The Crazy Pre-K Classroom

As teachers we all have days when things don't go quite as planned, lessons don't get finished and we go home weary and exausted. Here are some ideas for refilling your cup and enjoying the blessing of children in your life! 1. Remember why you teach: Write down what you love about teaching, make a poster with a few of your loves. Hang where you can see it every morning and evening. 2. Think back to the first time you saw a child have a "lightbulb moment" Where you knew everything you have been working so hard on has finally clicked and this child you have been so worried about is going to be o.k. 3. Plan something fun for the end of the year to keep you motivated, this can be something your class can be working on or just something personal for you. This year mine is a long drive from Texas to New Jersey to spend some much needed vacation time on the beach with my 2 boys. 4. Change up your schedule a little, get out of the same old thing and mix up the activi...

**** I have just added 10 more math practice worksheets to this unit**** Bugs-Math-and-Literacy-unit-110-pages-of-centers-and-worksheets  Read the room with recording sheets and several ideas for different variations. All five bugs are included to use for measurement each in a different size. Use them to measure the tree, complete the classroom common items worksheet and encourag parents to let their child measure objects at home with them. Compare and contrast the results, which items are longer/shorter, taller etc. I have/Who has 1-100 and ABC to play with your students. This game is great for number and ABC order. Staple in my classroom! Print out these jars and use the bugs below to match the correct number to its word, record the proper word on the included recording sheet. This activity can be printed and laminated for years of use or copied in black and white, stapled and completed as a booklet. Number words and numbers 1-50 are included. This is also included as a sigh...

     This week my class is studying insects. One of my favorite activities to do is to go on a bug hunt with magnifying glasses and exploring live and deceased bugs in the science center. I use test tubes I bought from oriental trading that come with stands to store my bugs. I try to work my theme into every aspect of my day so in addition to my science center which will have rolly pollies, chicadas, an ant farm, plastic bugs, magnifiers, insect word cards and clipboards with recording sheets, I will also be using my Bug-Jar-Math Unit  to reinforce math skills with an insect theme. This unit is 39 pages long and is on sale for $3.50 on teacherspaypeachers.com.      Today my class had fun counting the correct number of bugs for each mat (1-10) and sorting the bugs on the sorting mats. I had each child draw the bug, tally the number then write the number. I simply drew 2 lines down a blank sheet of paper to make three columns for them to...

Mum to 2 boys has just won the March giveaway! She will receive my Scrabble Spelling Unit which has literacy activities that work on decoding, spelling and letter/sound recognition! Check it out on Teachers pay teachers here: Scrabble-Spelling-Unit

So, in my last post I told you I would get to telling you what the little girl in my class that is allergic to most everything eats. By God's design she can eat most all fruits and vegetables. This weekend when I was designing my newest tpT unit with fruits and vegetables graphics I started to get excited about all of the food related things I will be able to do in my class during nutrition week. Here are a few things you might enjoy; 1. Apple stamping: take an apple and cut in half or quarters, dip in paint or ink and make art. If you cut an apple in half through the flesh instead of the core oyu can show the children how God placed a star in the middle of every apple. With ink pads it also makes an awesome image. 2. Practice cutting during snack time. give each child aplastic knife and a chunk of cucumber, banana, or any other fruit or vegetable you can get a hold of and teach them how to cut food. 3. Taste fruits and vegeatables, have a variety, some sweet, some sour. Grap...