My Preschool Daze: Awesome October goes out with a BANG! One last gre...

My Preschool Daze: Awesome October goes out with a BANG! One last gre...: I am kind of sad to see the month go. I love, love fall....it's my favorite season of all. But I've also enjoyed celebrating fall an...

Awesome October goes out with a BANG! One last great give away.

I am kind of sad to see the month go. I love, love fall....it's my favorite season of all. But I've also enjoyed celebrating fall and the return to school with some wonderful giveaways from a great group of Etsy sellers.

As we move into our last contest let me first say congrats to Ms. Diane B. for winning the binder clips and lanyards from last week. :)  These prizes are so nice to have on hand for a child's teacher, especially with the holidays soon upon us.

I have liked each and every item that has been graciously donated, and this week's is no exception. Jen W. over at Dreaming Dandelions (https://www.etsy.com/shop/dreamingdandelions) has a way with vinyl. She makes some really cute personalized tumbler glasses, ornaments, and other items. I had to really fight the urge to enter my own contest on this one! Man, did I want one of these tumblers  for myself (selfish blog contest holder, I know). This would be just adorable as is, or filled with candy for Christmas gift-giving. Whether you teach or know someone who does, you'll think this is just too darling.

Yours comes wrapped in cello wrap and tied with a yellow ribbon. And entering is easy-peasy....leave me a comment on here and that's it...you're entered. The contest will run until Friday, Nov. 1.

 Check out more of Jen's products and be sure to visit her Etsy store and add her to your favorite shops.

(this one's my personal favorite just in case one of you would 

like to bestow it upon me this Christmas morn)

Until next time,

Awesome October continues with lanyard badges from ewindbiglerdesign

This week we are still awaiting a winner for the adorable binder clips from Kute Klipboards by Amy. So c'mon guys! Enter to win; you will love these clips I promise. You can see this link to find out more: http://iteach16kids.blogspot.com/2013/10/awesome-october-giveaway-binder-clips.html

Now on to this week's Awesome October giveaway: da da da dum dum...drum roll please...give it up for Erin at ewindbiglerdesigns.com .

 Erin makes these amazingly fab-u-lous lanyard badge clips, including the trendy Chevron style. Check out these photos she sent me.

She has other styles and badge reels, too.

What teacher wouldn't want one of these babies?

The colors are so cute. 

They'd make me smile even at 7 am on a rainy Monday

 morning faced with a class full of hyper-active preschoolers. 

Now THAT'S something. ;)

Entering to win is simple: leave a comment on here with your name and that's it!

In one week or so I'll draw out a winner and you will get to  pick an item from Erin yourself and she will ship it right to your door.

She is also offering a coupon code good until Nov. 3, 2013. If you go shopping at her Etsy store, make sure you use the coupon code 16KIDS and you'll get an additional 15% off!

http://facebook.com/ewindbiglerdesign

http://facebook.com/ewindbiglerdesign

Take care until next week and happy blogging.

Awesome October Giveaway: Binder Clips from KuteKlipboardsByAmy

 Congratulations to Diane B. on winning last week's contest for the teacher key chains from The Pink Pouch!

 Now for this week's prize: a set of practical and super-cute large paper clips from Amy Pierce over at KuteKlipboardsByAmy.etsy.com. I can so see myself using these when I someday have the joy of grading papers or sorting lessons by the day of the week. Not a lot of papers to be graded in pre-k. :)

 These clips are decked-out with a wacky, cross-eyed owl wearing a graduation hat in front of a manuscript handwriting background (and who doesn't love a wacky cross-eyed owl wearing a hat?) with the days of the week written on them. You get five clips in all, one for each weekday, because Heaven's-to-Betsy, teachers surely don't bring home work on the weekends, now do they? ;)   Maybe Amy is encouraging us to rest on weekends so that we don't become cross-eyed like that owl (it's cute on him, but you know, come on. The rest of us, not so much).

Here is a sample photo of one of Amy's clips. Of course, your set will have the owl design I described and no ribbon. 

