⚓Make learning about the Titanic for Kids fun and easy with a printable reader. Children will read, color and learn titanic facts for kids.

I love using interactive lapbooks in the classroom. They are fun to create, engaging and can be used throughout the year to review skills taught. I finally completely my Lapbook Bundle and I am happy to share the lapbooks included with you. Whether you think your learners will enjoy creating all of the lapbooks, if you

The perfect list of jokes for 5 year olds (older kids will love them, too)! Includes animal jokes and knock knock jokes for 5 year olds.

Want to connect with your child but can’t seem to find the time? Here are 25 totally doable ways to bond with kids - even with a busy schedule!

Woken up with a hangover? If you overdid it on the alcohol last night, don't fret. Our handy hangover guide lists hangover symptoms, recommends hangover prevention methods and even reveals the best natural hangover cures to get you feeling better in no time at all. Learn how to cure a hangover today for instant relief!

Here are some helpful tips for name practice in Kindergarten. I also created some freebies for your first week of school.

Get your kindergarten students up and moving with this list of fun no contact circle games. They are perfect for brain breaks!

FUN End of the Year Art Projects- It's the end of the year-go out having FUN! I know how it goes at the end of the year-your tired, the kids are tired...EVERYONE is ready for summer break! Go out with a bang with these super fun end of the year art projects!

At my school we call them learning buddies but you might know them as reading buddies or big buddies/little buddies. Whatever you call them, some times it’s hard to think of activities to do with them. I often found myself planning things on the fly so I decided to compile a list of activities that […]

What are pre writing shapes and how and when should you be “teaching “ your toddler? Toddler from drawing scribbles to actually writing? Pre writing shapes...

Dear Zoo is such a fun book! Check out these Dear Zoo activities for preschool & kindergarten. Includes a FREE printable game, snack, & craft.

Free set of printables to go along with Magnetic Tiles. Includes two levels of difficulty. Builds problem solving skills.

Dozens of educational busy bag ideas to keep your little one engaged while learning! A ton of free printable busy bag ideas included!

September Crafts For Kids | Fun & easy fall ideas; some have free printable templates. Try w/ preschoolers, pre-k, kindergarten & elementary.

25 Quiet Time Activities for Kids. Keep your kids entertained with these educational activities.

It’s soccer time! Did your kids just start fall or spring soccer? Print out the printable soccer field positions for some guidance on youth soccer positions. The soccer field diagram is a great and easy way to teach little kids about the game of soccer and the soccer field positions.

Free Bible Alphabet Coloring Pages

It's time for some fun geography hands-on learning! I love mapping activities and have put together a fun printable set to build a city map. This fun printable set is 15 pages long and includes 5 different

Learn the most fun way to exercise with baby or exercise with kids! Moved to turn a dance party into a HIIT cardio for mom! A HIIT dance party is the perfect way to HIIT with kids. Fun bonding with the family and a killer exercise for mom. The BEST way to exercise with a toddler at home.

These movement activities for preschoolers will build gross motor skills while having fun. Try these ideas at home or at school.

I love busy bags to provide a quick activity for the kids. In our house I often use busy bags as transition activities between one set of activities and another. Busy bags are also super

Find over 100 fun and engaging busy bags for toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarten and elementary kids, too — perfect for on the go!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Seattle's Best Coffee. All opinions are 100% mine.

Dollar Store quiet bin ideas. Use quiet bins at home or in your preschool classroom to manage transitions or create calm and restful times in your day.

What if you gave your kids permission for screen time- as long as it was helping them to learn a new skill? Here are 10 summer hobbies for kids- that they can learn on their own via an online class!

When your kids are bored get out the printable cheat sheet with indoor activities for 5-10 year olds, including active activities and quiet time ideas.

This FREE class about "free-flowing" centers will help you increase learning and save time with independent Pre-K & Kindergarten centers!

Bible memory verse games are a great way to engage young learners while helping them hide Scripture in their hearts. Enjoy these fun games with groups of children!

Looking for fun and engaging kindergarten social studies resources? Check out the interactive notebook that your students will love!

When we first moved to the country, we had no TV, and things were really just fine. After that, we opted for Netflix, but just for Madeline, John, and I—not the little ones. Well, that lasted a little while but then the draw of the TV set in. Not for the kids—for ME! It's such

The newly crowned Miss America 2020, Camille Schrier from Virginia, did a chemistry demonstration for her talent. It was an elaborate version of the classic elephant toothpaste experiment. This was the first time a Miss America participant has ever won with a science experiment for their talent. Unfortunately, I have seen people criticize her talent […]

Here are 10 super fun movement songs for kids to get them up and moving! These are great brain breaks as well.

Learn how to make fake snow that is cold to the touch using just 2 ingredients you already have. Kids love this DIY snow that feels SO real!

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

I am beyond excited to share 2 amazing things with you today that will bless your families! the first is my friend, Ashley, from the life-giving, creative blog The Littles & Me. Her heart is so pure and bright with the love of Christ – you must follow her. Second, Ashley is sharing an incredible […]

Here are some great ideas about things to teach your 2 year old. Most skills can be achieved through these learning activities for two year olds

If you're looking for fun math activities that use simple math manipulatives, we've got you covered. 20 math activities for kids using craft sticks.

So you want to teach your 5 year old how to play soccer? You have come to the right place! I have come up with 26 fun and age appropriate drills.

Sensory squish bags provide the perfect mess-free quiet time sensory activity. Besides the mess-free sensory play, squish bags encourage hands-on exploration and make for great learning tools to spark conversations and build vocabulary with babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.