Blocks and the Early Childhood Classroom

Blocks, especially hardwood unit blocks, are standard equipment in an early childhood classrooms. Wooden blocks naturally appeal to young children because they feel good to the touch, are symmetrical, and invite open-ended explorations. When children construct create, and represent their experiences with blocks, they grow in each area of development: social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language.

• In the block area, children negotiate for materials they want to use. They also exchange ideas


• Children's small muscles develop when they carry and place blocks together to form a castle or make an intricate design.


• As children explore the world around them, they form mental pictures of what they see. Playing with blocks gives them the opportunity to recreate these pictures in concrete form.


• Children are very willing to talk about their constructions when adults ask questions and show genuine interest. They increase their vocabularies when adults give them new words to describe what they are doing.

Number Hunt: Math Activity

How many things are labeled with numbers? Look around and you may be surprised. Then name (label) these items to boost children's expressive vocabulary.

Encourage the children to walk around the room. Ask them to look closely at everything in the room to see if they can find something that has a number or numbers on it.

As the children find items, they can mark them with circle dots or post-its. They might discover numbers on a clock, a watch, a calendar, a game box, a telephone, a computer, and a book.

This activity might cover a period of days as the children continue to discover numbered items on toys, tables, and other items.

Count the stickers daily, make note of the numbers on items, and remind the children to keep searching.

This is an excellent activity children can do independently or during transitions. Provide a graph with the numbers 0-9 on it. As children identify numbers throughout the day, make a tally mark and a small note in parentheses where the child found the number.

Children will demonstrate an increasing interests and awareness of numbers and counting as well as written numbers in meaningful ways.

The Abuse of Technology and Your Child's Education

Technology (i.e. television, video games, IPODs and yes, even Smart Phones) has become one of the most potent and destructive influences on education. By controlling children's time, attention, and habits, it virtually interferes with their academic success. If we're not careful technology will eat up an enormous portion of our children's lives. In a great many of homes, some form of technology is on almost constantly. In fact, it is safe to say that watching television or playing video games is the single greatest consumer of leisure time known.

Here are a few of the reasons as parents and educators we should be concerned about the excessive time children spend using the various technology items mentioned above:

Families and children lose opportunity time. Extensive viewing of television or playing video games are damaging because it takes away time that can be spent interacting with family. A child who is staring at a screen is not reading or writing. He's not doing homework, at least not fully focused. He's not having an attentive conversation. Turning on the technology turns off such endeavors.
TV and video games are too easy. It involves little or no concentration. That's one of it's leading attractions. All children have to do is sit back and stare at the screen.
It caters to short attention spans and immediate gratification. Television and other technology items teaches children that if they don't likre what they see, they have the ability to change the channel or move on to something else.
Television and video games may make moral education more difficult. Given what's on the screen, excessive use not only threatens children's intellect, it may put character development at risk.
It interferes with the child being active and may cause children to gain weight. Studies indicate the more television children watch and the more video games children play, the more likely they are to be obese.

However, there ways to maintain control and help children learn some self-discipline when using technology. Here are some guidelines to think about:
Set rules about the use of technology and stick to them (i.e. one hour a day, only on weekends, etc.). The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that families create
"electronic media-free environments" in children's rooms. This works well. You may also want to try a "no TV day or week".
Be selective about what your children watch and when. In this day and time , most of what's on television and video games are sex, bad language and violence. However, there are some programs that informs and educate. Do not assume a program isappropriate for your child just because a critic gives it a good review or because it's on a channel "just for kids." You must be your child's media guide.
Be prepared to suggest alternatives (read a book, write in a journal, take a walk, etc.). Many parents fear turning off technology beside of the whining from children about not having anything else to do. If you setting limits for the first time, it will help to provide table games and/or puzzles.
Be a good model. Lead by example, if our children see us making television and video games a big part of our lives, they will surely devote a lot of their time to it.