 It can't get easier than this to enter,folks. Just leave a comment on here telling me how much you need these clips to make your life as an educator complete (or you can be no fun at all and just say you like them, short and sweet). Your choice. 

 If you can't post your comment here, as some have reported technical issues with doing, hop over to my Facebook page at CraftyMomLynn and post a comment there. One winner will be drawn on/around Sunday night, October 13.

Well folks, that's it 'til next week. 
Don't forget to visit Amy's shop link above and add her on FB at facebook.com/KuteKlipboardsByAmy.

Thanks for stopping by,

Awesome October Give-away: Teacher Keychains from The Pink Pouch

Congratulations to last week's blog reader and winner, Mandy B., for winning a set of two handmade education games from Etsy seller Time to Teach Kidz! 

 This week's give away is from Etsy store owner Ana Andres of The Pink Pouch. https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThePinkPouch

Ana has all kinds of pretty things for educators, from aprons to jewelry to chair pouches for your classroom chairs. 

She has graciously donated a set of two adorable educational-themed key chains, similar but not identical to the ones shown in this photo:

One key chain is yellow with a pencil on the end and reads "I love school". Keep it for yourself or use it as a prize in your classroom prize bucket. The other reads "Teacher" and looks similar to the one shown above (I secretly wanted this one for myself but the whole purpose of this contest was to give away the things I received). *sigh*

OK, this week it is REALLY easy. Just one way to enter and that is to leave a comment on my blog and tell me what grade you teach and what is your favorite part of being a teacher. That's it! Easy as pie...... apple pie. Hmmm, that sounds good right now. I think I have some vanilla ice cream in the freezer too.....be back in a bit.

 Meanwhile please go check out The Pink Pouch and tell Ana you heard about her on My Preschool Daze blog. ;)

Spectacular September give away: Time to Teach Kidz games!

Congratulations first of all to Julie and Jamie for winning last week's contest for a Hip Notions Tool Belt. :)

Now onto this week's prize:

 Up for grabs are two nice educational games, hand-made by Etsy seller Time to Teach Kidz. One is a CVC-words game where children find the missing letter in a word. The other game is Letter Bingo. Both come in bright colors, laminated, pre-cut and ready to play, each in it's own little plastic envelope/pouch. These are very nice and this seller has lots of choices for more games in her Etsy store at:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TimetoTeachKidz

To enter to win, do any of the following and you'll get one entry for each thing you do. Leave me a comment on here letting me know exactly which things you did so I can count up your entries. One winner will be chosen to receive both games on Sunday Sept. 29th. :) Good luck!

• Comment on this post with your contact email included (no spam I promise; I just need to reach the winner)...1 entry.
• Share this blog post on Facebook...1 entry
• follow me on Pinterest under http://www.pinterest.com/iteachpreschool
• Tweet this post....1 entry.
• Pin this post on Pinterest...1 entry
• Grab my blog button for your blog...1 entry
• Follow me on Google...1 entry
• Add Time to Teach Kidz Etsy store to your favorite Etsy stores (URL listed above)...1 entry.

Egg carton painting: fall trees

   Today my "littles" painted fall art using recycled egg cartons. So much fun and minimal mess. The egg cartons make perfect stampers.

  I started off by cutting some brown paper tree trunk shapes for the class to glue on their papers. Then I cut an egg carton into sections. I cut mine into fours because I wanted really full trees. I poured some washable paint into pie pans and let the kiddos dip the newly-made stampers into the paint and onto the paper. Easy peasy. I set out the fall paint colors and let them have at it. The egg carton's dividers naturally stick up and make a great little handle for gripping.

  These photos are of me testing the idea before presenting it to a class full of wiggly preschoolers. I will add their photos when I get them uploaded.

That's all for now folks!

Spectacular September Blog Give Away

   I am so excited! I have had around 8 GREAT ETSY SELLERS who have been kind enough to agree to send me items to give away on my blog! Each of these seller's shops have wonderful things for educators of all ages.

 The first two packages have rolled in this weekend. I couldn't wait to open them. It's like Christmas at my house when I get a package. ;) I squeal like a 5 year-old. 

