Art Table

I had to share one more piece of furniture from www.childrensorganizers.com This is our art/listening center combo. The kids love it and it is a wonderful space saver. Art table on one side and listening center on the flip side. http://www.childrensorganizers.com/9525jc.html

Furniture

I thought I would share some of the furniture I wound up getting for my classroom. These have all come in so handy. I found them at www.childrensorganizers.com. WOW! Great customer service and lots of fun things to choose from. If you need any organizers for your classroom, this is the place to go! They have great prices too with additional bulk discounts.

This school year is going GREAT! I am keeping super busy, thus the reason for lack of posting.

Wish List and Presentation

WooHoo! What a great day! It was approved for me to get most of the things for my preschool wish list and my presentation went really well.

Here are the links to two of the big items I was approved to get: Kitchen Set and Book Display , I also was approved for several wooden blocks and wooden kitchen foods and things for the block center and Kitchen. These items are on Amazon.com (the Melissa and Doug stuff if you are interested).

Here is the content of my presentation tonight. I'm not sure I said anything that was written down but I did tell hubby to read it if I passed out or something like that.

First of all I want to thank you for the privilege of allowing me to help you train your child to love and serve God. We as a staff realize the importance of getting your child off to a great start in his academic training. I praise God for this school and the opportunity He has given us to partner with you, the parents.

Here is a sample of our schedule for the *preschool classes next fall . 3 year old preschool will meet Tues. & Thurs. from 8:15-10:15, 4 year old preschool will meet Mon., Wed, and Fri. during the same time. Kindergarten will meet 5 days a week from 10:45-2:45

You will notice a large part of the preschool day utilizes Learning Centers. Preschool children learn best through play and learning centers take advantage of this opportunity. * Here we see the layout of our preschool room. Each day we will begin with educational table activities and then move into group instruction with an emphasis on Bible Lessons, Bible verses, song time, and godly character training.

The children will then move into the learning center areas. As your child's teacher, I will be overseeing their play time and encouraging them in many ways. By engaging in conversation with your child I will be able to strengthen his oral language skills. With our art, dramatic play, and building centers your child's creativity will be allowed to blossom. As your child learns to interact with other children, lifelong social skills will be formed and molded to honor God. Preschool children begin to realize others do things in different ways. It is important to make sure God is pleased with these ways while appreciating individuality. Your child will learn responsibility by taking care of the items he uses during learning center time. We will stress being wise stewards with school property as well as the importance of putting things in their proper places when finished. An increasing attention span is important as your child continues his education. Through learning centers, he will be able to spend a longer period of time completing an activity in a fun way. Your pre-reader will learn to understand symbols not only by locating items but he will also begin to realize how letters and numbers work together, leading him closer to becoming an avid reader. The excitement your child feels when what he has accomplished is appreciated is a great boost to his self confidence. What a better way to be encouraged than by his teacher and peers.

Each of these items mentioned work together to form one of the most important academic achievements, reading. By having a solid foundation in the preschool years, your child will soon be able to successfully read the Bible, godly literature, and learn even more about this world that God has created.

In the 4 year old preschool, along with the learning centers, we will be adding in beginning phonics, enabling the children to read their very first readers. We will also be introducing Spanish vocabulary.

Then we move on to the kindergarten class time. We will once again be using the A-Beka Curriculum for many of the subjects such as science, history, health, handwriting and reading. I am excited to be adding in the Spell to Write and Read curriculum for phonics. We will also be using a combination of Saxon and A-Beka Math to make sure we cover all the necessary subject matter. Spanish vocabulary will continue to be taught in the kindergarten class room providing a solid foundation for first grade Spanish.

Thank you once again for allowing me the privilege of working along side of you in preparing your child for God's service.

Wish List

HeeHee! I turned in my Wish List today for what I would like for my classroom before the beginning of the school year. At first my list was rather conservative, then the lady who is putting the plan together said, "No, I want your REAL list". Well, she emailed me back and thanked me so I guess she wasn't passed out for too long. She put my list together with the list from the 3-6th teacher and said she would be getting back to us.

We have some designated monies that need to be spent and in use by the end of May or we lose it. So whatever we wind up getting we get to use right away. FUN!!!

I'll keep you posted!

Our big meeting is tomorrow night. I pray all goes well. I can stand in front of a classroom of kids all day but put me in front of a group of adults and my brain goes woozy!

Preschool Classroom Layout

Well, here is my 29x15 Classroom plan. Time will tell if it will actually work or not. Between money and time we will just have to see what happens. I was able to find some building plans for the kitchen furniture on-line. Hopefully between hubby and 26 y.o woodworking son, they will be able to get me headed in the right direction.

Two more days until the meeting when we present the new plans and programs to the parents. I just pray all goes well and that there is a spirit of excitement.

Classroom Layout & Furniture

Not a whole lot of progress today. I was able to work on my layout some more and tweak a few centers around so things will flow better. I will post the layout soon. I did price shop for the furniture I would like. Hmmmm, do you think $8,000 is too much for a VERY SMALL budget? HaHa! I won't even suggest it! I did sheepishly ask hubby if he would help me make some of the pieces. He told me he would be happy to show me how to use his table saw. Not quite the answer I was looking for at this time. Guess I will check out IKEA instead of Lakeshore Learning.

I'll keep you posted!

It's Official!

I've been waiting for the official announcement to be made and it has finally happened. I will begin teaching preschool once again. Oh my, it has been a long time but the more research I do the more it all comes back to me.

Why a blog? I want to keep track of all of my discoveries and keep my excitement alive. This first post will include my proposed schedule for teaching 2 different preschool classes along with continuing to teach kindergarten.

The saddest part is that I will be losing my big, beautiful classroom and my new classroom will be much smaller. Long and skinny is a good definition. I need to figure out how to set up 6-8 learning centers as well as have tables and chairs for the kindergarten students. I will be posting my progress as I figure out just how to undertake this new adventure.

3 Year Old- Tuesday and Thursday 8:15-10:15

4 Year Old- Monday, Wednesday and Friday 8:15-10:15

8:15-8:30 Table games and puzzles

8:30-9:00 Group Circle (Pledges, Calendar, Bible)

9:00-9:05 Restroom

9:05-9:45 Learning Centers

9:45-10:00 Restroom and Snack

10:00-10:10 Story Time (4 y.o. Phonics and Spanish)

10:10-10:15 Clean up and dismissal

Kindergarten Monday-Friday 10:45-2:45

10:45-11:00 Greeting and table games

11:00-11:30 Group Circle (Pledges, Calendar, Bible)

11:30-12:00 Phonics

12:00-12:15 Lunch

12:15-12:30 Recess

12:30-12:45 Story Time

12:45-1:15 Learning Centers and Reading

1:15-1:30 Handwriting

1:30-1:50 Numbers

1:50-2:05 Social Studies, Science, Health

2:05-2:40 Art, Music, Gym, Spanish

2:40-2:45 Clean up and Dismissal

I'm sure this plan will change several times in the next few months, but it is a starting point.