Professional Development

At play with baby: bouncing balls

January 17, 2011

A big ball, medium ball, and a small ball too… A red ball, yellow ball, and one the color blue… What can Clara do with three balls on the ground? She can push them, and follow them, and roll them around! The small ball is soft… The red ball is bumpy… The blue ball is [...]

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The things that go on in our preschool classroom

January 12, 2011

Because most of my articles only focus on one activity at a time, it may look like there is nothing else going on in the classroom. So today, I wanted to show you how there are lots of things going on all at the same time… Each day, our teachers follow a lesson plan that [...]

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Reflecting on the parents of preschoolers

January 6, 2011

This is Wy, my nephew, and his mommy. They were over at my house on New Year’s Day and while they read a book together, I stepped back and observed (with camera in hand). The book they were reading was one that Wy’s mommy had bought for him. Each page is illustrated with wonderful textured [...]

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The child centered classroom: Adding things to do

December 29, 2010

I have been writing about setting up classrooms over the past few weeks and so far I talked a little bit about setting up furniture and selecting baskets for your shelves. Once you have your baskets, you will certainly need to decide what will go into the baskets. What goes into each basket depends on [...]

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At play with baby: shiny paper

December 20, 2010

What is baby Clara doing today? She’s getting ready for the holidays! Paper red, silver, and gold… This paper feels a little bit cold! Cut the paper into small pieces and stick to laminating paper… And Clara can explore some more! See what Clara’s mommy made with all that shiny paper… As with anything you [...]

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Christmas bows and boxes in preschool

December 7, 2010

The other day, I shared with you how our curriculum coordinator puts together activity boxes for the classrooms. I thought I would now show you one of the activities in action… In this particular activity box, the children found boxes with numbers (1 – 5) printed on the outside and a set of Christmas bows. [...]

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At play with baby: in and out

December 2, 2010

What can baby Clara do with a spoon, and a pan, and a plastic egg? The egg goes in… The egg comes out… The egg gets rolled all about… Turn the pan over and then Clara can… Go tap, tap, tap on that funny little pan.. But uh, oh where did the egg go? There [...]

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Get informed about early childhood education degree programs

November 28, 2010

Early Childhood Education Degree Programs: What are Your Options? By Brian Jenkins What types of early childhood education programs are available? Many colleges and universities offer accredited undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the subject. You may also have the option of obtaining a professional certificate at certain schools. Programs are available both on-campus and online. [...]

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Yelling is not an effective teaching practice in preschool

November 15, 2010

Whether you call it yelling, hollering, or raising your voice – the reality is, yelling, hollering, or raising your voice to get the attention of your students is not an effective teaching practice. Yelling makes you grumpy. Yelling makes you tired. Yelling increases your stress. Yelling makes your students grumpy. Yelling makes your students tired. Yelling increases your student’s stress. [...]

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At play with baby: I am special

November 15, 2010

Look in the mirror and who do I see? I see baby Clara looking at me! I see two eyes, two ears, a nose, and a mouth Two hands and two feet! Uh, oh! Where did baby Clara go? There she is! -Follow Teach Preschool on Facebook -Subscribe to Teach Preschool by Email -Subscribe to [...]

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Evaluating lesson plans in preschool

November 4, 2010

I write a lot of lesson plans and I never know how well something will turn out until I see it in action. One of the best ways to evaluate lesson plans is to observe children in action. When evaluating lesson plans, some questions to ask yourself might include… Were the children interested in the [...]

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The value of scooping and pouring and counting candy corn in preschool

October 27, 2010

If there is one area in my own professional development that I have come to appreciate more than ever, it is the value of sensory play. I have always included sensory play in my lesson plans but it hasn’t been until this past year that I have really taken the time to sit down with [...]

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Hand and footprint art in the preschool classroom

October 15, 2010

As a parent, there is nothing more precious to me than hanging up a piece of art my child made out of her own hand or footprint. But as a teacher I sometimes observe hand and footprint art activities and simply wonder where the benefit is to the child.  Don’t get me wrong, I think [...]

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The challenge of cooking in preschool

September 24, 2010

Cooking in preschool can be a challenging process – especially when you have 1 teacher to 10 three year olds. Every one wants a turn to stir, pour, crack an egg, and everyone wants to stick their finger in the batter no matter how many times they are told that they need to keep their [...]

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Sharing things from home with your preschool classroom

September 14, 2010

Every teacher brings unique and special gifts to their students and every student will apply these gifts in their own unique and special way. Teachers often have brilliant ideas and things from home they want to share with their students. Over the summer, this class had been talking about seashells and under the see creatures. [...]

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Join me for a free early childhood webinar

September 13, 2010

I hope you will come and join me for my presentation of “Ten Leadership Tips to Inspire Your Early Childhood Program Staff” on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 from 2:00 to 3:00pm EDT. This free webinar series is sponsored by Robert-Leslie Publishing! If you haven’t tried attending a webinar yet, then this is a great opportunity to [...]

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