 Inside my package I found not one, BUT TWO fantastic Hip Notions Tool Belts from Betty of www.BettyOttesen.com (or on Etsy.com under http://www.etsy.com/shop/BettyOttesenSewing) Thank you Betty; that was very generous of you. :)

  

 First of all, you need to pay Betty a visit at her store because she has tool belts for everyone. No matter the occupation, she likely has a cool tool belt that will help you at work, from gardening to sewing to teaching, to even belts for veterinarians. Even just around the house, this would be handy. I got to thinking about my late grandmother who had to rely on a walker to walk. One of these belts would have been good for her to wear with a phone inside, some tissues, a water bottle, medication, a snack for blood sugar fluctuation, a whistle in case she fell while outside, etc.   There are just so many uses for these nifty belts.

 The teacher tool belts are just the right size to carry essentials around with you: tissues, hand-sanitizer, whistle, pens/pencils, treats, even change for the lounge cola machine when you need a caffeine jolt. 

  Betty sent me two colors: kelly green and a brown belt with a measuring tape patterned-ribbon trim. Both are very sturdy and light-weight. The belts for give away will vary somewhat from the ones pictured. I know you will enjoy using your Hip Notions Tool Belt in the home or classroom or on a field trip. Please stop by and tell Betty "Thanks!" if you are one of the two lucky winners.

I want to win this tool belt...tell me how!
Ok, it's pretty simple: for each thing you do, you can get one entry.

• Comment on this post with your contact email included (no spam I promise; I just need to reach the winner)...1 entry.
• Share this blog post on Facebook...1 entry

• follow me on Pinterest under http://www.pinterest.com/iteachpreschool

• Tweet this post....1 entry.
• Pin this post on Pinterest...1 entry
• Grab my blog button for your blog...1 entry
• Follow me on Google...1 entry
• Add Betty's Etsy store to your favorite Etsy stores (URL listed above)...1 entry.

Just come back here and in the comments box, tell me which of the things you did and I will put your name in the hat for each entry (really, I am old-fashioned and this is my first contest, so literally, your name will be drawn out of a hat by my 8-year old daughter. There is a more efficient way to do this, I am sure).

The winner will be notified for shipping purposes and then posted on my blog. Deadline to enter is Sept. 21, 2013. The winner will be drawn on Sunday, Sept. 22.

Blessings, and have fun!
Lynn

Book Buddy Bag

   Starting tomorrow I will be back in my old classroom at work as a lead teacher. After spending the last year as an aide in another room, I admit I am both nervous and excited about this. Crowd control and classroom management are the hardest parts of being the lone ranger teacher in a group of 4's and 5's, but I love this age and how eager they are to learn. Everything is exciting to them it seems, and I really enjoy getting them kindergarten-ready.

   As I prepare for my new/old room,  I will be using ideas that I tried when I first got the position a few years ago. I plan to post those ideas that worked here for you. They are simple but helped me and I hope they will be a help to you as well.

   One of the easiest ideas is the Book Buddy Bag. The goal of this tool is to get families to read together and to get preschoolers to value literacy and get comfortable with books and print. I have used this in many classrooms over the years. It can be as simple as you want it to be. How much you put in the bag and what you load it with is up to you (and what you think your parents and students would enjoy of course). The bag can be themed if you like.

   The idea is to purchase or recycle a canvas tote bag. Now dig through your stash of books and find a few that you don't care to part with. Add these to the bag, along with a stuffed "buddy" to read with your student.

 That's the bare bones version of the Book Buddy Bag. And the kids are usually eager to take turns bringing the bag home with them. I send it home with a different child every weekend with instructions to return it on the child's next day back (make sure all your items are labeled---even then you may lose a few things here and there. I like to recycle older books and buy my bookworm and tote bag at the Dollar Tree so I am not breaking the bank if an item should fail to be returned).

