Parents in the U.S. (unlike those in most other countries) are enthralled with academic preschools, buying into the belief that earlier is better. But research shows play is how kids learn best. It enhances their imaginations, promotes exploration, increases vocabulary, and builds social skills.

Slime Ribbons Scissors Activity

First grade is the year that students are developing their foundational mathematical skills. It is critical that when learning how to add numbers, our students are learning and understanding HOW to use a math algorithm

These 10 ways to incorporate play in the classroom are great for any teacher to try play-based learning, even if you aren't "allowed" to play!

Another kindergarten teacher came into my classroom lately, saw my dramatic play center, sensory table, and building center and said, “I used to have all of that a long time ago, but I had to give it all up.” I’ve been thinking about that exchange over and over since then and there is a single word

Today I am going to share one of my favorite activities for place value to practice this skill and it is a big hit with kids. It's called Place Value Toss!

A complete Post Office Play Pack to bring play into your classroom. Printables included in this amazing pack are: Posters Bunting Labels Word wall cards Word desk mat How to posters Role Play badges Writing templates Printable stamps Blank cards and postcards Receipts and price lists

Back in September, when my class did a unit on Bugs, we did this Bugs Sensory Table activity. I added about 3 bags of green Easter grass to the sensory

A fun and easy sensory bin for toddlers and preschoolers. Washing Dishes sensory bin is a perfect life skills sensory play preschool and toddler activity.

These 10 ways to incorporate play in the classroom are great for any teacher to try play-based learning, even if you aren't "allowed" to play!

How preschoolers are taught is gaining greater focus as federal and state officials hope to expand funding for early childhood learning. .

Have this handy fine motor toolkit on hand in your homeschool, classroom, or therapy practice to always have fine motor activities available!

Help your students master teen numbers in base ten with digital task cards! Your students will practice counting tens and ones to find the correct answer. These digital task cards are easy to use as they are: Interactive Self-Grading Paperless No Prep (yay!) This resource was designed so that you would have access to developmentally appropriate, digital activities at your fingertips! Please note that this resource is hosted on the Boom Learning website. When you complete your purchase you will receive a download link that will take you directly to the game. You will be asked to create an account and the game will be added to your library.  Want to see a playable preview? Check it out here! This set of digital task cards can be used for distance learning. To use Boom Cards, you must be connected to the Internet. Boom Cards play on modern browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge). Apps are available for Android, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. For security and privacy, adults must have a Boom Learning account to use and assign Boom Cards. You will be able to assign the Boom Cards you are buying with "Fast Pins," (play provides instant feedback for self-grading Boom Cards). Fast Play is always a free way for students to engage with Boom Cards decks. For additional assignment options you'll need a premium account. If you are new to Boom Learning, you will be offered a free trial of their premium account. Read here for details: http://bit.ly/BoomTrial. If you have any questions, please feel free to use the Ask a Question feature on TPT, or email me at [email protected].

