School's Out For Summer

I am SO happy to be back to this Blog of mine! With the final trimester of the school year coming to a close, things have been so busy and I have not been able to update this Blog as much as I would have liked to. I am so excited to get back to blogging though with a little share on all things behavior as we move into the summer months!
One of the biggest areas of concern I hear from families is in regards to behavior. Parents so often come into the classroom and are shocked when they see their little one doing things in the classroom that don't always happen at home. Things like cleaning up after themselves, taking turns, following routines. Of course the school and home settings are vastly different and students tend to respond differently across both. There are a few strategies however that seem to carry over well across all settings to help promote positive behaviors. Below I have compiled some tips to help make that transition to being home all day long a little bit easier!

• Establish a sequential visual schedule. It doesn't need to be rigid, just a rough overview of your day so that littles can see what is coming up in their day and so they can take some initiative to be ready for transitions. Hanging up a series of pictures of the day's events in a place such as the kitchen is a great way to help little eyes to prepare for what is to come. Plus, it helps lessen the whole "I'M BORED!" chant that is so often heard all.day.long when you spend a day in the house with the kids. So really this one is just as much for your sanity as it is for theirs ;) Hang photos of the routine in a common area so that the schedule is easy to see and follow. For example, the first activity of the day can be a picture of breakfast, followed by clothing to signify getting dressed, then a picture of a park or shopping cart to represent an outing followed by a photo to signify lunchtime, a playdate, and so on. Even if you don't plan to leave the house at all, hang up a picture of the backyard to show outdoor play time, books to represent quite reading time, etc. Children need some sense of predictability and structure in order to avoid boredom and melt downs. Although it is important to give children much needed free time during the summer months, having some sort of predictability will help all to feel secure in what is to come each day. You can help them "read" the schedule at the start of each day and when they seem to be getting bored or having trouble finishing their food, remind them to check the schedule and encourage them to complete the task at hand so they can get to the next activity. 

• Try to get out of the house a few times a week. You don't need to go broke to have a fun-filled summer with your babies! Park district activities, forest preserve hiking trails, library trips, even just a long walk or nature hunt through the neighborhood can be enough to help keep you all from going stir crazy and can provide great natural learning opportunities. Plus it provides simple ways to bond and soak up the time you are given with them.

• Reward positive behavior. This has to be one of my top favorites! If you do one thing on this list, let it be this one! I'm not sure if it is the Behavior Therapist in me or just my obsession with positive praise...but let those babies know when they are makin' you proud! If you catch them picking up a toy without being asked or sharing with their sibling, PRAISE them! You don't have to give them something tangible, just a simple compliment will do. Be specific and let them know you see them and appreciate all their good choices by saying something like "Thank you for putting your toy away! Mommy loves when you are so helpful." It is too easy to fall into the trap of over correcting, in school or home settings. Providing children with positive praise throughout the day encourages them to continue those behaviors that you actually want to see.  

• Address negative behaviors as needed. When your child misbehaves, address it right then and there. Explain why their current behavior is not acceptable and help them to really learn it. They shouldn't be behaving just because you have asked them to or because you are standing there. Help them to understand why some behaviors are unacceptable so that it can be applied across all settings. 

Happy Dental Health Month!

February is National Children's Dental Health Month! We are ALL about celebrating in our classroom and there are not many occasions that can get by us without cause for a little party ;) 

Our classroom spent two weeks learning about ways to keep our smiles healthy and just how important regular visits to the Dentist Office are. There are a zillion Dental Unit ideas out there, which is great because this is the perfect age to hook little learners on such an important topic AND our lesson extensions were endless! HappyTeacherHappyKiddos! 

We completed a food sort to determine the types of foods that make our teeth "happy" & "sad". Little hands were excited to find as many foods as they could that help make a happy smile! 

We practiced brushing and flossing our teeth using legos as teeth. Students used toothbrushes and floss to practice removing playdough from in between the lego teeth. They really couldn't get enough, and it's such a simple-to-prep activity that really reinforces the whole concept for them! BLESS'EM! 

