Blocks - What are we learning?
We Love the 100th Day of School!
8 years ago
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Block Play Freebie!
Great way to post learning intentions/targets for all to see…block play is SO important!
Blocks - What are we learning?
Blocks - What are we learning?
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Teaching (and learning!) Self-Control
I posted this on my classroom blog tonight, as well, but thought others could benefit from reading it as well!
My husband shared an interesting article with me this evening about how children acquire new knowledge. He was intending it for me to read and relate to our 11-month-old daughter, but the following excerpt relates well to the four- and five-year-olds!
Teaching Self-Control
Aamodt and Wang also emphasize the importance of teaching your children self-control from an early age.
"This is really critical because there are so many things parents want to do when they read parenting books," he says. "They take steps to teach their children math or reading ... but a big thing we can do for our children is to do the best to foster the development of self-control and willpower. Self-control and the ability to restrain impulses is associated with success at every age, whether it means being able to read at age 4, or being able to restrain impulses at a later age, or even what your peers think of you in high school. At all of these ages, willpower and self-control is a stronger predictor of academic success than IQ."
When children are young, they can learn self-control by focusing on any fun activity — whether that means studying martial arts or playing with dolls and planning a make-believe tea party.
"It gives the child practice at planning and organizing a series of topics to achieve a desired goal," says Aamodt. "When you're planning a tea party, you can't be acting like a fighter pilot. You have to be acting like a lady having a tea party. So pretending is one of the earliest types of exposure most kids get to planning and organizing their actions. And the more you practice that, the better you're going to be at it."
Making sure your child has fun while learning self-control is vitally important. Aamodt and Wang recommend, for instance, telling your child to pretend he or she is protecting a castle instead of just saying, "Stand still."
"Taking advantage of a child's natural sense of fun is a terrific way to instill these things," says Wang. "This is not the kind of thing that works well if it's forced. It can be something as easy as pretending to guard the castle or playing a take-turns game where you say, 'I'm going to draw an ear on this piece of paper, and when you see an ear, then it's your time to listen. And if you see a mouth on this other piece of paper, then it's your time to talk.' So all of these things can be done in very simple ways — in ways that are often fun — and the more fun it is, the more likely the child is to pay attention for a longer period of time. These things are fun, they don't cost money, and anybody can do it."
Read the entire article here.
My husband shared an interesting article with me this evening about how children acquire new knowledge. He was intending it for me to read and relate to our 11-month-old daughter, but the following excerpt relates well to the four- and five-year-olds!
Teaching Self-Control
Aamodt and Wang also emphasize the importance of teaching your children self-control from an early age.
"This is really critical because there are so many things parents want to do when they read parenting books," he says. "They take steps to teach their children math or reading ... but a big thing we can do for our children is to do the best to foster the development of self-control and willpower. Self-control and the ability to restrain impulses is associated with success at every age, whether it means being able to read at age 4, or being able to restrain impulses at a later age, or even what your peers think of you in high school. At all of these ages, willpower and self-control is a stronger predictor of academic success than IQ."
When children are young, they can learn self-control by focusing on any fun activity — whether that means studying martial arts or playing with dolls and planning a make-believe tea party.
"It gives the child practice at planning and organizing a series of topics to achieve a desired goal," says Aamodt. "When you're planning a tea party, you can't be acting like a fighter pilot. You have to be acting like a lady having a tea party. So pretending is one of the earliest types of exposure most kids get to planning and organizing their actions. And the more you practice that, the better you're going to be at it."
Making sure your child has fun while learning self-control is vitally important. Aamodt and Wang recommend, for instance, telling your child to pretend he or she is protecting a castle instead of just saying, "Stand still."
"Taking advantage of a child's natural sense of fun is a terrific way to instill these things," says Wang. "This is not the kind of thing that works well if it's forced. It can be something as easy as pretending to guard the castle or playing a take-turns game where you say, 'I'm going to draw an ear on this piece of paper, and when you see an ear, then it's your time to listen. And if you see a mouth on this other piece of paper, then it's your time to talk.' So all of these things can be done in very simple ways — in ways that are often fun — and the more fun it is, the more likely the child is to pay attention for a longer period of time. These things are fun, they don't cost money, and anybody can do it."
Read the entire article here.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
“Just keep swimming…”
Whew, I am feeling quite overwhelmed today! We had a quick meet-and-greet this afternoon and I got to meet many of my lovely littles, but they left quite a mess to clean up before school starts tomorrow! I feel a bit frazzled and completely unprepared for tomorrow – especially since my school failed to order pencils (or add them to a supply list) and had the most random supply list ever. Ah well, I need to focus on the positive – so grateful to have a job in a nice school, a lovely neighborhood, and a great district. I can do this! Good luck to everyone on their first day of school tomorrow – kids and teachers alike.
Just keep swimming!
Just keep swimming!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
First Day Jitters!
I’ve seen these all around the blog world and just had to do it for my little kiddos. I definitely have my own jitters this year as I start this new adventure. As usual, I’m nervous about leaving my little peanut yet again…I just *loved* being home with her all summer!
I just wanted to share my fancied up first day jitters poem with you all! Let me know if you want a copy with your name and room number and I’ll send you the pdf.
First Day Jitters
I just wanted to share my fancied up first day jitters poem with you all! Let me know if you want a copy with your name and room number and I’ll send you the pdf.
First Day Jitters
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
A Tour of Room 115
Welcome to our classroom! To skip the description and see the slideshow, scroll all the way down.
When you enter the classroom and turn right, you will see our computers, writing center, and word (letter/sound) wall. I am not loving how this turned out and may switch things up a bit.
When you go past the writing center you will find our math manipulatives and the big easel. Big thanks to my sister for letting me “borrow” her chair to use as my teacher chair!
This is the front of the classroom including the blocks shelf and what will soon be our calendar area! I finally made it to the teacher store this afternoon so I can put up my new calendar next time I make it to my building. (We have inservice for the next two days.)
Here you can see my desk, the smartboard, and another easel/big book stand.
These are some of the many books and some of my teaching supplies.
Here are a few of my favorite furry friends!
The housekeeping center:
Our reading area…could use a small rug in this area!
The back of the room – bulletin boards, easel, sand table, and our sink. I love, love, love the Eric Carle fabric. Found it at www.fabric.com!
Thanks for checking out my classroom!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Weekend Projects
Just wanted to show off a couple of classroom projects I finished during naptime today. Pardon the poor lighting due to the gray skies we have here in Wisconsin today!
Bunting for across my (many) windows:
For the bunting, I used these triangle patterns. I made my bunting one-sided and stitched it to single fold bias tape to make things simple. Ribbon would be another good option, of course! I also used pinking shears instead of finishing the edges.
Not sure where this will go, but I just had to make this felt garland:
Tutorial here: Purl Bee - New Year's Garland (I did not use the invisible thread as suggested in the tutorial since this will not be hanging at eye level and I was trying to be as thrifty as possible.)
Happy weekend, everyone!
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