Lovely Preschool Teachers Podcast

Is it Time to Start Small Group?   Episode Summary   As the school year starts, our focus is on getting to know our new little students. We are teaching them procedures, rules and practicing routines.  We are playing with students to get to know them and helping children learn how to use the materials in classroom centers. At the beginning of the year, these things are the most impo...

Parent Education Boards   Episode Summary Preschoolers learn amazing things through play, but this isn't something that is easy for parents to see. Help educate the parents in your early childhood program with Parent Education Bulletin Boards. I wanted our families to better understand all the amazing growth and learning goodness that really happens inside a preschool classroom --- that's whe...

Tips for Teaching Classroom Procedures   Episode Summary Teaching young children the procedures and routines of the classroom is important for a safe and (less) chaotic environment.  The benefits of implementing  visual procedure cards are huge. To get the most out of visual procedure cards, first...  * Learn why they are important , then...  * How to implement them You ca...

How to Teach Classroom Procedures   Episode Summary  Our young learners aren't yet readers. Therefore, posters of written rules, schedules and procedures are null and void.  To young children, these posters are just visual noise. But, pictures are a different story.  Young children can 'read' pictures. So when it comes to helping young children learn about routines in the class...

Why you should be Using Visual Procedure Cards Episode Summary   Have you ever stopped to think about the amount of things that we have to teach our new little students at the beginning of each year? Coming to the carpet, sitting at the carpet, lining up, walking in the hall, using the restroom, washing hands, how to clean up, how to treat toys, how to pack up to go home.... and the list goes...

Visual Schedules for Preschool   Episode Summary Schedules are an important way of life. They keep us in our daily routines and get us to the places we need to be. In a preschool classroom, a daily schedule is the backbone to our day.   At the beginning of the school year, I create our classroom schedule (using the 5 step method) and have it hanging up in the room. But, of course the you...

Center Signs that Work Harder   Episode Summary When it comes to play-based learning, sometimes it's hard to see what children are actually learning. Think about it, in a center where children are sitting and doing worksheets or workbooks, we can see the learning outcome. But, in a play-based classroom (the best way for children to learn) this learning isn't as easy to see.  It takes a t...

Preschool Centers: Free Choice or Rotation?   Episode Summary One of the most common questions that I get in regards to preschool centers is "Do you do free-choice centers or a rotation?".  While I have my own opinions on the topic, I think it's important to look at the pros and cons to everything you do in your classroom, as to make an educated decision. So, let's take some time to look...

3 Must-Do's for the Beginning of the Year   Episode Summary The beginning of the school year is such an exciting and exhausting time!  Isn't it funny how we forget how little and new our students are when they start?! It's like we have to reset our brains back to beginning after sending on last year's students. There is so much to teach our new little friends before we can have a functio...

A Guide to Preschool Centers   Episode Summary When you are running a play-based preschool classroom, centers are the core of the program.  Carefully planned centers create an environment for learning through play because play is not a break from hard work, play is a child's work! But sometimes, as the teacher, wrapping your head around all the moving parts of play-based centers can be a...

How to Set Up a Preschool Classroom   Episode Summary Setting up your preschool classroom doesn’t sound that daunting… at first. But, year after year I find myself determined to find the perfect (as if it exists) flow. After changing my mind about a billion times, I usually land on a setup that seems to work for me, but (more importantly) is conducive to little learners that learn through pla...

A Detailed Look at the Preschool 2 & 3 Year Old Lesson Plans   Episode Summary   Got three year olds?  How about two year olds? Feel the need to help your littlest students learn important social skills, academic skills and build attention to task - all while loving the open-ended environment of a play-based school setting?  After my experience with sweet little 3 year olds...

How to Make a Classroom Schedule for Preschool   Episode Summary Creating a class schedule can be one of the most important plans you create for your preschool classroom. Setting up your school day to run smoothly takes some thought and consideration. Because the truth is... your daily schedule can make or break the classroom behaviors you see. Children need predictable routines and creating...

Finding the Time to Implement Literacy Experiences in the Preschool Classroom   Episode Summary Bringing literacy experiences such as interactive read alouds, shared reading or shared writing and interactive writing doesn't have to add more direct instruction time to your day. In fact, adding more direct instruction time would not be the goal when working with little learners! So the question...

What is Shared and Interactive Writing in Preschool?   Episode Summary What is the difference between shared writing and interactive writing? How can use these types of writings to support our young learners? Listen in to find out why these types of writing are important to teaching literary concepts and when and how to use them in your classroom! Topics Discussed: What Shared and Interactive...

How to Teach Literacy without LOTW   Episode Summary Raise your hand if you were (or are) a Letter of the Week Teacher ✋ I’m raising my hand because I once taught preschoolers using LOTW. LOTW seems so logical. You teach one letter a week and by the end of the year - boom all the letters are covered. You know you covered all the letters - good to go right? Well…. It turns out that what we kn...

Episode Summary Join me, host Ashley Rives as I discuss THE 3 THINGS that have helped me have successful small group time again and again.  These top tips may seem small- but they are mighty! Topics Discussed: Have A Plan Be Flexible Get Organized Resources Mentioned: Online Conference Tickets - Educate & Rejuvenate Small Group Lesson Plans              ...

Organizing Your Preschool Small Group   Episode Summary Whether you love or loathe organization, the act of being organized in our classrooms make us more effective teachers.  When we don't have to spend time and frustration looking for materials or lesson plans- we feel better. And when we feel better- we teach better. This is no different when doing small groups in your preschool class...

Preschool Small Group Activity Ideas   Episode Summary You know the benefits of having small group time {check} You've got your groups all grouped up {check} Now it's time to figure out what to do when you call those groups to meet together! This episode is packed full of ideas for activities you can use in small group! Topics Discussed: What skills to focus on during small group What types o...

How to Effectively Group Preschoolers for Small Group   Episode Summary One of the biggest obstacles when planning for preschool small group is figuring out your groups. Once you start planning, questions start festering up, like... -What is my criteria for breaking students into groups? -How many students should go in each group? -How long does a student stay in a group? -How should I refer...

5 Reasons to Have Preschool Small Group   Episode Summary Do you have small group time built into your preschool day? If no - why not? This episode will give you 5 really good reasons that you should consider adding it in.  If yes - how is it going? do you love or loathe small group time?  Or... are you required to do small group, but don't really know the benefits? Listen on my fri...

Using Meaningful Experiences to Teach Letters   Episode Summary Letter identification is one of the first things parents, administrators and some teachers think of when they think of preschool learning. Truth is there is a TON more that goes into supporting children in the area of literacy before they are readers (we are setting the foundation after all...).  But, that also doesn't mean...

How to Make Preschool Clean Up Time Easier   Episode Summary It's clean up time!!! Tell me...did your stress level just go up?!  Preschool clean up time is no fun at all.  Trying to get lots of littles to pick up the mess they made seems to be getting harder and harder, year after year.  It seems like they will do anything to get out of cleaning... like always having to go to t...

Ideas for Preschool Classroom Jobs   Episode Summary Kids love feeling special and I love helping them feel special! That is why in our preschool classroom each and every child has a daily job.  For us, having preschool classroom jobs is not just about children helping out in class. Jobs help cultivate a feeling of classroom community.  Plus, when each student gets a job everyday he...

Streamline Your Preschool Assessments Process   Episode Summary I remember the time at the beginning of the school year, years ago when I was struggling to map out how my preschool assessments pieces would fit together. I knew I needed some sort of sheet to record data and I also knew I wanted to have student portfolios.  But how they connected and the pieces that were missing were bring...