As an educator, I am always seeking to create fun learning experiences for my children. Creating a Montessori environment for our toddler at home and making it part of our daily routine is important to me. I was thrilled to find a Montessori toy curriculum that could be delivered every three months right to our doorstep. When…
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Having Fun with Bugs {Insects} What kid doesn’t love a little insect exploring? This bug sensory bin is sure to bring hours of fun to any young learner. Looking for a great way to introduce the parts of an insect to your child or what types of bugs there are? Check out these engaging songs! Books are also the perfect…
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