What if my preschool classroom set up isn't working?

"But, The room was clean a second ago!"

 It's the beginning of the year and kids are flinging Lego's and dumping baskets of tinker toys. Your vision of children blissfully and serenely ogling over toys and learning materials has now fallen flat like a lettuce leaf on hot cement.
One one truly knows how children will react to even the most carefully planned classrooms until they are actually working within them. This is why I learned to set up materials and learning centers to the absolute minimum basics when I begin the year. We often forget that children are already overstimulated as it is in the first few weeks. In the early months of class, try setting up the room to focus mainly on the children.

10 Things to Consider About Your Preschool Room Set Up or Management:
1. If you walk around on your knees in the classroom, what's the first thing you see? What grabs your attention and what doesn't? Chances are it's the same for the kids.

"But I DID clean up the toys!"

2. Have a plan! Draw and map out all the areas you will have and create a room arrangement. This will save your back in the long run!
3.Are your learning centers clearly defined? Rugs, hanging posters and tiled areas tend to define the space within the room. As yourself, "What can I do to make this appealing to more children? Is this culturally respectful? Is there variety?
4. Are noisy and quiet areas in strategic places? Really try to keep them away from each other.
5. Got Flow? How do you and the children move within the room? Make sure there are surface areas, clear paths and places for you to strategically sit/stand and observe the children. Hidden areas that aren't readily visible to you could be a problem.
6. What is your group of children gravitating toward most? If it's farm animals, per say? Have farm books in the reading areas, farm animal shapes to color in the art area, etc. The goal is to see how your children are and will be actually using the areas in the beginning, not necessarily changing your curriculum.

Keep toys some toys for special occasions,
like a rainy day!

7. Always have a personal bag of back up toys. Things for a rainy day, picture day when kids are nervously waiting to be called, a family night, or just when the whole group of kids seem on edge. Something as simple as soft finger puppets, small little colorful caricatures ,mini animals/bugs or small wind up toys. It's a life saver to whip out this bag on special occasions when getting your classroom messy isn't the option for the moment.
8. Changing the room around a few times a year can be refreshing to everyone. We encourage you to make changes to keep older things looking new!
9. As tempting as it may be, don't put out all the toys at once in the classroom. Have a small rotation stash! Some toys won't bring out the best in our kids at the beginning of the year...save it for later.
10. Take a look at what your curriculum is telling the preschoolers to do. Have a balance of materials that require sitting, standing, floor or table play. Balance out activities that are will be exciting or calm though out the day. You can actually create a rhythm and balance of chaos verses serenity throughout the day.


We would love to hear some of your classroom set up or management techniques!

Great Teacher Ideas for Back to School Month!

Making the transition back to school can be fun and exciting for children and families. By promoting a sense of community in the beginning of the school year we create and atmosphere for comfort and friendship for both new and returning families!

Great Ideas for Back to School Month:
The Bagel Bash: Have children make invitations for a bagels or treats at a local park. We like to meet up on a convenient weekend and set up a nice picnic area for parents and families to gather and get to know one another. We have also done it potluck style and created a list!

Smooth Sailing for back to
school month starts with a plan!

The Popcorn Party: Invite families and kids to a popcorn party with punch. Kids a great informal way to sit and have a chat with family and kids.
The Pancake Breakfast: This worked so well for us we did it every month! Have parents and kids come a bit earlier to school for a pancake breakfast. Families sit and talk with the children and one another before they go off to work!

What do you like to do for parents and children during back the to school month?

Art That Promotes Socialization for Kids

Do you want a quick table art activity to set up for kids that takes virtually no time at all? We love this one because it is great open ended activity for the first day of school or anytime you want the kids to interact and spark a conversation with one another.

Table Art for Kids:
Materials Needed: Crayons (peel off the paper), a variety of flat objects (i.e. puzzle pieces, leaves, paper scraps, coffee filters, small sticks, textured paper scraps, card board shapes, etc.), length of butcher paper that will cover the table, making tape.
The Set Up: Arrange the flat objects on the table and place a length of butcher paper over the table and secure it with tape. Have peeled crayons placed in strawberry baskets (or handy container) and remove the chairs from the table. Kids will be standing during this activity.
The Procedure: Kids can freely color any areas of the table by shading with the edge of a crayon. Together they will discover what shapes are underneath while they guess by feeling it.
Socialization: Kids love to strike up conversations! This activity allows kids the freedom to share space, color as a group, and guess-a-mate what the art will look like.
We like to write down their conversations, words and discoveries directly on the paper before we display it.

What types of activities do you enjoy for a back to school activity?

High Quality Learning Environments

" A three year old child is a being who gets almost as

much fun out of a fifty-six dollar set of swings as it 

does out of finding a small green worm."  

~Bill Vaughan

The importance of High Quality Learing environments has been precipitated by Economist Professor James Heckman. He has done tons of research on why kids who have a great start have a better chance at avoiding the major pitfalls we see so prevalent today. Families prove to be a major source of contributing to the development of young children. This we knew, but it's nice to hear people talking about it....

Simple

Put a grain of boldness into everything you do.

~Baltasar Gracian

It’s not often where children really have a chance to boast about their accomplishments. Having an audience to listen and really inviting open conversation about what is going on really does help encourage a preschoolers newly discovered skill, intelligence or talent. There is nothing worse than having something wonderful to share and feeling there is no one to share it with.
Here is one child’s story she shared at circle time….

“I can say any word. No word is too hard for me to say.” Sara boasted.
“What are you talking about now?” Max said. “You’re always saying stuff, how about you just show us.”
“I will, I will right now.” Sara said putting her hands on her hips. “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!”
“Wow!” The class muttered to themselves, they surely couldn’t say that.
“Hmmmm?” Max challenged. “Can you say,‘Peter Piper picked a peck of picked peppers’?”
“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper.” She said looking a bit bored.
“I guess your right. Cool.” Max conceded.
“Yeah-huh. Everything is so seeple for me. Just seeple to say.”
Max blinked. “Uh, don’t you mean, ‘simple’?”
“No. Seeple. It’s seeple for me to say.” Sara corrected holding one finger in the air for emphasis.
“Oh, whatever Sara, you’re the bomb.”
“Thanks, Max.”
“Welcome, Sara.”