Front page, above the fold headline in Saturday's The Oregonian newspaper: "Kindergarten test results 'sobering'" What did the governor find so sobering about the test results? The average 5-year-old could only name 18.5 letters from a list of 100 upper and lower case letters. The average 5-year-old could only pronounce 6.7 letter sounds from a list of 110 during a one minute period. I work with 5-year-olds every day. It's developmentally normal for literacy to have clicked for some of them and some not. Can someone please explain to me how testing children in this standardized, high stress manner, then shaming them by publicizing the results broken out school by school differs from abuse? Recent headline in the business section of the San Francisco Chronicle: "Employees face growing pressure to relax" The gist of this article is that for most Americans, the leading cause of stress in their lives isn't their love life or finances, but their jobs. The popular notion is that Americans have become soft and lazy, but the truth is that we take fewer vacation days and work more weekends than workers in any of the other industrialized nations. The oxymoronic headline refers to the fact that it's starting to dawn on CEOs that stressed out employees are bad for business. You think? "You're more likely to crash your car, drink too much, blow up in a meeting, divorce your spouse, and fall prey to everything from a cold to a heart attack. Just being around a stressed person, so-called secondhand stress, can leave you feeling more stressed." Does anyone else see a connection here? President Obama doesn't. Nor does Bill Gates or any of the other leaders of the "reformers" seeking to remake our schools in the image of American corporations. I recently wrote about one business technique called "stacked ranking" that was all the rage at Microsoft until they discovered it made employees hate working for the company. These geniuses had the idea that they could motivate their workers by firing a certain percentage of them no matter what. Many observers blame this policy for the overall decline in Microsoft's once unassailable leadership position in the software industry. Of course, Microsoft has now quietly dropped this particular stink bomb, but not before detonating it in our public schools, where teachers across the country are now being "motivated" by the threat of being fired, a policy that continues to spread as the Obama administration withholds education funds from states that do not adopt it. In his recent State of the Union address, President Obama did what politicians always do. And I mean all of them. "Of course, it’s not enough to train today’s workforce. We also have to prepare tomorrow’s workforce, by guaranteeing every child access to a world-class education." That's right, he talked about schools, but only in economic terms, failing as all our leaders do, to comprehend that education is about more important things than simply training up our kids for the dog-eat-dog stress factory that is American industry. He touted his administration's "Race to the Top" initiative, which is a warmed over version of the previous administration's "No Child Left Behind," both of which are simply the "corporate reform" movement's wish list of more high stakes testing, union busting, standardized curricula, and, ultimately, the grand prize of the privatization of the entire public school system. And I will point out, as I always do, that none of this agenda -- none of it -- can be supported by research, data, facts, or experience. This entire agenda is based upon the deeply flawed idea that what works for Microsoft (or doesn't work, as the case may be) will work for schools. (Meanwhile Bill Gates recently lost a chess match to a grand master in 80 seconds, proving yet again that his brand of "genius" doesn't translate very well into areas beyond building a giant monopolistic process machine.) The president did demonstrate that either he or his speech writers have been listening to his critics because he said the words "problem solving" and "critical thinking," two vital aspects of education that are notoriously lacking in the drill-and-kill model being implemented right across the country. And he gave a shout out to "better support for teachers," and a rather off-handed dismissal of filling in "a bubble on a test," in an apparent attempt to diffuse the criticism he knew would be coming from, you know, actual educators, who continue to be absent from his administration's policy discussions. And speaking of actual educators, do you see anything missing from the following sentence? "And as Congress decides what it’s going to do, I’m going to pull together a coalition of elected officials, business leaders, and philanthropists willing to help more kids access the high-quality pre-K they need." Yep, he's turning Congress and his team of elected officials, business leaders, and philanthropists loose on early childhood education without even a tip-of-the-hat to teachers. Once more he's putting the dilittantes in charge, the ones who have made their workplaces toxic, the ones who are failing to create prosperity for anyone but the top one percent, the ones who rob our economy of nearly a trillion dollars annually through fraud, the ones who hate the whole idea of public education. These are the brilliant minds who are "sobered" by the shocking idea that 5-year-olds can't read. These are the guys he's turning loose on your preschoolers and I guarantee that their solutions are going to look a hell of a lot like the "solutions" that are turning us into a nation of stressed-out drones, people who fear (and rightly so) that if they let up for even a week or a day, they will be one of those who are fired based upon randomly chosen percentages. This is motivation by fear. This is what they are seeking to do to our youngest citizens and their teachers. It should outrage and sicken any decent person. Our elementary schools are already full of stressed-out kids being expected to perform, on command, things for which they simply are not developmentally ready. Our middle schools are hot houses of children angry that they are being forced to learn stupid stuff that has nothing to do with their lives. And our high schools are populated with cynical kids who have learned, if they have learned anything, that they must jump through ridiculous, meaningless hoops if they ever hope to get out there in the real world where their real education can finally begin. Now they're coming for the preschoolers, because, as The Oregonian education writer argues in reply to a commenter's assertion that these test results, rather than being "sobering," were no big deal: You(r) assertions may have been true in the past, when academics didn't begin in earnest until first grade. Now first grade teachers expect students to walk in reading three-letter words and three-word sentences or more. Their argument is that we must do this because we're already doing it. There was no discussion anywhere about what education experts, including most teachers, know about the developmental appropriateness of these cruel expectations. This is what is missing from the corporate reform movement as well, including the president's agenda. This is what is always missing. If all you did was read the headlines about the State of the Union address, what you probably know is that the president ended with a rousing call out to our men and women in uniform. What you probably missed is how he lead up to that moment (emphasis added by me): "After all, that’s the spirit that has always moved this nation forward. It’s the spirit of citizenship – the recognition that through hard work and responsibility, we can pursue our individual dreams, but still come together as one American family to make sure the next generation can pursue its dreams as well . . . Citizenship means standing up . . . Citizenship means standing up . . . Citizenship demands a sense of common cause; participation in the hard work of self-government; an obligation to serve our communities." This. This is what is also glaringly missing from our nation's discussions about education: citizenship. Indeed, this is the reason our founders placed such a high value on education, not because they wanted to train their 5-year-olds for "tomorrow's workforce," but because we need educated citizens to participate in the hard work of self-government. This most important lesson will never be learned from testing, standardization, and fear. I'm not one of those people who take a knee-jerk stand against the president on every front. I voted for him twice and support much of his agenda, but on this I'm having trouble understanding how it's not a form of child abuse. I will not stand quietly by. Those of us who work in early childhood education are the last ones standing, and "citizenship means standing up." Indeed, we are mandated by the state to report abuse when we suspect it. Consider this my report. I put a lot of time and effort into this blog. If you'd like to support me please consider a small contribution to the cause. Thank you! -->