    While this minimal approach works great and accomplishes my goal, I like to go more in-depth with it. I like to put 4-5 books of different interests and reading levels in the bag so the children have lots of choices from which to read. I also like to make themed bags with activities that tie in with the book. A good example of this is to pack in a book such as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and then add in a pouch of cookie mix and baggie of cookie cutters/sprinkles/pouch of icing. Or an ABC puzzle to go with Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Or a book bag on insects could feature insect manipulatives to explore. Craft sheets or simple craft kits are always fun in your book bag and usually match a variety of themes (make sure to include everything needed to complete the craft, even a small pair of scissors and a glue stick). The holidays lend themselves to all sorts of great themed bags. And don't forget multicultural bags and bags that tie in with your lesson plans.

  One of the most important parts of the bag is the folder. The folder will contain your instructions for borrowing and using the bag, and when to return it. Mine also contains pre-cut construction paper circles that have room for a student's name and the name of the book(s) he or she read. I hang these filled-in circles on the wall to make a class book worm during the year. And the folder contains a template for a book report form for the family to fill in if they want to.  I got mine FREE from the Time 4 Kindergarten store on the  Teachers Notebook site (http://www.teachersnotebook.com/product/Tiffani/kindergaten-book-report). Thanks to the seller who posted this! I keep the reports to go into each child's end-of-the-year portfolio.

  Here are my instructions for using the bag (this is laminated and inserted into the front pocket of the folder).
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3y7orz1hTTGUlh0TW5wWjZ4bkU/edit?usp=sharing

 I hope this inspires you to make your own class Book Buddy bag. I would love to see what you include in yours! All comments welcome. :)

Spectacular September give-away!

 To celebrate back-to-school and all the great teachers out there who work hard every day to change lives, I have rounded up a host of fantastic Etsy sellers who are generously donating some fabulous items from their shops to give away here on my blog.

 I am so excited! I will soon be receiving the products and setting up the give away so please check back each week.

Free 5-week trial of Reading Eggs

As I was sitting in the doctor's office this morning reading Parenting magazine, I saw an ad for a new web site called Reading Eggs. It was colorful, very graphic-intense, and immediately caught my eye. You see, I have a child who is encountering some trouble reading this year, and the appeal of flashy game sites lures her in, whereas I want her to learn something from the games she's playing. So I am always willing to test a web site and see if she likes it and if she grows from it.

   Well, Reading Eggs tossed me the bait and reeled me right in! They are offering a free 5- week (yes, you read it right...5-WEEK) trial.  You can try this amazing offer at http://readingeggs.com/try . Let me also quote a bit from their website so you can get an idea of what they claim to provide:

A Breakthrough In Learning To Read!

Reading Eggs Will Teach Your Child To Read In Just Weeks! Register For Your FREE 5 Week Trial Now.

Reading Eggs provides a comprehensive range of online reading lessons, activities and ebooks that teach kids aged 3-13 the core literacy skills needed for reading success.

Featuring colorful animations, catchy music, sing-a-longs and heaps of exciting rewards, Reading Eggs makes learning to read fun and motivational for children. 

Take advantage of our FREE 5 week trial and see how your child’s reading improves with Reading Eggs!

Proven Reading Results

• Over 90% of parents have noticed an improvementin their child’s reading ability since using Reading Eggs
• Based on solid scientific research
• Used by over 2 million children (and counting!)
• Developed by expert educators with 20+ years’ experience
• Money-back guarantee

Why Children Love Reading Eggs

• Over 512 interactive games, motivating rewards and songs
• Makes reading fun – kids want to learn
• One–on–one lessons match your child’s ability
• Detailed assessment reports show and recognize progress
• Suitable for children aged 3 – 13
•                                       
•  -from  www.readingeggs.com, Blake Elearning, 2013

I plan to give this site a try. If any of you test it in your home or classroom, please come back here to blog about your experiences.

Blessings,

Sensory sniffers

It's that time of year for our daycare again....dum dum dum...assessment time (oh, yay, I just LOVE assessment time!!). I just can't wait to be watched like a hawk for five hours. To see the assessors coming in with their clipboards and not knowing which of our rooms will be picked is just down-right nerve-wracking. But it's a necessary part of daycare life and last year, our staff did really, really well. It was my first official assessment, so I doubt that the high score came from my end, but I did gain a lot of knowledge from the experience.

