From Mary’s Teaching Toolbox My favorite book about pumpkins is Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden by George Levenson, photographs by Shmuel Thaler. (available on Amazon) The beautiful photographs and engaging text follows the life cycle of pumpkin from seed to pumpkin and back to seeds. Possible Themes Fall Halloween Pumpkins Harvest Gardens Seeds…
Mary’s Teaching Toolbox This is the first post of what I hope to be a weekly feature. Each week I will share different activities that can be used in early education. One type of post will a compilation of activities to go with a book. Some books will be new to you and others, like this one, may be familiar. Either…
Here are four early education gems I found on the internet this week. Topics include: information to help parents at IEP meetings, criteria for choosing books to read to children, making a pumpkin stand for dramatic play, and a thought provoking poster. Parent Education Three Steps for Navigating the IEP Process for Parents from NAEYC for Families: If you have a child…
Here’s my list of favorite blogs and articles from the last week. I would love to read your comments about any that you read. Language Development The Importance of Pointing from Playing with Words 365: Sometimes we get so wrapped up in how many words a toddler knows, we forget how important other skills such as…
Here’s my list of favorite blogs and articles from the last week. I would love to read your comments about any that you read. Curriculum and Activities Look Again from Teaching Young Children: An informative 2.5 minute video about the versatility of loose parts used by 4 and 5 year olds. If you haven’t started using…
When I read a book to a group of children I usually identify one or two words which we discuss in order to make sure all the children understand what the word means. On a good day, I have identified the words before I begin reading, but all too often I just choose a couple…
The Benefits of Play Most early childhood educators understand the value of play. Because children learn best through play, we provide ample opportunities both indoors and outdoors. Just to review, here are some of the benefits of play. While engaging in play, children: learn about the world around them. develop gross and fine motor skills. practice…
The early years are a period of rapid language development. By the time they enter kindergarten, most children will have a vocabulary of 1000-2000 words. There have been many research studies to determine the factors that affect language acquisition. The number of words children hear and the richness of the vocabulary both seem to play a part. However…
Tarrant Teacher Training 