Learn about countries for kids with Around the WOrld Country Coloring Pages! These coloring sheets are easy way to explore 19 countries!

I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I love using scarves in my programs. Who doesn’t love scarves?? I think parents enjoy them as much as the children do. I have compiled a list of th…

Check out the unique bucket list ideas of things you should do before you die. Inside, you'll find a unique list made just for you.

If you have dreamed of spending 2 weeks in Italy, this is the itinerary for you! This will help you plan your 14 days in Italy!

I can't believe it's only Tuesday...Seriously? I already feel like I need the weekend for a break. Part of the problem is that it was my ...

These ”First Day of School” crowns and award certificates can be printed for your class. First Day of School Crowns These printable first day of school

A step-by-step tutorial on how to do the SSK knitting decrease. A left-leaning decrease that forms a pair with K2tog and is quite easy to knit.

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The best 2-day Rome itinerary with what to see, do and eat. How to get around, where to stay in Rome and attractions you must book in advance.

Grassi Lakes trail is a 4.3 k out and back trail located near Canmore, Alberta Canada. The trail is mostly uphill, leading you to two gorgeous lakes.

Wondering what to pack for Amsterdam? Tips from a local on what to wear in Amsterdam and what you need to bring to Amsterdam with downloadable packing list.

I'm ba-aack! Two blog posts in one week? Ahhh…it feels so good to be back in action! ;) I have missed y'all! Today I am sharing a few of my favorite end of year pick me ups…writing style. I totally remember how exhausting those last few weeks of school could be, but I always wanted to make them super memorable for my students. I definitely didn't want to spend my last few weeks fussing lecturing holding "classroom meetings" because they were tired, grumpy, and just totally ready for summer. Let's be honest…kids will be kids, and much like adults…those last few weeks they are dog-tired! Those last few weeks, I wanted to keep on keeping on, so I tried to schedule my writing blocks around things that would make us happy. We would always spend our last moments together reminiscing on our wonderful year together and dreaming about summer..which is just around the corner! So, if you are needing to add some extra "oomph" to your writing for the next several weeks, you can check out my Ultimate End of Year Writing Bundle below. It has pretty much everything you need to get you through these next few weeks of writing. These activities will definitely brighten your day…and your classroom. Hello neon paper! Neon just screams summer…am I right?!? Let's break it down! Just look at my future graduates from last year! How precious are they?!? I can not even begin to tell you how proud I continue to be of these kids! I love that they still call, text, email, and visit with lots of stories about their 4th grade year. Absolutely love them to pieces! I know our kids are still babies in our eyes, but they are never too young to begin seeing and experiencing the value of education! During this writing, we looked at several local universities, discussed possible career paths, and talked about the most important thing...when they can get their driver's license. ;) Last year, these kids were all about getting scholarships so that they do not have to pay the big bucks to go to school. Their parents will thank me later! :) This activity led to so many wonderful conversations and definitely had my kids dreaming BIG! Of course, they all expressed their interest in becoming millionaires along the way! :) Next up...What can be better than our plans for the future?!? Our plans for the SUMMER! During this writing, the kids brainstorm their summer plans.. Then they write all about their summer dreams! That face though! #cutest End of the year is the perfect time to bundle all of your memories up into one place for safe keeping. I have included time capsule contracts, poems, and much, much more to get you going. This can also be the perfect place to hold some of your writings from the year if you are still looking to put together some type of writing portfolio. I still pull out old writings from elementary school. Maybe it's the teacher in me, but I love a good walk down memory lane. And...my favorite...letters to next year's kiddos. I always display these on our "Welcome Back" night for my newbies to read. This helps your kiddos get a glimpse into what is ahead in the new year. Plus, it adds a little spirit to those empty walls at the beginning of the year. Also included in this little pack is my Paper Bag Memory Books that I posted about yesterday. Love this end of the year keepsake...paper bag style. I also love that paper bags are so stinkin' cheap! All you need are paper bags and dollar store stickers to help your kiddos make these little scrapbook{ish} memories. Here is how our books turned out last year just in case you missed it yesterday... There you have it! I told you this would keep you busy for the rest of the year! If you want to check this unit out on TPT, click on the picture below. If you would like to view all of my end of year resources, click on the banner below! Have a fabulous weekend my sweet friends! We are off to Washington D.C. with our fifth graders. I haven't been since I was a kid, and I have to say, I am super pumped! I'll be back to share our writing portfolios from last year later this weekend. XOXO!

Where are the best Instagram-worthy photo spots in Porto? Read this guide with the best photography tips for Porto!

From Dubrovnik's city walls to the cascading waterfalls in Plitvice National Park and island hopping along the Dalmatian Coast, here are must-see spots to add to your Croatia itinerary.

The city of Kaunas really surprised me on my travels through Lithuania. It was quirky, bohemian, historical and somewhere unlike anywhere else! It was truly unique and there is so much more to it than

Get ready for the first day of school with these Kissing Hand activities. These back-to-school printables are perfect for preschool and kindergarten classrooms!