 So now Mrs. A. and I are are about  a week away from doom, er, I mean, the wonderful opportunity to demonstrate our knowledge of young children to the suits (and I'm sure they are very nice suits, in case they are reading this post), and we are tweaking our centers and making some new stuff. This is the part of the year that I find enjoyable...a new class, new chances, new personalities. A chance to start fresh.

Here is a super-simple idea we are using in our science center, and it just might help you out on your own daycare/preschool assessment.:

Sensory Sniffers

What you need are some small food containers, something sharp for poking holes, Super glue or hot glue, cotton balls, and some sort of liquid scents (I used leftover soap scents from my crafting days because they come in a wide variety of smells and last).

  

 I started with a pack of Dollar Tree food containers. You can't beat the price. And they are just the right size for little hands. My coworker, J., uses recycled water bottles (I can see empty spice bottles being perfect for this if the smell of the original contents was removed).

I used a compass to poke small holes in the lids of the containers. Then I simply dropped 3-5 drops of the liquid scent onto a cotton ball that I placed into the food container. Lastly I glued on the lid using hot glue.

Now the kids can sniff and guess what scent is inside each little box. The lids have stayed glued-on for months and not one box has been destroyed, even with almost daily manipulation. The kiddos really enjoy picking out their favorite scents and having friends sniff them, too.

I plan to print out some clip-art of some of the scents we used, such as bubble gum or bananas, to glue onto the boxes but just haven't gotten around to it yet. 

Have fun this week!

Pinterest in the classroom: success and failure

My coworkers and I are all about the Pinterest swing and using the many ideas we love in the classroom. So we found this totally cute idea for Mother's Day where you decoupage a photo to a ceramic tile to make a pretty plaque or coaster. It was fool-proof, we thought. So Miss Amanda lined all the little munchkins up in assembly line fashion, handed them each a little chalkboard to hold with "Mom" written on it (awwww!), and started snapping away.

  A day or so later we had the pictures in hand. Our staff loved the photos. They were each adorable and we just knew our moms would love these hand-made tiles bearing their children's adorable smiles. We began the process of cutting the photos out, using Mod Podge to adhere them and seal them onto the tiles, and then topping that with an extra coat of spray-on Mod Podge sealer. Voila! We were so excited and so proud to present these.

What we didn't give any thought to was how the children's shirts looked in the photos. We had lots of children with slogans on their shirts. So we get this little gem done and although the child in the photo is precious ( and hopefully his Mom has a sense of humor), our Pinterest idea had failed miserably on this one gift:

(a close-up of the slogan with our Mom sign-sorry for the poor pic quality)

Yeah, so now he's grandpa's MOM. Oh boy, that is bad. Funny, but not necessarily something to hang on the family room wall. Well, we live and we learn. Next time we do this you can be sure we will stand back and assess the photo shoot before we actually make the shot. lol

Blessings!

Handwriting Helps

 Our preschoolers, ages 3 and 4, are learning to write and recognize their names. We usually print each child's name using http://www.handwritingworksheets.com/, a nifty worksheet generator that allows you to input any word/name and print off a practice sheet in the writing style of your choice. We love these but it does get costly to print them for sixteen children every day. Last year I tried to laminate them and use Expo markers to be able to re-use them, but depending on the brand of laminating pouches used, I found that wipe-off markers didn't always wipe off easily or completely. A handful of kids were so rough on their sheets that the lamination came apart after only a couple of months. And if by any chance a child wrote on his or her sheet with a Sharpie marker by accident, the sheets were ruined. Also by reusing the sheets we found we had nothing to send home to track progress. We had a small problem.

 Pinterest to the rescue! Somewhere out of the thousands of pins I've read and re-pinned, one of them had the simple but effective idea to write the child's name in plain pen or ink and allow the child to trace over the lines with a marker or highlighter. I had an assortment of highlighters in a drawer and got to thinking (dangerous, I know),  "What if the teachers wrote the name in one color of highlighter, say yellow, and allowed the child to trace over the letters in blue or pink, to make a new color?" My daughter and I spent an evening playing around with the idea and it worked great. We pick colors that we know blend to form a new color and encourage the kids to make the new color appear when tracing. It's like magic!