Facilitating Interaction Among Children With and Without Special Needs

The teacher who shows acceptance of children, praises each child's strengths, and recognizes each child's uniqueness sets an example to be followed by all children. In order to encourage children with and without special needs to accept and befriend one another, do the following:

• Praise the children when they play together, but try not to interfere with the ongoing play. Wait until the children are finished before praising them for playing together.
• You may want to pair children who have different skills and abilities. For example, put talkative child with a child who is weak in language skills, and place a walking child with a child who uses a wheelchair.
• Allow the children with special needs to be leaders when it is their turn to do so. Allow them to hold the door open, to pass out napkins, and be the line leader.
• Respect children by not talking about them in their presence or in the presence of other children. Never introduce a child by his or her disability.
• Respect the right of the child without special needs to choose not be good friends with the child with special needs, but do not tolerate cruelty or teasing. Encourage by example and the child will come around.
• Capitalize on the interest of children to be friends with special needs children. Allow them to help during transition times, have them take toys to the special needs child, teach them simple sign language and allow them to explore adaptive equipment.
• Focus on child's abilities rather than disabilities. Provide opportunities to showcase each child's strengths.
• Answer children's questions about disabilities honestly. Relate the message that children with special needs do, indeed, have differences, but they also have much in common with other children. Be sure the answer satisfies the child who is asking the question, help the child to accept differences, emphasize strengths, and show support and respect.

Leaf and Needle Rubbings

Guess which trees the rubbings came from.


Objective
To create textured rubbings of tree parts.

Materials

• bags
• leaves
• needles
• cones
• paper
• crayons

Critical Thinking

• What do the rubbings tell you about the texture of the tree part?
• What do you think is the function of the veins in a leaf?

1. Have children collect leaves, needles, and cones from a variety of trees.
2. Let them set out tree parts, paper, and crayons on a table. They can choose parts to make rubbings.
3. To make a rubbing, children can cover the tree part with paper and rub a crayon on the paper over the tree part. Let children make as many rubbings as they like.
4. When finished, children can compare shapes and textures of different rubbings came from the same kind of tree.

Making a Fall Leaf Collection

Mighty Mindz went on a fall leaf hunt and uncover a massive treasure of fall items. Included in the treasure were leaves of different colors, and shapes. When we returned to the center, we spread the leaves on the table to remove the very brittle leaves. I introduced the words "brittle and soft" then provided two trays. The children were encouraged to sort the leaves by two categories: brittle and soft. The leaves were placed in the science area along with the leaf identification book (this is a fun way to introduce young children to using resources to gather information) so that throughout the day the children could explore the leaves.

To facilitate the children's exploration I encouraged them to
compare the leaves, match the leaves and sort the leaves by color and shape.


After they explored the leaves for a couple of days, we begin to make our leaf collection. First the children picked the leaf they wanted to add to the collection poster. Together we went through the identification book to find the leaf. Then the child taped their leaf to the poster board using doubled sided tape. We wrote the name of the tree that the leaf fell from underneath the leaf. There were several leaves left so we made leaf people.

Leaf People
The children used the left over leaves to make leaf people. first they glued their leaf on paper, then drew arms, legs, and a head.

Naptime

Naptime is crucial for children who stay all day or come to the center in the before-care hours. Sleep not only helps children to regain some of the energy they have expended during the day, but it is also critical to a child's growth.

Naptime is best set to a child's schedule. Children generally need to eat lunch between 11:00 A.M. and noon. After a nutritious lunch and a chance to use the potty, children love to hear a story as they settle into their cots for their naps.

Children should have a cot or mat that is theirs exclusively. They should be allowed to bring their own blankets, sheets, or cuddly toys for naptime. This will help the children to relax and be able to sleep well during naptime.

Setting up cots or sleeping mats so that naptime is a quiet, peaceful time is essential. There should be enough space between children so that they cannot touch one another or any toys around the room. Lights should be dimmed. Soft music is recommended as a background noise.