"Learning & Developmental Activity & Educational Preschool Toys - Geometric Block Sorter Geometric Sorter is an educational toy to learn to count and recognize colors and shapes. Appropriate shapes must be placed on each of the five handles, depending on the number of holes. In the base, additionally 5 figures have been painted that will allow the child to play. Intense colors attract attention and stimulate this sense. While playing, the child exercises manual skills, develops logical thinking skills, hand-eye coordination and teaches color recognition. - Stacking toy encourages early learning through play as it develops hand eye coordination and confidence - Made from durable, sustainable wood, this allows long lasting fun, whilst caring for our planet - Safe toy - Decorated with non-toxic paints and tested to the highest safety standards Suitable for children from the age of 24+ months Contain: Wooden Board x 1, Wooden Block x 12"

This stack of 9 blocks includes two of each little bug image. Plus four larger images to be pieced together as a puzzle. Perfect for your little ones garden of toys. Your block set will come sweetly packaged in an unbleached cotton muslin drawstring bag. The blocks are made with maple wood (the same wood often used in butcher blocks and baseball bats). This sustainable wood does not easily nick or ding. Translation: Your kids can throw and knock them around freely and you can rest assured that theyll hold up well. Sticky peanut butter and jelly hands dont faze us either. Simply wipe blocks with a cloth and warm water or sanitize them with bleach wipes. :::The blocks are meant to grow with your child through their developmental years:: ~ Visual Stimulation: beautiful decoration on a shelf or on their play mat. ~ Hand Coordination: watch in awe as their chubby little hands learn to grasp and pick them up. ~ Hand Coordination/ Cause and Effect: laugh with them as they grab a block in each hand and knock them together, giggling with joy at the sounds theyre making. ~ In and Out: help them learn the difference by holding the drawstring bag and letting them drop the blocks in and then dump them out. ~ Counting: How many blocks are there? One, two, three... ~ Letters: Time to learn your ABCs ~ Matching: Can you find the other block that looks like this? ~ Puzzle: Many of our block sets are crafted so that when placed properly, a picture forms. Details: * Each block is 1.5 inches squared. Large enough so theyre not a choking hazard, small enough so theyre easy for little hands to grasp. We can make them jumbo sized (2 inches) as well. Just add the appropriate listing to the cart when you check out. * Edges are hand-sanded to safety. * Graphics are generously coated with two coats of water-based non-toxic sealant. * Though images on your blocks will be the same as in the photos, the exact order of placement will vary from set to set

VIP List Subscribe Now What is the Ultimate Sensory Box? The Ultimate Sensory Box is the complete sensory kit that helps preschool and kindergarten teachers & parents teach state standards while incorporating more play-based learning opportunities.The Ultimate Sensory Box provides complete activities and ALL fillers needed for every activity. The only item NOT included is

A blog about a Full Day Kindergarten classroom that is Reggio Inspired.

A new study has found that delaying kindergarten until the calendar year when kids turn seven has serious benefits for students.

