We tend to use a lot of recycled materials in our class. We have two bins of lids that we use in our math center for sorting, classifying and patterning. Often, these lids make their way to other centers for various uses, like tracing shapes in art center. We cut out a tree shape out of previously used bulletin board paper and attached some of the colorful lids we came across to decorate it. Each day, the kids brought in small items they've rescued from the trash. As the days progressed, the tree began to fill up.
Our school chef, Ms. Christie saved us some of the tin foil to use as garland.
We even have a few recycled Christmas bows for added bling!
This little tree has brought a lot of color and cheer to our room and helped us turn some of our trash to a real Christmas treasure!
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I am so excited! We received a lovely package from Flights of Whimsy filled with goodies from "Down Under" in the mail earlier this month. This package was part of Karen's "Pay It Forward" post. The idea was originally the brainchild of Sherry and Donna from over at Irresistible Ideas for Play Based Learning. I am thrilled that I was able to participate, too!!!
My gift package included: a calendar with beautiful pictures of the animals of Australia,
And an adorable little kangaroo holding the Australian flag,
We were thrilled to discover "Wombat Stew", a fabulous picture book filled with animals of the bush!
We've been reading "Wombat Stew" and I'm practicing my Aussie accent and silly animal voices with each reading.
And.....a BOOMERANG!!!!
We spent a wonderful afternoon trying out boomerang throwing. None of us were successful in having it return to us when we threw it, but it sure was fun trying!!!!
Our class wrote this thank you note to Karen that will be in the mail this week:
Dear Miss Karen,
Thank you for sending us a wonderful package. We are enjoying the calendar and book "Wombat Stew". It is very funny! Thank you for sending a boomerang! It is very fun!
Love,
Mrs. Ayn's class
I can't wait to "Pay It Forward" to 3 lucky readers in March. Be sure to check back and look for the opportunity to participate and Pay It Forward, too!
One of the things that has kept me so busy this year is our impending NECPA accreditation. NECPA stands for "National Early Childhood Program Accreditation". NECPA is nationally recognized, with quality standards comparable to NAEYC's , going way above and beyond state child care regulations. The NECPA observational verification visit will assess (among many other things): teacher/child interactions, health and safety practices, school administration, best teaching practices, student progress, the physical learning environment, and our family/school interactions and relationships. (Not much really, just everything!)
We have worked very hard for the last couple of years to make sure that every classroom in all three of our schools are accreditation ready. At this point in our process, I hear in my head "NECPA, NECPA, NECPA" in the same sing-song voice that Jan Brady used to say "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" on the Brady Bunch.
Overall, the accreditation is a good thing. In the end, we will have the very best child care centers in our town--and the documentation to prove it. But logistically, this process has been a pain. In Georgia Pre-K, the amount of paperwork that we have to keep is simply overwhelming. Now, we have a 3-inch ring binder of the NECPA required forms we fill out daily.
We've had to make some changes. I've had a small woodworking center in my class for years, but we've used play tools and golf tees as hardware. Teacher Tom writes frequently about his use of real tools and implements on his blog. I've often commented that while I admire his bravery, I'm simply not ready for that yet. We are using real screwdrivers, levels, tape measures nuts, bolt and wrenches. That's about all I can handle for the time being.
I even got my husband to come up to the school to help me. I still hadn't hung my beloved Jan Brett alphabet since I'd moved into my new room. He was so sweet to come and help me. (Truth be told, he probably came just to see me, as I've spent a lot of evenings there lately!)
I've got my barn still set up in dramatic play...
We're adding to Our Little Pre-K Community and still have our doctor's office, construction zone, and outdoor cafe. We also have theme boxes for the children to explore a variety of other things, as well. This week, our theme boxes include: community helpers, pizza place, beauty salon, and an additional medical box for the children to use in this center.
We still have our kitchen/living area for home living play.
I set up a little fruit stand in dramatic play, as well.
Tomorrow's the day! The final visit..I think we're ready. I know we have the best centers in town--no question. Now, it's time for us to show it off. Then, we wait. It takes a few months before we'll know if we made it.
In one of my most popular posts last year, Picture Schedules in the Pre-K Classroom, I described the picture schedule that we used in our class. I've received many emails about that schedule. Shortly after writing that post, my friend I and were fortunate to be invited to observe a preschool program in South Carolina that had implemented Conscious Discipline in all 22 of their pre-k classes. We visited many of those classrooms and saw some really exciting things going on. One of the classrooms had this picture schedule posted for their kids to manipulate. I had to take pictures! Our class theme/acronym is F.I.S.H. (Family Involvement Starts Here).
I made one of these this year. Mine is pretty similar to the one above. I have it located on the bottom of a low hanging bulletin board, so it is at just the right height for little hands to manipulate. We have a "time keeper" class job, so the children take turns being in charge of the schedule.
We have a "time keeper" class job, so the children take turns being in charge of the schedule. They simply move the fish to the appropriate fishbowl at each transition time throughout the day.
The kids really enjoy manipulating the schedule and will remind each other that it's time to change it. I often see children going over independently to refer to it. As I mentioned my my earlier post,
"manipulating the schedule can be an especially helpful task for some children with autism or special needs. It is also very soothing for a child with separation anxiety. They can look and see what comes next and when "Mommy or Daddy is coming back."
This new picture schedule seems to be really working out so far. I have a few that are struggling with separation anxiety and this has been a really helpful tool to them. Now, I just need a little teacher magic to help me manage my time. I keeping getting behind schedule!
I recently visited a couple of classrooms that had some fun things going on for Memorial Day. Our town is home to Fort Gordon, so we have a lot of military families in our program. It's important to acknowledge the holiday observances of our students' families. On the other hand, just last week, I attended a meeting where teachers were encourage to "keep it simple" when celebrating holidays that may be difficult for children to understand. Too much info about why Americans celebrate Memorial Day may be a little scary for the kids to think of their moms and dads in harm's way. I think these toddler classes found ways to include these celebrations into their play nicely!
This class transformed their dramatic play center into "Fort Oakbrook" (Oakbrook is our school name). Notice the MRE's (meals ready to eat) on the bottom!
Another class transformed their class into a Memorial Day picnic. Parents loaned the use of uniforms for dress up. There were even dollar store medals for the kids to wear!
I visited earlier in the week and saw the children painting paper tubes with white paint. The next day, they added star stickers and curling ribbon with a mall piece of tape to the inside to make these very cute firecrackers! They added to the overall decoration of the center nicely.
