Consider all of the things you have read, heard, discussed, and thought about over the past 12 months that made you think to yourself, “I really should try that, do that, start that, finish that, or go for that.”  Now narrow that list down to those options for your classroom, program, or teaching practice that are focused on mathematics. From that list choose one thing that you know you can accomplish and then accomplish it. It is that easy.

Did you choose?

Making a set of Number Cards

Trying a new gross motor game that uses math 

Investing in new math-focused manipulatives

Check out some new children’s books that support early math learning

Revisit the new Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards

Planning for a new food activity

All of these can be completed in an hour or two.  Think about how great it feels to choose a task, begin the task, and then complete the task.  Once you get going, go back to your list and try out another idea.  Before you know it, you have made big changes one small task at a time.

Happy New Year Early Math Counts Readers!

How are you explaining the “New Year” to the children in your care?  How do you explain a really big number like “2015” to young children?  I would love to hear some of your ideas and classroom practices that support calendar concepts.

Let us know.

Nowadays, this part of the summer is filled with the new semester’s preparations; writing and rewriting syllabi, faculty development opportunities, meeting and greeting new and former students, and lots and lots of reading about early childhood education. I spent Friday, meeting with early childhood faculty from around the Chicagoland area and discussing the future of teacher preparation in Illinois.  Often, these meetings get me down because they get mired in the negative, focusing on what we can’t do rather than what we can.

Yesterday felt different.

Rather than spending valuable time bellyaching about our mutual frustrations and angst about the world of early care and education in Illinois, we shared ideas about new pathways to education completion,  partnerships across 2 and 4-year colleges and universities, and exciting developments coming from Springfield designed to support early childhood professionals.  It all felt very exciting and promising.

I love working in teacher preparation.  I love the energy my students bring to my classroom and the passion they have in their lives.  I get excited for the first day of school because it means the start of something new and the hope of change for the better. My students remind me what hard work is and what overcoming obstacles looks like.  You have to be strong to work in early childhood education.  This work is isn’t for sissies.  It takes years of dedicated learning and many more years of practice to become a professional. It takes drive and passion, flexibility and endurance.  It requires a belief that things in our profession will change for the better.

For all of you amazing early childhood teachers and teachers-in-training out there, take a moment this week to imagine the possibilities that this new school year brings. Focus on the positive and reject the negative.  This year is going to be great.

Have you been discussing the concept of the “new year” with your kids?  I hope so.  I actually remember when a teacher said to me when I was really young, “I’ll see you next year.”  This was at the end of December and I remember going home and crying to my mom that my teacher was leaving and I wouldn’t see her until “next year.”  My mom explained that in a few days time, the year was going to change, and next year was really just next week.

This was really complicated for me.

Helping kids know that January is the 1st month of the year and that there are 12 months in a whole year might explain it a little.  As the children are learning the days of the week, they can also be learning the months of the year.  The new year is a good place to being.