Tag: teaching

Our fall bulletin board that was created with our apple stamping projects.

10 (really creative) Preschool Activities

This school year has been flying so quickly and I can hardly believe it. Today, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite hands-on, easy and cheap preschool center activities to help kids learn the basic skills they need in order to be prepared for kindergarten. I think it’s really important to keep the kids moving and engaged, so we are always on the hunt for activities that fit the bill. I’ll also post a couple of great resources I’ve found along the way!

1. Playdough Letters

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Cookie sheets can be found for a dollar at the Dollar Store or Dollar Tree. I use regular letter cards and Playdough to help the kids learn letter recognition/formation while working on fine motor skills. Playdough is not just a fun activity for kids, but playing with it actually helps strengthen their hands, which is needed in order to have proper pencil grip one day.

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DIY: Ocean Classroom Crafts

As promised from my Ocean Classroom post, here are my DIY tutorials on how to make some of the decorations in my classroom. They’re all super easy and low cost projects that I really enjoyed working on.

Hanging Jellyfish:

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All you need for this jellyfish craft is a bag of Styrofoam paper plates (super cheap at Wal-Mart), some craft paint, foam brushes and then you can get to work. I chose a few different colors and paint the inside and outside of the bowls.

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An Ocean Themed Classroom

Back to school time is always busy for everyone involved, but my school year started a little crazier than usual. School was delayed by a week due to some water issues (I know, those seem to follow me around) and just getting school started in general is always just kinda nuts. However, I was really craving a routine and being back at school, just because our summer was so crazy. I’m so grateful to work in a place with supportive administration, teachers and sweet kids. I think teachers get that “first day of school jitter” thing just as badly as kids do. I definitely do! I was so anxious to meet this group of four years old’s and I’m really excited about the year ahead.

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This is probably my favorite bulletin board ever. I found this octopus idea on pinterest. I made these paper plate fish with my aunt, green streamers as seaweed and die cut paint swatches to make a few extra fish. I’ll show you how to make these cool decoration in my next teacher post.

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5 Things I’ve Learned From Teaching

Earlier this week, I finished another school year and this one was one of my favorites. Sometimes there are just classes that will forever hold a special place in your heart because of the collective personalities of the kids, their sense of humor and the way that they love each other. This was definitely one of those classes. I will genuinely miss these guys, which made their graduation bittersweet. I also really love the school I work at and the people I work with, so the end of the school year leaves me feeling grateful and genuinely excited for next year. Next year, I’ll be taking on a different age group, K4, and I can’t wait! I have learned over the last three years that early childhood education is an area of education that I thoroughly enjoy, because it’s challenging and rewarding. I love how much of an impact you can have when you’re helping the kids grasp new concepts, encouraging manners, teaching them how to be good citizens and helping them have more successful school careers.

Working in education these last three years has taught me more about myself than I ever thought possible. There’s patience, organization, diplomacy, and a slew of other skills you have to polish while educating children. I love how this career path has forced me to think outside of myself and find ways to help others. I like that I can be creative and literally get paid to do just that. I wanted to share 5 things I’ve learned and been reminded of as I work with kids. The more I work with this age group, the more I realize that pretty much all of the basic concepts adults need to be successful in life can be learned in these early years of education. Continue reading →