Everyone talks about the new normal and that it is here to stay. But knowing what that new normal looks like and how to set up a Covid friendly classroom (for lack of a better term), has us all puzzled. And when we try to plan for it, we end up with more questions than […]
Teaching Children to Say Thank You
In the very basic sense, helping young children understand gratitude, begins with teaching them to say thank you. Unfortunately, these two little words don’t show up as often as I would like. Each year, I’m made aware, when this happens… I’m handing out papers and the first 15 kiddos take the paper without saying anything […]
5 Teamwork Activities for Your Kindergarten Classroom
Inside: Teamwork is an important concept for kindergarten and beyond. In this post, I share 5 teamwork activities that you can use to help children learn how to collaborate and work together. And before you go, be sure to download your free Community Building Toolkit found at the bottom of this post. Teamwork Activities For Kindergarten […]
6 Building Blocks to Launch Your First Weeks of Kindergarten
Inside: Find out how to use 6 building blocks for a smooth start to the beginning of the year. Then, download the free building blocks planner, found at the end of this post, to get started planning for those first weeks of kindergarten. Tackling First Weeks of Kindergarten Anxiety When back-to-school time rolls around, I […]
The Last Day of Kindergarten
My worst, last day ever was the first year I taught kindergarten. It was half-day and my kiddos were taking a different bus home than usual because they were riding with the whole school. We made tags for the children to wear to avoid any mix-ups. At the very last minute, my assistant realized that […]
Daily Intention and Reflection
Looking for a way to build intention and reflection into your day? Try taking a page out of Ben Franklin’s book! He began each day with a morning question: And ended with an evening question: You might ask children to quietly visualize themselves “doing good” or invite them to turn and talk with a friend […]
Christmas Kindness Countdown Calendar
It’s so easy to find yourself at the end of December asking, “What did we actually accomplish this month?” So this year, I decided to be a bit more intentional about the holiday hullabaloo and created a Holiday Kindness Countdown Calendar that would encourage kindness and a season of giving. Preparing for the Countdown During […]
Co-Created Kindergarten Class Rules: Can We Do Whatever We Want?
Inside: Here I share an inquiry journey, that led to a set of student-created class rules in kindergarten. It All Started With a Question At kindergarten orientation, I asked, “What do you want to know about kindergarten?” There were a lot of typical questions about the bus, lunch, toys, and where they would sit. […]