Allow children to place their shoes under their cots or next to their mats. Removing shoes also helps to calm the children. Furthermore, it is a physical sign that the time for resting is here.

If you have a child that is uneasy about sleeping away from home, you may need to physically reassure him/her. Rubbing the child's back or rocking in the rocking chair can do this. Be sure to provide the comfort the child needs. However, remember that the ultimate goal is to get the child to lie quietly alone on their mats. Do not reinforce your soothing efforts longer than required. Be sure to wean the children from your assistance. It is important that they sleep on their own. Learning to do so is a key skill for all growing children.

(Source: How to Manage Your Early Childhood Classroom)

Leaves on The Loose

Today was the first day of our study of Fall. I begin our study by reading the book 'Ruby's Falling Leaves' by Rosemary Wells. The book is beautifully illustrated and lends the opportunity to integrate science and math with literacy as the added bonus.

As I read the book, some of the concepts introduced were:
1. Opposites: the characters mentioned the words 'up and down' when referring to the location of the leaves.

2. Leaf identification: the author cleverly introduced the various types of leaves (i.e. apple tree leaf, willow tree leaf, Japanese maple leaf, etc.) as Ruby put together a leaf collection for school.

3. Colors: the children were able to identify the colors red, yellow, orange, and brown.

4. Numbers: Ruby shared how many leaves she found (i.e. ten elm leaves, three birch leaves, and four different oak leaves). We counted and identified the number on our number chart.

When I finished the story, I wrote the word 'Fall' on a sentence strip and posted it on the wall. We spelled the word Fall together. Talked about what letter it begin and ended with. I shared with the children some signs of Fall: The weather begin to get colder, the days are shorter, children go back to school, leaves change colors, squirrels store nuts, and flowers start to die. At the request of one of the children we pretended to be flowers dying.

As always I try to give my children real life experiences to make sense of their world. Our center is surrounded by a variety of mature trees. We went over to the window and observed yellow leaves falling from the trees. The children were so excited they started yelling, "It's Fall, it's Fall", as they pointed to the leaves falling from the trees.

During lunch we begin to discuss our plans for the afternoon. Together we decided to collect leaves and other falling items like acorns. I suggested we make leaf rubbings and start a leaf collection book like Ruby in the story.

Ten Principles For Parents To Support Their Child's Education

1. Parents are their child's first and most important teachers. You make the difference.
2. Your teaching must not stop when your child enter school life. Teachers cannot do it without your support.
3. The early years build the foundation for all later learning. Make it solid.
4. Do not assume your child's school is doing a good job. Trust but verify.
5. Learning requires discipline; discipline requires values. Too many classrooms are disrupted by unruly behavior.
6. Follow your common sense. You are the expert on your own child.
7. Content matters: what children study determines how well they learn.
8. Television is an enemy of good education. In many homes, TV is the greatest obstacle to learning.
9. Education reform is possible. No matter what the critics say, you can change the system.
10. Aim high, expect much and children will soar! The surest way to learn more is to raise standards.

Teachable Moments...A Real Life Opportunity To Show Empathy and Kindness

Oh how I find teachable moments irresistible. One of the children at the center became ill. She wasn’t having a very good day and the other children observed that something was wrong. They begin to ask questions like, “Why is she crying? Why are you holding her?

I explained that TW was not feeling well. As a result, TW did not return to the center the following day. The questions continued. Where is TW? Is she still sick? When will she be back? I assured the children when she feels better, she will return. I suggested we make “get well” cards to let TW know we were thinking about her. It was almost time for outdoor play; the children thought it was a good idea but even better if we made the cards at the playground.

So we put drawing and writing materials in a tote and hauled them to the playground. Upon arrival at the playground, we set up a card making station. Children were randomly called over to design their cards. The teacher wrote what the children wanted to say to TW on their cards.

