What Teachers Do With Their Own Kids During Summer Break

Picture from Pixabay

 

I feel like there is so much parenting guilt that floats around social media all the time, but especially during holidays and breaks. Some of the posts encourage parents to create magical experiences and take elaborate vacations, make cute Pinterest-worthy meals, like sandwiches and fruit in fun animal shapes, and enroll your children in every available activity, from swimming lessons to day camps. Then there are the posts promoting diligence concerning academics, urging parents to beware of the "summer slide" by making sure their children are performing educational activities every day. It can be a lot, especially for parents who work during the summer.

Have you ever wondered what teachers do with their own kids during summer break? These professionals who are trained in child development and education and want kids to avoid learning loss over the summer, what do they do with their kids on a daily basis? I'm here to let you in on the secret: We let them be kids.

That's right. We let them play, sleep in, build forts, and entertain themselves. Yes, we do some extra curricular things, like camps and trips to the splash pad, but we do not structure every minute of their days. During the school year, teachers and students follow such tight schedules that we can all use a more relaxed approach during summer break. We have movie days, we have days where we stay in our pajamas, days where we don't do anything productive. That's not to say everything is a free-for-all; my kids have their daily responsibilities and limits on screen time, we still observe regular meal times and bed times, but that's the extent of the structure.

Regarding the dreaded "summer slide", here is what I do with my kids: Every day, we have reading time. The kids select books and read for 20-30 minutes--longer if they choose, which they sometimes do, but that's the minimum. Easy, right? But that's truly all it takes. Daily reading is consistently found to be the most important activity to prevent losing academic ground. Beyond that, I encourage my kids to play. I don't entertain them, but help them learn to occupy themselves, to play outside and explore, to engage in dramatic play, art, games, etc. I recognize the importance of those activities and how all of these types of play are educational. Play is one of the highest forms of learning, and is, in the words of Jean Piaget, "the work of childhood".

Early Childhood Literacy Activities at Home | Distance Learning Series #5

Today, I am continuing my series on distance learning. This post, like my last, is directed at supporting parents. (In case you missed it, here is my post on supporting early childhood math concepts at home.)

To many parents, the idea of teaching their child is intimidating, and the idea of teaching them to read is even more so. Reading is such a complex skill that parents often don't know where to begin, beyond teaching them their ABCs. The goal of this post is to help you realize that there are many simple ways you can support literacy development.

Here are six easy activities you can do at home:

1. Rhyming

    Kids love rhyming! One of my favorite rhyming activities with preschool children is called "Willoghby Wallaby". Here's one version by Raffi. Substitute the names of your child, your pets, other family members, friends--kids think it is hilarious! My Pre-K students would often fall to the floor laughing, the idea of an elephant sitting on people was so amusing to them, as was hearing silly rhyming versions of their names.

    You can also say two words and ask your child whether they rhyme or not. Once they have that mastered, say a word and ask them say another word that rhymes. Nonsense words are okay! This is all about developing phonological awareness.

2. Beginning Sounds

    Identifying the beginning sound of words is a vital prereading skill. You can ask your child questions like, "What is the beginning sound of the word car? Can you think of another word that starts with the /k/ sound?"

    I like to use the visual of putting my hand on my opposite shoulder, and then sliding it down my arm as I say a word. Then I return my hand to my shoulder and ask, "What was the beginning sound?" Have your child do this motion with you as you practice listening for sounds in words.

Note: This activity is not asking them to identify the letter. If you use the word "cat", they should respond with the sound /k/. Do not try to teach all of the sound positions at once! When they have mastered identifying the beginning sound, then you can move on to the ending sound, and then to the medial sound.

3. Syllables

    Identifying syllables is another important prereading skill. Clap out syllables in names, in favorite characters from books and movies, names of animals...anything that sparks an interest! Gather up some toys and stuffed animals and sort them by the number of syllables in the name.

4. Fine Motor Activities

    If you're wondering why fine motor activities are included in a list of literacy activities, hear me out.

    Most kids at the preschool age are not developmentally ready to engage in writing letters with a pencil. In early childhood, children should be developing fine motor skills that will lead to the ability to write with a pencil a little later. Tearing construction paper into dime-sized pieces and gluing them to create a mosaic, playing with play dough and rolling it into small pieces, lacing beads on a shoelace, building with small blocks, and so many other activities are wonderful for strengthening the muscles in the fingers and helping them develop a strong pencil grip.

5. Prewriting Activities

    Although many early childhood children may not be developmentally ready to write letters with a pencil, that doesn't mean they shouldn't practice using a pencil or crayon! Let them scribble and color to their hearts' content. However, I must caution here, avoid the temptation of using the chunky crayons advertised for little ones. All of the various occupational therapists I have worked with have encouraged use of regular crayons--even breaking them in smaller pieces to avoid the fisted grasp so commonly seen. Before expecting your child to be able to trace or copy letters, have her first start with drawing vertical lines, horizontal lines, and circles. Then move on to crossing lines, as in a plus sign or an X, and tracing curved or zigzag lines.

