I spent 2 days last week at an Early-Childhood Christian Educators conference with my coworkers from the preschool where I'm a teacher's assistant. To be honest, I wasn't terribly exicted to attend beforehand because of all the work I imagined it would take to get the kids & house ready, not to mention all the chaos that always awaits me when I return from a trip. Add to that the fact that my background is in secondary education, I couldn't imagine any of the seminars being terribly exciting or interesting to me either....board books? early literacy? felt board storytelling? 5 years ago when I was teaching (has it been that long???) I was working on resume writing, prepping for the new SAT and helping my students write final drafts for their Senior projects.Leave it to the Lord, of course, to turn me on my head. I came back very refreshed with lots of good ideas that I'm planning to incorporate into my 'teaching time' with the kids here at home. From the board book seminar, I got the idea to read a book to them during breakfast and lunch. This has been a WONDERFUL addition to meal time as it allows me to engage them in some of the books they don't choose on their own and really keeps the table nitpicking to a minimum. They're too interested in the book to care about who put yogurt in whose milk now!
I got a fun idea for teaching rhyming and word families using plastic Easter eggs. The kids love to make silly rhyming lists (pig - hig - tig - fig) but they're also starting to want to sound-out words. This idea (see photo below) will help them take that next step toward early reading.
On the left, various consonants are written around the egg. On the right, the word family 'ake' is written. The kids can make different rhyming words by matching up the consonants with the word family....cake - bake - make - take - lake.... and so on. I found that the markers (even Sharpies) wore off, so I ended up using sticker letters on the final version instead. The kids love playing with them!
And the felt lady? Well, she's got alot of cool stuff. Check out her website at:
http://www.feltlady.com/ I think the kids would enjoy making up their own stories with the characters and that's just one more thing I'd rather them do than watch TV!
The conference was also vastly different than all other teacher gatherings I've attended because it was a gathering of Christian educators and that was the most refreshing aspect. We opened up each session with prayer and there was a praise and worship leader, too. Check out his music here: http://www.myspace.com/jonbauerworship I bought 2 CDs, including the kids' praise one and am enjoying them thoroughly. The keynote speakers were very special ladies who obviously serve God by serving the children in their care. They were helpful in reminding me that while most days at school and home seem to focus on wiping up moutains of crumbs and keeping fingers out of noses, the real job I'm doing is an assignment from the Lord and the calling to love and instruct the most precious of His lambs is a humbling honor and priveledge.
http://www.feltlady.com/ I think the kids would enjoy making up their own stories with the characters and that's just one more thing I'd rather them do than watch TV!
The conference was also vastly different than all other teacher gatherings I've attended because it was a gathering of Christian educators and that was the most refreshing aspect. We opened up each session with prayer and there was a praise and worship leader, too. Check out his music here: http://www.myspace.com/jonbauerworship I bought 2 CDs, including the kids' praise one and am enjoying them thoroughly. The keynote speakers were very special ladies who obviously serve God by serving the children in their care. They were helpful in reminding me that while most days at school and home seem to focus on wiping up moutains of crumbs and keeping fingers out of noses, the real job I'm doing is an assignment from the Lord and the calling to love and instruct the most precious of His lambs is a humbling honor and priveledge.
What I originally felt was going to be a drain on my time and energy was actually part of God's plan to remind me why I love being a mom and teacher so very much. Aren't we blessed to have Him directing our paths?
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your way acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy path."
Proverbs 3: 5-6
Proverbs 3: 5-6
Have a great week ahead!
2 comments:
Hey friend -
While I generally like to leave a conference with a TON of new ideas, I've realized that even if I only leave with 1 or 2 that I put to good use, consistently, the conference has been well worth it.
My first year of teaching I heard about 'magic trash' and that one idea TRANSFORMED my classroom and I never had a problem keeping things cleaned up! Here's the concept: at any time during the day, I'd say, "I've spotted a piece of magic trash!" The children would quickly look around and gather up scrapes or napkins - whatever was on the floor. Whoever tossed the magic trash into the garbage can was rewarded with a sticker, time in a special center, etc. Because the reward was varied, there was a lot of excitement to be the 'winner.'
Bonus: the janitor LOVED me! :)
This is fabulous! I am always looking for a fun way to get toys cleaned up. I sadly admit to using the "I'm going to call the trash truck to come get this stuff!" method more than I'd like. It works, though the kids probably equate the trash collectors with the Grinch now :-(
I think 'magic toy' might just be a great way to get the job done!
Thanks...for everything :-)
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