After leaving the playground, we all jumped in the Mighty Mindz van and went to the neighbor grocery store to buy goldfish crackers (TW’s favorite snack) and a balloon. We browsed the floral aisle to find the perfect balloon for TW.

We paid for our purchases and made a special delivery. TW was so excited to see us. As the children gave TW the items her face illuminated with excitement. She responded, ‘This is so nice”. Not only was TW pleased her mom was happy to see that TW was missed.

This was a teachable moment in showing empathy and kindness. Through our example, we can show young children that sometimes the needs of others must come first. Our finest moments of guidance may occur in small, spontaneous situations that present us with the opportunity to teach young children how to have empathy and show kindness. We need to be alert to these moments, and guide our children toward behavior that is considerate of others. This is an experience that is unique which TW, her mom, the children nor I will ever forget. What is important is not what we do as teachers but what our students learn as a result of what we do.

Ten Signs of a High-Quality Learning Environment

Most high-quality learning environments display these qualities:

1. A Safe and Orderly Atmosphere. Discipline and academic success go hand in hand. Where there is chaos and/or fear, little learning occurs. High-quality learning environments are safe places of sound behavior and mutual respect. The environment is clean. The rules are clear and enforced.
2. A Clear Academic Mission. High-quality learning environments can articulate the skills that children must acquire and how they plan to go about making sure those skills are mastered.
3. Attention to Character. High-quality learning environments treat children as moral beings. They teach about right and wrong. Educators help guide children in habits that lead to better lives.
4. Dedicated Educators. Educators are the heart of any educational environment. High-quality learning environments have adults who are of sound character and love children. High-quality learning environments celebrate greatness in teaching and refuse to tolerate mediocrity.
5. Strong Leadership. It is rare to find a high-quality learning environment without a strong leader. The vision he/she holds has much to do with how children will learn.
6. High Expectations. Attitudes about learning often become self-fulfilling prophecies. Learning environments that maintain high standards get greater results from children.
7. Home Connections. Success rises when educators give at-home activities and parents and children conscientiously complete it.
8. Evaluation and feedback. High-quality learning environments monitor how students are performing. They provide feedback to parents and students. They recognize and celebrate success. They intervene to prevent failure.
9. Parent Involvement. High-quality learning environments empower and encourage parents to monitor and assist in every aspect of the program. High-quality educators view parents as allies and invite them to join the education team.
10. A Sense of Community. A high-quality learning environment is a welcoming place where children know that adults care deeply about them. There is much seriousness about learning and also much joy.

Warning Signs of Bad Teaching

Parents must keep their radar tuned to detect bad teachers. Take action if you see some of these characteristics in a teacher:

• Shows little knowledge of the subject matter she's supposed to be teaching.
• Lacks basic academic skills (e.g., sends home notes containing spelling errors).
• Holds low expectations for students.
• Makes little effort to maintain discipline.
• Doesn't focus on academic goals.
• Can't communicate knowledge in an interesting way.
• Gives disorganized lessons and vague, careless assignments.
• Does not assign homework on a regular basis.
• Is not aware of your child's strengths, weakness, and interests.
• Shows little enthusiasm for his/her work.
• Belittles children's efforts.
• Shows no interest in communicating with parents.
• Exhibits unsound character or unprofessional behavior.

(The Educated Child, William J. Bennett)

Stop Copying Me!

Does this sound familiar? "Ma and/or teacher she's copying me again". If your child is copying others movements, words, and voice, then you have a preschooler who is developmentally on track. Like it or not mimicking is a four year old behavior that is necessary. Your child is learning social skills, language skills, communication processes, and probably behaviors that you wish had gone unseen. Everyone is an unwitting behavior model for four year olds and as soon as you observe it, the sooner you can take control of the situation.

There are parts of the child's day that parents can't control and parts of the child's day that teachers can't control. However, children spend most of their day with family. All members of the family are modeling behavior and your four year old is watching. So be careful what behaviors you want your child to imitate. A polite child has seen polite behavior. A generous child has seen generous behavior.

