Inside: Discover the step-by-step process I use for animal research projects in kindergarten. Using a Roadmap for Your Animal Research Projects Spring is an exciting time in kindergarten, because the children have now learned how to write and can create their own nonfiction informational books. But in order to get the results we want, our […]
Archives for 2016
Playful Encounters with the Reggio Emilia Approach
I recently went to Rochester, NY to attend a conference at the Strong National Museum of Play entitled, Playful Encounters with the Reggio Emilia Approach. Keynote speakers included Lella Gandini (United States Liaison for the Dissemination of the Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education and coauthor of […]
How We Celebrate Birthdays in Kindergarten
Inside: Here you’ll find some nonfood ideas for celebrating kindergarten birthdays in the classroom, while creating meaningful traditions that kids will remember. Be sure to download the FREE birthday crown at the end to use with your own kiddos. My Kindergarten Birthday Memory My one and only memory of kindergarten is how we celebrated birthdays. […]
Rethinking Morning Meeting in Kindergarten
Inside: Discover how I came to think differently about how we start our day in kindergarten and explore ways to create a more authentic and student centered morning meeting. Discovering a New Approach to Morning Meeting In a course I took with author Julianne Wurm, author of Working in the Reggio Way, she described how […]
A Kindergarten Inquiry: Investigating Winter
Our class has been participating in a year-long inquiry that explores the changes that occur in animals, plants, weather, and people across the seasons. The goal for this study is to help children see the patterns, cycles and interdependence of the natural world. This post continues and builds upon the work we began with our […]
A Peek Inside January Discovery Centers
This January, the invitations offered at our Discovery Centers included many that reflected our science unit on weather and our study of precipitation. In addition to exploring content, the centers allowed children time and space for being creative, inventive and using their imaginations. Makerspace Center The Makerspace Center was a new option for Discovery Workshop and was hugely […]
Fall Inquiries and Research Groups in Kindergarten
Inside: In this post, I share the fall inquiries my children explored as part of a year-long inquiry that investigated the changes that occur in plants, animals, weather, and people, across the seasons. Beginning in Inquiry I became interested in inquiry-based learning after seeing videos of kindergarten teachers from Canada teaching in a way that […]