Whole Child Development
It was time to replace the colored rice I use in my sensory bin. It had seen plenty of fingers, for starters, but the final death knell sounded when a curious preschooler added a cup of water to the bin.
Colored rice is certainly not a new hot fad, and it certainly isn’t difficult, but for those of you who may just be starting your foray into sensory media, I thought I’d show how to add some color to this sensory staple.
Fine motor activities are critical for young children. The workout for those little fingers gives them the strength and control to write, button, and otherwise use their hands as the marvelous tools that they are. But there’s another perk to fine motor activities.
I spoke with a writer recently, who wanted to talk with me about my views on zero tolerance policies as they apply in early childhood settings. As our discussion progressed, she essentially said, “You’ve mentioned before that preschoolers are being expelled at 3 times the rate of students K-12. Why do you think so many preschoolers are being expelled?”
Whether you’re preparing to teach your first preschool year or your 30th, a little planning goes a long way. Here are 12 tips and resources that will help you get started right: [Read more…]
Anyone who has worked in education knows that to be most effective, you need learning activities that can be differentiated to meet a variety of levels and objectives. That’s part of what makes play-based learning so effective — it’s naturally adapted to the needs and objectives of individual learners. I’m always excited when an activity can be tweaked to meet each learners needs, and we happened to have a perfect example pop up at our house recently. (Pardon the cluttered table. Just keepin’ it real, folks!)
I’m sharing some favorites from the archives as I spend some extra time with my family and our new addition!
Flashcards are a common catch-phrase for developmentally inappropriate teaching methods. Even I use the term that way. But like many teaching approaches, it is important to separate the objective, the content, and the method. You might be surprised to find that flashcards may not always be as evil as you thought. [Read more…]
I’m sharing some favorite posts from the past as I spend some extra time with family.
While working within a farm theme with some emerging young readers recently, I used one of my favorite delivery systems for spelling work: Scrambled Eggs. It’s essentially a word scramble, but I make it more hands-on by writing or typing out the words, then cutting them into small squares and placing them in a plastic egg. (This worked particularly well within the farm theme since we had been talking about chickens producing eggs!)
It looks like today is set to be the hottest day of the year here, which is convenient timing since it’s also the first official day of Summer Vacation! I thought this might be the perfect time to do a round up of some exciting ideas for outdoor water play from around the web.
I’m taking a little break as we welcome our fourth son to our family. Enjoy this First Friday Q&A from last year (also available at YouTube here).
Content Copyrighted (2008-2025), Amanda Morgan, All Rights Reserved