One of the bedrock principles of what I do as a teacher is to proudly acknowledge that I, generally speaking, have no idea what the children are learning on any given day and, honestly, any teacher who tells you she does is mistaken. This week, we've been playing with our fire fighter stuff. We probably have 15 fire trucks which we've acquired over the years. Some of those trucks are much more prized than the others. Each session, especially with our older kids, begins in a sort of competitive race to see who can "get" which truck. There is a lot of squabbling amongst the younger kids, which requires a degree of adult support, but the older kids, who are already well-experienced in the realities of sharing limited resources generally work it out in a matter of minutes, starting with quick grabs, then making agreements about who's "next" with any given prized object. What I do know is that they are learning because what we are primarily about is building community which is the environment in which humans have evolved to learn. After several minutes of parallel play, the kids begin to exhaust the possibilities of simply driving one truck, alone, around the rug. The first "invitation" to cooperative play yesterday was when one boy (and they were all boys at the start) had the idea of putting trucks on top of the fire station. Soon others joined him and they enjoyed some jokes about flying fire trucks and extra high ladders, jostling one another in a self-created tight space. For tens of thousands of years, since the dawn of hunter-gatherer mankind, going back as far as anthropologists have been able to look, free play within the context of community has been the cornerstone of education. This idea then lead to another group forming around a platform of blocks a classmate had built on his own, then abandoned. Now our independent players had formed into two cooperative play groups, with a few others continuing to explore on their own. What we do now, with adults dictating what and when children should learn, is so recent that it's barely a blip on a timeline of human history. Some children remained focused on getting their turn with prized trucks, while others settled for the lower drama of "lesser" trucks, some even declaring them their "favorites." This guy collected three unwanted trucks and built them a boat which he pushed around the rug. Before long, he had friends who wanted a turn. One guy collected the four bottom-of-the-barrel trucks and stacked them, first as a "double decker." When he showed me that he had extended his original idea into a "four decker." I said the word "quadruple" and he repeated it several times. Some of the kids chose to concentrate on playing with the ladders rather than the trucks. Sure, sometimes I can make a guess about what children are learning by observing their behaviors. Sometimes they come right out and tell me what they've learned. One boy built a "car wash for fire trucks," then invited his friends to play with it. Before long, most of the boys had formed into a caravan of trucks going around and around the space with the car wash as the anchor to their game. There appear to be many of us who think we can get at the answer by asking children questions, lots of questions, as is done with testing, but what we primarily learn from that is how individual kids answer your questions, or if they can answer your questions in a teacher approved manner, not what they have actually learned. At some point, I noticed that the most coveted truck of all was sitting completely unclaimed. After several minutes, two boys spied it at once and their hands were on it simultaneously. As the conflict erupted, I stepped away to give them the space to work it out. It began civilly enough, but things began to escalate as they got stuck in a back-and-forth "I had it first!" debate. As the tugging became more assertive, I knelt down and put my hand on the truck. I asked, "What's happening?" then proceeded to simply repeat what each boy said as they took turns making their case. After a couple minutes, a boy sitting nearby said, "Maybe you could both play with it." It turned out to be the right idea at the right time. "How about I play with the hose and you drive it?" The tension evaporated and I moved away again. Physical scientists have long known about the observer effect which refers to the changes that the act of observation make on a phenomenon being studied. After awhile, some girls came into the area. They weren't interested in the trucks: their focus was on building with the blocks. It didn't take long for the boys to find them and try to figure out how to enter into their play. When the girls said they wanted to build by themselves, several of the guys decided to use their fire trucks to deliver blocks to them. What had started as a competition over fire trucks had by now evolved into a game of giving and "thank yous," a game of community. Psychologists know of the observer-expectancy effect whereby a researcher's cognitive biases cause them to unconsciously alter or misinterpret the results. It is simply impossible for anyone but the one doing the learning to know what they have learned unless they tell us of their own volition. As a preschool teacher, I am satisfied if the children are engaged in self-selected activity. When that is true, I know that the children are learning. My job is to get the environment ready, then stay out of the way, intervening only when it is crystal clear they need me. That's when I know they are learning, because they are freely playing within the context of community. I put a lot of time and effort into this blog. If you'd like to support me please consider a small contribution to the cause. Thank you! -->

In a very real sense, the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was the beginning of our nation's cruel, mi...

Sort the color-code graduated geometric shapes by color or size. Mix and match to create size or color patterns. Develop geometric recognition, counting, and shape sorting skills. Improves fine-motor skills. Sturdy wooden construction with rounded corners and smooth edges, safe non-toxic paints with a clear finish. Raised base accommodates floor or tabletop play. AGES 1+. Toys can entertain and stimulate young minds and foster an interest in a particular area, such as music, photography, math, arts and crafts, or language. When choosing toys, consider safety and age-appropriateness. Playing helps to develop a baby's social, emotional, language, intellectual, and problem-solving skills. Batting at a mobile, giving a musical ball a shove, or transferring a rattle from one hand to another helps babies to learn about the world. Such play also helps them to connect sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell to objects, to recognize shapes, patterns, and colors, develop hand-eye coordination and memory, and to bond with you and others. When you choose toys and activities that enhance your child's development, you're speaking your baby's language and helping her to foster cognitive and social skills that she can build on. But don't give toys all the credit. You're a key player. The most important toy is the parent and other caregivers because babies crave one-on-one social interaction and need the security it provides. The right toy, though, can make key developmental stages more fun for your child and for you. Ages 1+ Dimensions: 5" h x 11.25" w x 9" l Weight: 2lb

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I'm not even in shock this morning. I'm not even particularly enraged, although I imagine I'l...