    Forming letters can be practiced in many ways without use of a writing utensil. Children can "air write" by pretending to write the letters in the sky with their hands, write letters in a salt tray (a thin layer of salt poured out on a plate works well), write in a layer of shaving cream spread on a table, make letters with finger paint or play dough, etc.

6. Reading

    I saved the most important one for last. Reading to and with your child is the best thing you can do to encourage and develop literacy skills at home. There are so many benefits to reading to your child, so, when possible, take the time to snuggle up with a good book and read. You want your child to learn to read for pleasure, so make it fun! Do the voices for the characters, make predictions about what might happen next, ask questions about how characters might be feeling or what your child would do in a given situation, ask questions after reading about events in the story or what happened first, but above all, READ.

There are, of course, many other ways you can encourage literacy skills. I hope this has given you a good place to start and helped you have confidence in teaching your child.

Keep teaching (and parenting!) with heart and passion!

  

North Pole Dramatic Play Center

*Note, this post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking on my links, I make a small commission at no charge to you!**

So, I thought my Pumpkin Patch Dramatic Play Center was my absolute favorite ever...until I created this. A North Pole Dramatic Play Center!

After all, what is more magical to a child than Santa's Workshop at the North Pole?

I wanted it to have all the details. Signs for different areas, such as the workshop, mail room, and gift wrapping area...

...as well as the reindeer stall and tree farm. Bits of realia added in make it all come alive!

I found the darling plush reindeer here, and fun little trees and gift bags at the Dollar Tree! I even reused the hay bale from my Pumpkin Patch Dramatic Play Center (notice it's still in the cellophane--ha! There was no way I was going to give my 3- and 4-year-olds free rein with a messy bale of hay!)

Of course, the North Pole has to have an area to bake Santa's favorite cookies...

...and you can't bake cookies without Santa's favorite cookie recipe!

On top of all this great print awareness, there are also opportunities for writing included! There are gift tags and gift order forms, and even a letter to Santa template. Download the letter to Santa template for FREE!

To see everything that is included in this center, check it out here in my TPT store!

I hope your students love it, and that you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Compound Word Valentine Activity

This post is a throwback to one of the first blog posts I wrote almost 6 years ago (yikes!). In it I described how to make a fun compound word activity with broken hearts.

Making activities is always fun, but let's be honest, most of us teachers just don't have time to make all the cute Pinterest activities out there. That's why I finally created this game and listed it in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

Compound Word Matching Activity

As both a SPED and Reg-Ed teacher, I have such a variety of ability levels in my classroom, so I always love to include easy options for differentiation in my activities. This game is no exception. There are a few options for this game. It is versatile enough that it can be an independent word work or literacy station for learners who are ready for it, a small group or guided activity for those who need a little scaffolding, or even a large group activity to get everyone in on the action.

For lower level learners, give them both the broken pieces and the whole "answer" hearts. They can work on their print awareness by matching the printed words.
For higher level learners, omit the whole "answer" hearts and give them only the broken hearts, so they have to use more higher order thinking skills, instead of just matching.

For whole group play, distribute all of the broken heart pieces and have students find their partner. This could be done without the whole hearts, or by having the whole hearts on display at the front of the room; partners have to go stand by their whole heart when they have found each other.

Grab this game here, and leave me a comment to let me know how you use it in your classroom!

Five Fall Activities for Early Childhood

It's mid-September, so that means it's time to break out the fall activities!

I have five activities for you today that are perfect for Early Childhood. The first 3 are sensory activities. We all know that kids love exploring the world for themselves, instead of just hearing about it. My sensory booklet series will give students a chance to record their observations in an age-appropriate way, using pictures to describe their findings. Guide students through sensory experiences with fall items! Simply cut and staple the pages together to create booklets for students to record what they see, smell, hear, feel, and taste (when appropriate) as they explore apples, pumpkins, and fall leaves.

 Apple Sensory Activity

Pumpkin Sensory Activity

 Fall Leaves Sensory Activity

The next activity is the popular Pumpkin Investigation Activity. Unlike most common versions, mine has been tweaked to make it appropriate for Early Childhood--using cubes to measure, and without counting hundreds of seeds.  

This last activity is just for fun, although it does provide great fine motor practice! These darling Autumn Hats require zero prep--not even a sentence strip! Just print and have students color and cut. All you have to do is staple or tape them to fit on students' heads. It makes a wonderful culminating activity after some fall sensory experiences; students can use various colors to match what they saw in their observations.

What are some tried and true fall activities your students love?

