Teaching Approach

Remarkable learning through ordinary play

Remarkable learning is happening through ordinary play but we can often miss it. See how to foster the remarkable through ordinary play.

Helping young children develop self-control

Teaching children self-control doesn’t have to be complex but it does need to be a goal in any preschool classroom!

Starting with the activity and ending with the book in preschool

I have almost always started our day with circle time in preschool. I choose a great children’s book along with other conversation sparkers that ultimately branch out into a variety of other content areas like art, math, and so forth… But lately, my three year old nephew, Wy, has been teaching me to rethink my [...]

Hands off in preschool

In our zest to help children “create” sometimes it is easy to forget what it means to be creative… Creativity is inspired when we give children the opportunity to explore the art process and materials without the pressure of having to do it in a specific way… In an effort to teach children, adults get [...]

Leading preschoolers towards success

Last week, after our final rehearsal for the spring show the children wanted to speak on my real microphone. I happen to have come from my news segment at Fox 59 earlier that morning and so I played news anchor and interviewed the children…. The interview went something like this… Me: ”Good morning, [...]

Who is really teaching preschool?

Today, I happened by this class to see what was up and while there, I discovered the real teacher hard at work play. This young teacher (a Pre-K student) was holding a set of cards that had been made for the transportation activity box. Each card had a different color of car on the front [...]

Should we teach boys versus girls differently in preschool?

Let’s face it – little boys and little girls have some basic differences. They look different, they smell and sound different (sometimes), they have different body parts, and sometimes they even play differently. But the real question is, should we teach them differently? The most recent topic of discussion on Bam Radio titled “Debunking 3 [...]

Is it possible to give too much positive praise to preschoolers?

Last week I was the guest commentator on the Bam Radio Show along with Rae Pica, Ellen Ava Sigler, Ed.D., and Margaret Berry Wilson. The topic was titled, “Creating Praise Junkies: Are You Giving Children Too Much “Positive” Reinforcement?” . You can click on the link to take a listen. My Thoughts on positive reinforcement… [...]

Explaining the creative art process during circle time to preschoolers

Before rushing off to explore creative art activities, we often take a minute to explain the creative art activity during circle time… The goal is to help the children connect the dots between the creative art activity and any concept we are exploring throughout the week… Once the children get to the table, they will be [...]

Teachable Moments

Teachable moments are times when something unexpected occurs and the teacher helps to guide the unexpected occurrence into a learning opportunity. Preschoolers are discovering the world around them. Their natural curiosity and need-to-know creates many opportunities for teachable moments. The teacher has to develop a teaching perspective in order to not miss out on unexpected [...]