posted by Thanh Shanahan Talking to children is very important, it develops their vocabulary and broadens their knowledge. So my children and I spend all of our days talking! From the time when they were infants, I narrated our day to them, describing our events in detail. I haven’t stopped talking to them. And, I […]
posted by Stephanie Forsman At the start of every school year, I always have it in my mind that this is going to be the year that I create the ultimate math portfolio. A fluid place where the children’s entire math worked is housed; a place where all of their previous work is easily accessible […]
posted by Stephanie Forsman My best memories of my elementary education are all the project-based activities that were embedded into the curriculum. Projects that were based on real-life situations that helped me learn in an innovative and creative fashion. In 4th grade, I made a large-sized teepee (out of my mother’s good linens), decorated it […]
posted by Stephanie Forsman All teachers are inherently hoarders of one kind or another. In the beginning of my teaching career, I would collect everything from eggshell cartons to the Styrofoam trays that are included in meat packaging to spending many of my weekends going garage sale-ing and buying books, games, cooking utensils, stickers… You […]
posted by Stephanie Forsman From the moment school lets out for summer vacation, anxiety about how to avoid the summer slide sets in. Summer slide refers to the loss of skills many children experience during summer vacation. As a parent, the idea of “practicing” skills over the summer was dreadful and daunting. Forcing my children to […]
posted by David Banzer When preschool children build in the block area, they typically build with a purpose. They may set out to build something specifically. This may change in the process but there is typically a clear process that occurs. Often, these constructions are representational. They are building something that they have experienced. An […]
posted by David Banzer In this past 2 posts, I’ve discussed math in block play and we’ve explored the building process of a younger child. In this post, we’ll examine spatial awareness and patterns in block play and examine more block photos of preschool children’s constructions. What do we see in the following photo that […]
posted by David Banzer I struggled as a teacher to use three-dimensional shape names. I still struggle with this and may need to look up three-dimensional names. What’s a cuboid and a rectangular prism? Most adults would know cube, sphere, and cylinder, but maybe not much more than that. In block play, some teachers, including […]
posted by David Banzer As a preschool teacher, the block area was my favorite area in my classroom and I spent a good portion of my time working with preschoolers as they built with blocks. Unit blocks specifically have enormous value in their use in the preschool classroom. Once children are familiar with the qualities […]
posted by Debbie Lee So far this month I have written about patterns of objects made both by attribute and positioning as well as patterns of movements. There is still another type of pattern. This type uses sound. The sound can be made by the body – vocalizations, clapping, stomping, etc. – or by instruments. […]