Field Trip Wristbands

As the school year is drawing to a close, it's time for lots of field trips! Keeping track of kids on a field trip can be stressful, especially if they are very young, or have special needs. These printable wristbands provide an extra safety precaution as you prepare to take your kiddos out to explore the world!

They are super quick to use. Just type the school or teacher contact info into the boxes, print, and go! Print on bright paper for greater visibility. Or, to really make organization easy, print on a different color for each chaperone's group.

Get your printable wristbands here in my TPT store!
I would love to hear about the awesome field trips you are taking your students on. Leave a comment below to tell me about your favorite field trip, either as a student or a teacher!

Dinosaur Excavation Sensory Experience

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which means I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. This is at no cost to you, and helps support my blog!
 
I don't know that I've mentioned it before, but my husband is also a Pre-K teacher--at least, for a few more weeks. He's almost finished with his degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, but for the time being, he's teaching littles, like me. We joke that between both of us teaching Pre-K, and having two toddlers of our own, our whole life revolves around early childhood!
But that gives us a great opportunity to bounce ideas off of each other, and to support each other in our work.
Recently, my husband was doing an animal unit, and he had the most awesome display outside his classroom.

Is that cool, or what? Seriously, I wish I could take credit for it. He is awesome at this kind of stuff.
This got my wheels turning, and made me think..."Oooh, the kids would love it if I buried some plastic bones in the sensory table and gave them tools to excavate." So, after doing an Amazon search and finding some plastic bones (that weren't meant for dogs), that's just what I did! This was the wrong time of year for it, though. When Halloween stuff comes out, I bet it will be much easier to find toy bones!

I buried the bones in dirt, and gave them paintbrushes and kid-safe magnifying glasses. It was the cutest thing ever, and the kids had a ball!

The potting soil we used may have made my classroom smell like a freshly planted garden, but that was a small price to pay. This quickly became one of their favorite learning labs.

They learned new words, like "archaeologist". Their little imaginations were working, too, as they told me about the types of dinosaurs they were finding. 

Even most of my "neater" kids weren't shy about just digging their hands into the dirt.

I love labs like this that combine sensory play and imaginary play. The longer I teach early childhood, the more I'm realizing the importance of sensory processing in young children. What are some of your favorite sensory activities for young learners?

Egg Matching and Pattern Activities

I'm excited to introduce this little activity to my students when we get back from spring break! For whatever reason, they love playing with Easter eggs!

Get yours here in my TPT store!

I saw the original idea on Facebook, but expanded it to allow for differentiation.
Level one is a set of cards with simple color matching.

Up, Up, and Away! 3D Student Kite Artwork Display

Kites always seem to make their way into early childhood curriculum at this time of year. After all, what embodies spring better than the classic high-flying toy?

My students had to decorate a paper kite as their monthly family involvement project. We send something home once a month for them to decorate with their families, and then display the finished project at school. I love seeing the creativity that flows through their projects!
I mentioned this to my husband, who, as it happens, is also a Pre-K teacher. (Just for a few more months, though, until he finishes his degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. Whoohoo!) He also just had his students decorate kites...but, as usual, he one-upped me in the creativity of his display, and I had to share it here.

Hats for All Occasions!

A couple weeks ago I posted about the Author Study Hat I had listed in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. My students love making these kinds of hats for all different occasions. These make the perfect last-minute activity for a class party or as a culmination to a unit. Students color and cut them out themselves, which makes it more meaningful for them (and easier for you).

I'm excited because I just finished a big project--a huge bundle of 23 of these hats! This price is quite a bargain--it's like getting 6 of the hats completely free!

What I really love about these hats is that you don't need to use a sentence strip, as the band is included. Plus, the band of each hat is decorated, which sets my hats apart from other similar sentence strip hats.

There are hats in there for just about everything!

Included are:
Autumn (pumpkins and leaves)
Autumn (leaves)
Halloween
Thanksgiving (turkey)
Thanksgiving (cornucopia)
Christmas (tree with gifts)
Christmas (gingerbread girl)
Christmas (gingerbread boy)
Winter (snowflake)
Snowman
Groundhog Day
Valentine’s Day
100th Day
Patriotic (Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, etc.)
Author Study (customizable for Dr. Seuss Day and more)
St. Patricks Day
Spring
Earth Day / Recycling
Easter
Graduation
Summer
Off to a BRIGHT Future (last day of school)
Birthday Crown

I hope your students enjoy these as much as mine do!

Introducing Comic Book Theme Classroom Management Materials!

I am excited to be introducing a new theme for my classroom management and organizational products: Comic Book Theme! While I think this could be fun for any teacher, I especially thought of the men out there. Guys, there is just not enough stuff out there for you, especially when it comes to classroom themes.

