Educational creativity

Do you take your children on field trips?   We are taking our Pre-K kids on a walking field trip to the local museum just down the road.  Preparing your children for a field trip is important for safety and insuring your children have a successful learning experience.   Field trip kits   from DIY Classroom     It is important to talk about rules of walking or bus riding, bath rooming, staying with teacher, and whether this is a touching place or looking place.     It is equally important to talk about what you might see and what you want your children to learn from this trip.   I absolutely love this before and after graphic organizer.  It was made for 1st graders to do individually, but it can be done with little ones as a whole group.    Get it from  Fluttering Through First Grade .  She also has a zoo paper.  Our 1st graders go to the zoo, so I'll pass that on to those teac...

Having a science center or multiple science centers is a great way to encourage creative thinking, process thinking, and questioning along with exploration.  I love science.  Kids love science.  The US doesn't even compare to other countries in the subject of science.  I am always disappointed when I don't see much science done with young children.  So, I'm glad to share some of these fun things you can do to encourage your children in the skills they need in science.  You don't always have to understand science to do experiments.  Check these out and try one in your classroom. First, try teaching the scientific method.  Here are some free cards to help.  Then leave them in the science center to remind children what real scientists do. Thank you Ginger Snaps Materials needed: magnifying glasses lab coat (optional but cute) notebooks or paper writing utensils little clipboards are fun An Experiment (try these) Sensory table - ...

Listening center      As a child I remember having a Mickey Mouse record player with hundreds of records tht came with books.  My sister and I would recreate the stories like we were putting on a great play.  Reading to children teaches kids to read.  That's why we tell parents it is so important to read with their children on a daily basis.  As a teacher, we do not have the time to read lots of books directly to children.  I believe a listening center is a great substitution.      You could buy one of those listening centers set up with head phones, which can be quite expensive, or you can use multiple CD players like Kids Count 1234.  You'll find the link below.      Scholastic is a great place to order books and the CD's to go with them.  I order multiple books when they are only $1, so the kids do not have to share a book while listening.  Many books are in a sing song ...

For the teacher - If you are a teacher reading this, here are some ideas to help your sub and students get through the day with no problems and still do a little learning. Check out my previous post too For a Substitute Teacher .  It will tell you what I feel is most important to a substitute teacher. genius - the sub tub, check out all that Pencils, and Crayons, and Books OH My adds to her tub. These are an amazing idea.  Purchase them here.   Or get together with some of your coworkers and design your own. This cute idea is free at TPT.   It would go along well with the book Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard and James Marshal. For the Substitute Teacher -If you have ever been a substitute teacher you know that you have to catch the attention of the children in that class and establish some kind of management skills before you can teach a lesson.  So get organized and prepared for a day in the classroom. I have found that a puppe...

     ? ? ? Question of the Day? ? ?       I use to work with a teacher who asked a question of the day during snack time and posted the answers the kids gave outside the classroom for the parents to read while they waited to pick up their children.  When I first started teaching young three year olds, just getting them to sit down and eat, getting them more juice, and cleaning up messes were challenging enough for me.  I was not ready to add something like asking a question during this time.  I still feel modeling behavior and creating discussion during meal times is more important than asking a question.  But, now I have worked questions into my daily routine, why not write down some answers.  It is a great shared writing opportunity and a way to create community among the class.  Children also love reading the questions and answers throughout the day. What do you put on first? ...