The parts of your child's day that you can't control are dicey and has an interesting source of information. Dicey because your child may be around children who exhibit poor behavior. Interesting because it enables you to see what is making an impression on your child. This is an opportunity to observe what kind of behavior is having an impact on your child and the sources of behavior.

Preschool Science Projects

SPOON REFLECTIONS

Materials:

A shiny spoon

Procedure:

1. Have the child look at his reflection in the bowl of the spoon. The reflection will be upside down.


2. When the child looks at his reflection in the back of the spoon (convex side), the reflection is right side up.

Note: The images are right side up or upside down depending on the direction in which the curved surfaces reflect light.

BALLOON ROCKETS

Materials:

• Balloon (The bigger the balloon the larger the flight.)


• Long, thin, smooth string


• 1 drinking straw


• Tape

Procedure:

1. Secure one end of string at far end of end.


2. Standing at other end of the room, thread loose end of string through straw.


3. Blow up balloon and pinch it closed, so air doesn't escape.


4. Tape inflated balloon to straw.


5. Hold high strung string and let go of balloon.


6. The balloon will shoot across the room on the string.

RAINBOW CELERY

Materials:

• leafy stalk of celery


• glasses or glass jars


• knife (for adult use only)


• water


• food coloring

Procedure:

1. Using the knife, cut 1/2 inch off bottom of stalk to expose new edge.


2. Starting two inches below the leaves, split the celery stalk down the middle.


3. Fill each glass with water and add a different food color to each until colors are very bright (red and blue works very well).


4. Put one half celery stalk in each glass. Let sit until the next day.


5. The next day the separate colors will have climbed up the celery stalk and colored the leaves. This shows how plants drink water through their stems.

Card Games: A Fun Way to Introduce Young Children to Numbers and Math

Before playing card games, give children the opportunity to explore with the cards and become acquainted with them. A good way to do this is to suggest the following sorting activities:

• Place the black cards in one pile and the red ones in another.
• Find pairs of cards with matching pairs.
• Place all the cards of one suit together in a pile.
• Order the cards from one to ten, counting the ace as one and omitting the face cards.

Don't hesitate to simplify the rules. You can work up to more challenging versions when children are ready.

Making a Card Holder:It is difficult for young children to hold and use more than three or four cards at a time. You can make a card holder using two plastic lids from margarine tubs. Punch a hole in the center of each lid and place the lids back to back. Push a brad through the holes and bend it back to fasten the lids together. The cards can be held between the two lids.

Go Fish: (This game is for two or more players.)

1. Deal five cards face down to each player. Place the rest of the cards face down in the center.
2. Player pick up their cards and arrange them in their hands by value. Aces with aces, and so on. The object of the game is to get four cards of the same value.
3. The first player ask any other player for a card that will help him complete a set of four cards. If the player has the requested card, he must give the card to the first player, who can then ask another player for another card.
4. If the other player does not have the requested card, he says "Go Fish." The first player picks up a card from the center pile and her his turn is over. When a player has four cards of equal value, they are placed face down next to the player.
5. The winner is the first person to get rid of all cards in his or her hand. If two players finish together, the one with the most groups of four cards is the winner.

Concentration:(Two or more children can play concentration)

The object of the game is to find pairs of matching cards among an array of face down cards. Use a small number of pairs of cards to start with and slowly increase the number when children seems ready for more.

1. Shuffle the cards and lay them in rows and columns.
2. The first player turns over two cards. If they are of equal value (e.g. two threes), the player keeps the cards then takes another turn. If the two cards are different the cards must be placed back in their same positions face down. The next player takes a turn trying to find two matching cards.
3. When all the cards have been collected, the person with the most cards wins.

Variation: Older children can add or multiply the two cards they turn over. If its correct they keep the cards, if not they have to return the cards back to the same position face down.