We had model teeth in our Science Center, where students got to observe the different types of teeth in a mouth and then draw pictures of their observations. Of course, they practiced pulling teeth right out of that model mouth, too ;) 

In our Art Center, we used toothbrushes and toothpaste paint to create art work. 

Reading Rainbow has an awesome informational video called "First Trip To The Dentist" that is perfect for preschool aged learners! It is basically a virtual Field Trip! If you have not signed up for a Reading Rainbow account, let me tell you, it is SO worth it! One of the teachers right across the hall from me this year discovered this little gem and it.is.amazing! 

Our class learned a lot about teeth and ways to practice good hygiene to care for their teeth. I coulda gone on for another week because they were SO engaged in this theme! But we are ready to move into March and celebrate Dr. Seuss week & (hopefully...come on Chicago weather!!) by the end of the month we  can dive into all things Spring!

Have a great rest of the week! 

Handwriting Fun!

Since returning from Winter Break, my littles have been workin' hard on letter formation and name writing! We have come SO far!

Right before break, I sent home a laminated copy of my Name Writing Templates for each student. (follow the link or see the photo below!) 

So many parents emailed me sweet pictures of their babes using finger paints, dry erase markers, playdough, and all sorts of materials to practice their names at home! I was amazed at how many of them came back after break so confident in naming the letters in their names and knowing how to form them! 

In our classroom, we are super motivated by anything new. Brand new materials (no matter how simple!) are always exciting, so we do our best to switch up the way we make our letters on the regular. Of course, our Handwriting Without Tears Pencils for Little Hands and paper are always available for use at our Writing Center. 

However during whole group Table Time, we love trying the variations below! 

It doesn't get much simpler than shaving creme on the table! Messy for sure, but you learn to embrace the mess real quick in a classroom full of 3-5 year olds! ;) Yes it ends up everywhere, but so worth it when they are willingly tracing their names all over!  

Salt Trays are a quick and easy way to check in with students to see how they are doing on Letter of the Week formation:

Weekly Writing Journals! Our students journal at the minimum once per week. We practice skills such as name writing, forming our letter of the week and making pictures of items that begin with our letter of the week, we draw picture reactions to read-alouds and teachers handwrite their dictaions, we create photos for moms and dads...the topic changes all the time. But parents LOVE to flip through these whenever visiting our classroom. Every page is dated and it is SO neat to see handwriting progression from the beginning of the year. 

The Letter School App is fabulous as well! Our classroom is fortunate to have a class set of iPads for students to use for activities such as these. This download is amazing at teaching and encouraging proper letter formation! Plus the app follows our rule of "Always Start Your Letters At The Top!" 

Bulleted below are some of my go-to's when helping my students work on their letter formation and letter-sound awareness. These tips work in the classroom and at home! There is no doubt that children grasp a concept with a little more ease when they are able to practice at home and at school! Here are some things you may find helpful:

-Practice pointing to and saying the name of each letter in your child’s name and have them repeat the letter names to you. For example, you could start by saying “Your name starts with “S”. “S” says ssss.”

-When writing, hold the writing tool correctly. Your child will be watching both how you make the letters and how you hold the crayon or pencil. Help the child to hold the writing tool while not grasping it too high or too low.

-Start every letter at the top.

-Write on paper strips with a smiley face in top left corner, to show where the “top” is

-Students who are between the ages of 3 and 4 years begin the name writing process by forming all uppercase letters. If your class uses the Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum, you may use lowercase if you and your child’s teacher think that your child is ready.

-Students who will be preparing to enter Kindergarten are encouraged to begin practicing writing using an uppercase letter for their first letter, with the rest of the letters in lowercase. They are also encouraged to begin working on recognizing and forming the letters in their last names. If they are not quite ready, it is ok! Continue to practice name writing using all uppercase letters and progress when your child feels confident in doing so :) 

Happy Handwriting! 

Resources for Students with Autism

Autism Speaks describes ASD as a disorder that affects brain development, with marked 

difficulties surrounding social interactions, communicative abilities, and observable repetitive behaviors. It can also encompass difficulty with sleep habits and other physical health ailments. Some individuals diagnosed with ASD appear to have highly progressed math skills.  

