I thought that it would be a great idea to start a blog where I can share some of my accumulated early childhood knowledge. I have been in the early childhood field for over 20 years and I feel very confident teaching in an early childhood classroom. I love children and learning from them. I consider myself an observer and a recorder who pays close attention to how children acquire knowledge and I set up the classroom environment so that it is conducive to scaffolding a child's knowledge and helping them to build their higher level thinking skills.
Preschoolers are my favorite age group to work with they never cease to amaze me! Children acquire knowledge and build connections so quickly at this age but they need you support their learning so they can continue to grow and learn in a safe healthy learning environment.
What did I do today? I got up early after sleeping very little to prepare for my day with 15 wonderful little people. By prepare I mean I stared in the mirror and wondered what the day would bring. Everyday is different in an early childhood classroom. This week we are talking about bugs, butterfly's, birds, and snakes (their interests not mine)
I started my day greeting each child and their parents with a smile, high five and/or a hug. We love, love, love the song 4 hugs a day and this has become a part of our daily routine. (one of my favorite parts) Every child needs to start their day feeling loved and appreciated. After singing we talk about what we are going to learn for the day and where their thoughts might take us. Today it was horses, snakes, Indians, and bugs. We talked about all the new additions to the classroom what materials were out for small groups and how they wanted to add, change or interact with the materials. We had a brief show and tell where everyone gets an opportunity to share and be a part of the conversation. After calendar (we sing days of the week and count off the days that have passed and talk about how many days are left) we transition to breakfast by everyone finding their own name and signing in.
After hand washing we sit together and eat a family style breakfast. Today it was cold cheerios, milk, and peaches. Everyone serves themselves and sits where they want. This experience is amazing because they can do it! We do so much for our little people we don't stop to think they are capable of so much independence. Yeah, they may spill a little but that's how we learned. Today was my day to spill. I spilled milk on the table and one of my little people cleaned it up for me!
After breakfast everyone cleans their own place and returns to their seat. Someone helps me and we pass out toothpaste and toothbrushes. We all brush our teeth for two minutes. Using a two minute timer this is probably one of the quietest parts of my day. They brush until they are foaming at the mouths. (They love this part as well)
When teeth brushing is finished they throw away their cup and put their tooth brush in the container for washing. They then go to right to work for the day!
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The kids each have a clipboard with their name on it and blank pieces of paper. They write their name on the blank paper using the written model at the bottom of their clipboard. Then it is free reading time where we all sit around a read something of our choice!
After reading we reconvene at the carpet and plan where we are going to work for the day. This looks different everyday. Today we used vocabulary flash cards to ignite our brains so we could get them firing on all cylinders. After ignition it was time to take off and work. Some of the students worked at the art easel, some of them created with play dough, some of them enjoyed being architects with blocks and Lincoln logs,there was a collage table with lots of varies materials for creating "masterpieces" and of course the dramatic play center is always a favorite. They have free choice for an hour and then we get back together at the carpet to recall everything they did and get ready to go outside.
Today was a beautiful 65 degrees so we took some extra toys (bug catchers, dinosaurs, horses and a variety of farm animals) out with us for some extended play. It was fun and we had been outside for almost an hour when we realized the time. We had built homes for all the animals and dinosaurs, filled the bug catchers with lady bugs and made at least a dozen sand cakes before we had to return to the inside classroom. (in my opinion outside is just a wonderful extension of the classroom)
When we went back in we all gathered back at the carpet and did a little recall and read two books. (students choice of course; they vote to decide) Today we read the little green snake and I want to eat small children. They hung on every word of both books and interjected and interacted at all the right times! When we were done with literacy circle we sang a music and movement song (looking for Dracula) and transitioned to washing up for lunch by telling something we saw or did outside.
Today for lunch we had baked mac n cheese, apples, and mixed veggies. After a busy morning playing and working the kids ate a hearty lunch and had a lot of table conversations. When I take attendance I use their first and last names and they answer with something that is on their mind. Today their were a lot of snakes, unicorns, alligators, and teenage mutant ninja turtles. When we are done with nap we transition to rest time by lowering the lights and turning on lullabies. With full tummies, well worked brains, and lots of outside time today I have 15 sleeping little ones in no time.
Once asleep I go to work preparing for the afternoon and entering anecdotal notes from the morning. The other staff takes their breaks and helps clean up lunch and prepare for a busy afternoon. Because of our longer outside time today the kids slept for the entire hour and we had to wake them up. We reviewed the letter Dd today by doing Dirt art! It was a mess and a lot of fun. Clean up took about 15 minutes and then it was time for snack. After snack we prepare to go home by recalling the day and talking about tomorrow.
It was a good day :)