My daughter got in on the act with a blue and pink highlighter.

Written in blue

Adding pink....

=purple! ta da

   As long as the teacher has good handwriting and demonstrates proper letter formation to the children first, then staying on the lines is a fairly simple way to make inexpensive handwriting practice pages. You could even add a starting dot point to each letter if you find your children need that. You can let them watch you as you slowly write the original word for more practice. 

  Getting our children to write might be a little more fun when color-changing letters are involved. You could use this method to teach simple shapes, animals, and line art...any image that is easy to draw and trace over would work just fine.

Dollar Tree round-up

 Here are some random items I found today at the Dollar Tree to use in our classroom:

A bubble blower, large bottle of bubbles, and pool noodles (I cut them in half to make safe ball bats). This stuff will go on our playground.

A cookie sheet becomes a magnetic word wall just by adding a bright ribbon hanger. The little basket under it is to hold our magnetic ABC's and came in a set of 2, so I kept the other one to use at home. This can be hung on even a small wall to make an additional center. The basket can be hung beside or under it with an adhesive wall hook. Place laminated sight word flash cards on a metal ring to place in the basket so that kiddos can use their letters to make the words on the cards.

This cute safari hat would be great on the playground or in our dramatic play area. I think I'll pick up a couple more. 

The Dollar Tree is an excellent place to find cheap books. I got some of these for our science center and the others are for our book center. I prefer the hard back board books for our class of three year-olds as they hold up better to the daily wear and tear.

Not shown but also found today was a pack of ten mini food storage containers, about the size of  baby food jars. The plan is to poke holes in the top of each lid, then place cotton balls saturated with either soaping scents, perfume, or imitation food flavorings inside. Glue lids on (we're trying hot glue) to make Sensory Sniffers. When I get these made I'll post photos. One could recycle old spice containers, salt shakers, or even glitter tubes to make these. I just happened to be right in the aisle and grabbed these containers instead. I had glitter tubes but the lids would be a choking hazard for my class. For my Sensory sniffers I am using leftover soap-making scents from my crafting stash, with scents like Blackberry Jam and Butterfly Meadows. 

I would love to hear about your dollar store finds/ideas.

Spring has (almost) sprung and neat Easter finds

Our classroom board update, thanks to Miss A.

TN is warming up and the today the sun is shining brightly. I can see the river sparkling from my living room and I know it's just too pretty to be inside. But before my family hits the river walking trail, I'll update a bit to show you what Dollar Tree and Walmart have in their Easter sections for use in the classroom.

First off, I work in a daycare classroom with another teacher. So this makes it easier to pull a 4 children aside each morning during our center rotations to work in small groups on needed skills for school-readiness.     I am adding things to a stash at home to rotate out, such as fine motor activities, and all sorts of math and literacy activities. I am always looking for new items to add, and Pinterest inspires me by showing what simple tools others are using in their classrooms. Thanks to Pinterest and the creative teachers there I am really learning to think outside the box and see other uses for materials one might not commonly associate with a classroom.

Here are some examples:

Add alphabet letters to eggs; cover with clear nail polish to help keep letters on eggs longer. Match the egg halves together to match upper and lower case letters.

Have children match the magnetic letters to the proper egg. Opening, inserting, and closing the egg helps with fine motor skills.

Patterns, matching, and sorting can all be accomplished using the neat patterns on plastic eggs. Sort by flowers, animal prints, camo patterns, or colors for example.

Our children really enjoy matching the egg patterns together and then taking the eggs apart again.

These stamps were cheap and a fun addition to our art center.

These plastic egg trays were less than $1.00 each at Walmart. They are great for sorting.

Add some holiday pencil erasers and you have a great sorting activity.

Erasers are also great for patterns. 

Another fun activity uses these huge dice from Dollar Tree. Children take turns rolling a die, counting the dots on it, and putting that no. of plastic eggs into their trays. When a child has his or her tray filled they win. 

I welcome your small group ideas for preschoolers. Would love to hear from you all.

Blessings!