Two Points: This is MY method, and not necessarily right for you, your teaching or care philosophy, your set-up, or your students. Curriculum participation by my students is VOLUNTARY. I invite them to participate, but if they choose not to, then that is fine. I usually offer them a choice of a few of the activities and let them decide where we start and where we go. An engaged child learns, a dis-engaged child rebels. The 3-year rotating curriculum is theme based. Some times we stick to the plan, but usually I observe what they are interested in learning about, what they are asking questions about, and suggest up to three different themes they can choose from for us to study. I make my own 3-year rotating curriculum for many reasons: Packaged curriculum is often only one year. Since I teach for 3 years, this would be redundant. Most packaged curriculum focuses on skills my students master early. My 2s count to 20, know 11 colors, know most of their phonics, uppercase and lowercase letters, 10 shapes and some of their numbers and I still have 3 years of curriculum to teach them. They often are worksheet intensive. My students usually are cognitively advanced from their fine motor skills. I have 4 year olds that still can't write well. If I had relied on worksheets for the last 2 years, there is no way they would have the skill sets they have. Worksheets are also not considered Developmentally Appropriate Practice [DAP] for children under the age of 8. We use them here for writing practice starting at age 4. [Yes, worksheet-intensive public schools are not using DAP for kindy through 3rd grade!] They can be expensive. If you are purchasing worksheets, why would you spend even $1 a week/$52 a year when you can purchase a 400 page Scholastic preschool workbook from Sam's Club for $8 that covers probably more material, is most likely aligned with the public school expectations, and is colorful. Colored copies are NOT affordable to make from packaged curriculum. Most [ALL!] preschool learning should be interactive. Pinterest is a better source for ideas. My students change every time I do a theme. I have to be able to tweak it to the interests and capabilities of those currently in my care. Plus, I'll find more interesting activities on Pinterest, have an idea for a new game, etc. It's a constant evolution to keep my curriculum relevant to our current group, situation and resources. However, curriculum planning and creation is very time consuming. Even with older curriculum I spend several hours going over it prior to teaching - updating, creating new materials, purchasing and setting new classroom decorations. While I have had my 3 year curriculum, this year I found myself wanting a more specific schedule to focus on specific skill sets for this particular group of children. Most of these skills can be incorporated into our themed curriculum, or they take 5 minute sessions to pop into our day. I have two groups, the younger preschoolers are 2-3 years old and the older ones are 4-5 years old, all at the same developmental and skill set level within their group. This makes it easier, as I can tailor everything to just 2 groups. If I were to have additional levels of children, then it would be tailored to each level. Children here are taught at their developmental level, not age. Asychronastic development is normal, so I may be teaching a child at various levels depending upon the subject matter. For the younger preschoolers, I came up with this structure. For the older pre-k students, I came up with this one. For instance, both of them have Measurement & Comparison on Friday for Reasoning. However, for the younger students, this would be a more/less, longer/shorter, big/little, etc. activity, while the older students would be measuring with rulers, yardsticks, tape measures, measuring cups, unit blocks, foot steps or themed units, and graphing the measurements to compare. Same skill set, differentiated at vastly different levels. Even this needs conditional tweaking. All the pre-k's know how to spell their last names now, so that is no longer a relevant skill activity for music and will be changed out. In another post I'll get into the curriculum components and the importance of each. For instance, how counting on Friday teaches 1-to-1 correspondence and creating method processes for counting groups of objects. CLICK PICTURES TO VIEW LARGER I use this MS Word template, available for FREE on TPT, for curriculum planning. Often, the daily skill sets above are either already incorporated, or can easily be incorporated, into the theme planning. For an example of a completed curriculum unit, check out our Owls Theme. Each monthly theme is broken down into 4 sub-themes. For instance: SPACE Astronauts & Rockets The Universe Our Solar System Aliens & Robots We also have a musical component, often classical, and an art component, often a master, and Spanish vocabulary component that we incorporate. This planning form may not include all games, file folder games, manipulatives, room-set up, etc. that I utilize. For those of you trained in curriculum creation, I do NOT do a full curriculum development for each activity. With having these children usually from infant to school-age, I keep an internal evaluation of progression and plan out only weekly learning objectives. Since I am creating the activities for my personal use, I do not need to create written procedures and evaluations. My curriculum is stored currently in file folders in a large office bookcase unit. I would like to get it into boxes so that I could have EVERY theme-related item, including dress-up, room set-up, manipulatives, etc. together for an easy pull. File boxes will most likely be the easiest, but they do take up a lot of space. In each file some of the things I probably have: Completed planning sheets All the books I own for that theme Flannel board Sentence and word walls File folder games Samples of previous crafts DVDs CDs Coloring pages Mini-book(s) Build-a-[theme item] game Curriculum creation is one of my great joys. I love the research and compilation, the creativity and excitement of bringing something fun and educational to my students. Learning is rarely linear. Children take developmental leaps, sometimes in odd directions. As a teacher, it is important that I keep each one challenged without pushing or inhibiting their growth, and that takes constant evaluation and a good eye for when those leaps happen so that we can move on to a higher level of instruction. When we do an activity, I constantly question if they WANT to do another round, another activity, and I usually cut them off while they are still engaged. I want them wanting more, and they will usually ask if they can continue. One of the most important desires and abilities I can instill in them is that of self-directed learning. So as they choose to go off with their rulers after we've spent several minutes doing a measuring activity, conferring between themselves as to procedures and what to measure next, I step back and let them. They know I am here as a resource, rather than an intrusive director. It is my job to ensure that when I invite my students to learn, they glow with excitement and anticipation of a fun, interactive, playful time. The results, so far, have been astounding. A few of my complete curriculum units are available through my TPT store. Apples Dental Ice Cream Penguins Rainbows St. Patrick's Day Valentine's Follow Connie -'s board Classroom on Pinterest. Tags: preschool, child care, pre-k, curriculum, development, teaching, education, homeschooling, homeschool, home, school, preschool curriculum development, planning

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This year my husband Joel and I decided to do something crazy and head out on a 2-year long road trip through Central and South America. We were super excited about this trip but we had one problem- no transportation. We recently sold our converted Honda Element camper SUV in order to get something bigger for the

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