It has been found that Autistic behaviors can be identified in young children during the early childhood years. Many characteristics can be noted around the age of 2-3. 

Whether working with children with Autism in the home or school setting, we are always on the hunt for ways to increase skills such as regulating emotions, communicating needs and ideas, easing transitions and interacting with others.

Listed below are some apps that are helpful when working with students with Autism. Hope that you find these useful! 

Daniel Tiger's Grr-ific Feelings: This app is best for students grades Pre-K through Kindergarten. Highlights include identifying and communicating feelings.

Settle Your Glitter: Intended for students in grades K-8, this app is helpful with addressing the intensity and control of extreme emotions. 

Tap To Talk: This app was created for use with students in grades K-12. It provides a verbal expression for non-verbal students with the use of tapping pictures to increase communication abilities. 

Choiceworks: This is an app I have blogged about before, but I couldn't bear to leave it out here! This app allows users to create visual schedules and promotes the ability to wait and express needs and feelings. 

Winter Fun

Hello Everyone,

Ohmyheavens have these past few been jam packed! How can we almost be half way through the month of December and just 11 days away from Winter Break!? Tis' the season for report cards and conferences and the pressure to fit in all of the fun seasonal activities I want to accomplish with our class before Winter Break...the following seems to sum up this time of year just perfectly ;)

  

Our classroom is SO excited to be moving full force ahead with our study of the Winter Season! Upon returning from Thanksgiving Break, our students found faux snow in our sensory table, snowflake paint at the easel, we completed an ice-cube experiment to explore the way a solid can change to a liquid by melting and our Dramatic Play center has been turned into a Hot Cocoa stand where pretend hot cocoa is regularly served up by none other than the adorable babes in our classroom! 

The following book has been read on repeat in our room, it is one of our favorite Winter Time stories and allows for endless extended activity options!  

We are doing our best to bring the winter fun right into our classroom, while the weather outside is less than pleasant for this summer-girl! 

Below are a few fun recipes I have sent home for children to try with their families. They are easy to follow, allow for natural learning opportunities and are a great way to extend our learning theme from the classroom into home life. 

Enjoy! 

Snowflake PaintThis recipe produces an easy to clean, puffy, snow like paint consistency that is super easy to make!
Ingredients:
-White Elmer's School Glue
-White Shaving Creme
-Silver Glitter
Simply combine equal parts shaving cream with glue. Sprinkle in some glitter to add that snowy sparkle and mix ingredients together. Allow children to use fingers, hands or a paintbrush to paint with this Snow Paint! This is a favorite in our classroom this week :) 

Hot Chocolate Playdough Recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups of water
1 1/2 cups of plain flour
1/2 cup of cocoa
1 cup of salt
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 1/2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
Mix & stir the ingredients over a low heat until the dough begins to form. Remove from heat and allow the dough to cool. 

Gingerbread Playdough Recipe
1 cup flour
¼ cup salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup water
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
Mix & stir the ingredients over a low heat until the dough begins to form. Remove from heat and allow the dough to cool. 

***Playdough use is a great way to strengthen those fine motor muscles when using it to roll, squeeze and practice cutting with playdough scissors. In the classroom, we also enjoy using cookie cutters to punch out letters to spell our names and punch out numbers to help us count!

Our classroom Hot Cocoa stand was super simple to set up and has been a huge hit so far! I found the picture recipe shown below on Pre-K Pages. The teacher from that blog has an amazing bundle available for download, including hot cocoa signs, labels and dramatic play decor to help you set up your very own Hot Cocoa stand! We used some brown felt pieces to stand in as the drink itself and sprinkled some cotton balls on top as a way for students to serve up their very own version of Hot Cocoa with marshmallows. Yum!

Our Winter Sensory Table item for this unit is called Insta Snow Powder and when mixed with a little water, it turns right into faux snow! I added a dash of silver glitter to the mix to create that snowy sparkle. My littles love using toy plow trucks and shovels to play with it in our Sensory Table. I highly recommend checking it out! 

I hope you all are enjoying this season with your little ones whether in the home or in the classroom. We would love to hear about your favorite Winter fun learning activities!