Snap: (Two to four children can play)

1. Deal the cards one at a time until there are no cards left.
2. Players place their cards face down in front of them.
3. Players turn over the top cards in their piles and place them face up next to their piles. They continue this way until two cards with the same number appear. The first person to call "Snap!" takes the two piles of face up cards under the matching cards and puts them at the bottom of his face down pile.
4. If two or more people call out "Snap!" at the same time, the piles with the matching cards are placed face up in the center and called Snap Pool. When a card that matches the snap pool appears, the first person to call out "Snap Pool!" adds the snap pool cards to their face down pile.
5. A player is out of the game when he has no more cards. The winner is the person with all or most of the cards.

The Changing Preschool Classroom

Learning letters in preschool? Often time parents wonder what happened to the play dough and the paint easel in the preschool classroom. If you look carefully, teachers still use hands-on materials but in ways to encourage alphabet knowledge. For example, the play dough is used to form letters in addition to making "snakes".

Early literacy learning is critical. Before children begin to read, they need firm knowledge of the letters of the alphabet. Children who get off to a good start often keep that jump start. However, children who don't seldom catch up. Depending on how early literacy is introduced, it can be deemed as developmentally appropriate if the activities used meet the needs and learning style of the child.

It's not rocket science that young children are hands-on. Some excellent materials to use to teach alphabet knowledge are: tactile letters, magnetic letters, marker boards, alphabet puzzles, and a variety of alphabet books.

Early childhood educators are taking on the challenge by developing literacy focused classrooms where children can playfully discover the wonders of print and language. As a result, children will develop phonemic awareness which includes understanding the letter and letter-sound relationship which is key to children's reading success.

Recommendations for Exclusion from the Preschool Setting

To prevent spreading germs to other children and adults in the preschool, it is recommended that a child does not come to school sick. Below are some illnesses or conditions that would make it necessary for a child to stay home, as well as information regarding when it is appropriate to let the child return to school.

It is important to request the parents to notify the school when the child has a communicable disease so that other families can be informed.

Conditions, Signs, and Symptoms

Diarrhea: Look for increased numbers of stools, increased amount of stool water, or decreased form that is not contained in the diaper or by toilet use.

Vomiting: Keep the child home if he or she vomits two or more times in the previous twenty-four (24) hour time span (unless the vomiting is determined to be due to a noncommunicable condition, and the child is not in danger of dehydration).

Mouth Sores: These are associated with the inability to control saliva. Keep the child home unless it is determined by a doctor that the child is noninfectious.

Rash: The child must remain at home when the rash appears with a fever or behavior change. When it is determined by a doctor as noninfectious the child may return to the center.

Conjunctivitis: This appears as pink or red conjunctiva with white or yellow eye discharge, often with matted eyelids after sleep and eye pain or redness of the eyelids surrounding the skin. A doctor's consent is required for readmission.

Tuberculosis: The child must be removed from the center until it is determined by a doctor that he or she is noninfectious.

Streptococcal Pharyngitis: The child must be excluded for twenty-four (24) hours after treatment is initiated or when he/she is fever free for twenty-four (24) hours.

Head Lice: The child is excluded until the morning after the first treatment.

Scabies: The child is excluded until after treatment has been completed.

Varicella: The child is excluded until the sixth day after the onset of the rash or sooner if all the lesions have dried and crusted.

Pertussis: The child is excluded after the disease is confirmed by a laboratory, or if the disease is suspected based on symptoms or because coughing begins within fourteen (14) days of face-to-face contact with a person in the home or classroom who has a confirmed case of pertussis. The child may return to the classroom five (5) days after appropriate antibiotic therapy has been initiated.

Mumps: A child is excluded until nine (9) days after the onset of parotid swelling.

Hepatitis: This is a virus infection. A child is excluded until one (1) week after the onset of the illness and when jaundice, if present has disappeared. The child may also return if passive immunoprophtkaxis has been administered to the appropriate children and staff.