Currently I have teacher supply labels, printable name plates, and a classroom birthday calendar listed, with more products in the works. If there's something specific you'd like to see, leave me a comment or send me an e-mail and let me know!
 Make sure to follow Apples to Applique on Teachers Pay Teachers so you don't miss any new products!

S'more Fun with Number Recognition

I know as we're right in the thick of summer, schoolwork is often the last thing on our minds! We're thinking about barbecues, and pool parties, and vacations, and summer treats like s'mores.

I wanted to share this fun activity with you to keep your kiddos' minds sharp during the summer break, or to prepare for your school kiddos as they return next month--eek, that's coming up fast!
I thought this would be such a cute idea, and once again, the talented Nicole at JolieDesigns created the beautiful clip art to help make my thoughts a reality.

This activity makes a fun and simple math station, and works on number recognition in 4 forms: numeral, written word, tally marks, and ten-frames. Kids find the four pieces that go together (two graham cracker pieces, one chocolate, and one marshmallow) to complete their s'mores. This could also be used as a file folder game, or in small groups as a Go Fish style game. I would love to hear how you use it in your classroom!

Buy S'mores Number Match Activity here!

Have fun building your s'mores, and don't forget to follow me on Teachers Pay Teachers!

Lions and Tigers (No Bears), Oh My!

Recently we finished up a unit on wild animals; always a favorite with young children! We did some shared writing, listing wild animals on one side of the SmartBoard and pets on the other. The kids were very creative coming up with all kinds of different animals. One of my kiddos was excited to add "tapir" to the list of wild animals, saying it is his favorite animal. He knows all about it, where it lives, what it eats, etc. Keep in mind I teach Pre-K, so this is astounding!

Another student was sad that we wouldn't add "dinosaur" to the list of pets. He insists he has a pet dinosaur. We also hesitated over adding that to wild animals, since dinosaurs aren't around anymore. After some confusion and discussion, we decided that we were really talking about animals we could likely see in a zoo, although that answer didn't really satisfy anyone.

What did satisfy all of us was this darling craft! The kiddos got to choose between a lion and a tiger, which added some great oral language about colors and stripes and what on earth a "mane" is. One kid called it the lion's beard, and I liked that description. Kids have such a way of putting things.

Western Party: Food Labels {Free Printables}

 

It's amazing how simple little details can really "make" a party...but man, some of those little details get expensive! There are hundreds of darling printables out there for sale, but all those costs add up! You all know I'm a crazy DIYer, so for my daughter's western-themed first birthday, I designed these printable labels for the food we were serving from the chuck wagon (aka food table).

Two-Minute Tuesday #11: DIY Bandana Skirt

Welcome to Two-Minute Tuesday, where I share quick tips, tidbits, and ideas.

Last Tuesday, as part of my on-going series on throwing a cheap and easy DIY Western Party, I shared how to make these cute and easy invitations for 50 cents a piece.

Today, I want to share with you all how I made the bandana skirt my daughter wore for her first birthday party.

This skirt was so quick and easy, I was finished in under an hour--hence the inclusion in Two-Minute Tuesday. :) Honestly, a good portion of that hour was spent rethreading a serger I wasn't super familiar with, so I bet you could knock this out much faster than that!

Western Party: Pennant Banner {Free Printables}

As part of my ongoing series on throwing a cheap, DIY, Western-themed party, I want to share with you one of the free printables promised in the first post! This one is for a pennant banner.

Two-Minute Tuesday #10: DIY Western Party Invitations

Welcome to Two-Minute Tuesday, where I share quick tips, tidbits, and ideas.

For today and the next couple of Tuesdays, I'm going to be sharing with you some of the shorter posts in my series on throwing a cheap and easy DIY Western Party. Today's project: invitations. (Okay, okay, this is longer than the usual Two-Minute Tuesday post, and these will take longer than a couple minutes to put together, but they are pretty quick).

The first thing in throwing a party is sending out invitations, right? They set the tone for the party and help guests know the theme and what to expect.

Yeehaw! A Western Party!

I can hardly believe it, but my little girl just turned ONE! Where does the time go? We just had her big birthday bash last Saturday, and it was a ton of fun!

 

We went with a Western theme, and I just have to tell you why. This kid, since she was a newborn, has been in love with Willie Nelson. I kid you not, whenever we had a night where we couldn't get her to sleep, or whenever she would get super worked up about something, we would play Willie's Redheaded Stranger album and she would immediately stop crying, calm down, and go to sleep. Every.single.time. for the past year.

Two-Minute Tuesday #9: Cookie Dough S'mores

Welcome to Two-Minute Tuesday, where I share quick tips, tidbits, and ideas!

So it has officially been summer now for a few days! I love summer! Playing outside, going to the pool, having cookouts--it's all wonderful.