I have finally come up for a breath as "back to school" is upon us! Full day pre-k is fast paced, fun  and you always have to be one step ahead of your munchkins!  It is so refreshing to see children learning through play! Through LOTS of planning and modeling, the students are learning in developmentally appropriate ways.  I have found my passion once again.

                                   Children love learn to play with a variety of materials.  Some are more popular than others!  It is our job as educators to encourage play by MODELING activities! Foam shapes sat at the math table during centers this week.  I sat down next to a child who just seemed to be sitting there.  We talked about what we could make and started moving the shapes around.  We had a great dialogue including shape names and before long, the table was crowded and everyone wanted to play!
Puzzles were at one of the rotations during small group activities this week.  It is a "quiet" center,,, My students work on puzzles with up to 10 pieces with individual pieces.  I started to walk over to the child in the bottom pictures because he was "playing" with the puzzle pieces and making plane noises (GASP!) . REALLY?!? This is pre-k!! I quickly caught myself and sat with him for a minute to chat about the space shuttle he was launching! Perhaps he will travel to space someday...
Games are such a great learning opportunity.  In a time where the only games kids know about are video games, I believe this is the PERFECT activity during small group.  It give students a time to practice skills, learn how to take turns, follow directions and yes,  sometimes there is a winner and a loser.  Lots of life lessons and it is my job to help students with these social skills.  Thanks to my friend Anna for introducing me to the game of CRASH!  I just added the CRASH cards to a set of Lakeshore shapes for instant engagement.  CRASH cards can be added to any cards to add a bit of fun to any skill:).
The sensory bin is such a great place to combine science, math, fine motor practice, language and free exploration!  We added pine cones, acorns (which not one little friend knew what they were prior to this)  and little pumpkins along with pumpkin ice cube trays for counting!  Don't worry about the two little "worms" that crawled out of the acorns... I saved them and relocated them outside!
The block center encourages cooperation, spacial awareness, fine motor, language, naming shapes, and sorting them at clean up!  The conversations students have evolve and the challenge is to add additional materials such as animals, cars and wooden people to foster imaginative play and keep things fresh and inviting.  

 I am always looking for new ways to expand our program and resources.   If you would like to read more about how Donors Choose works, you can click HERE.  If you would like to see how I "theme" my projects, you can check out my current project HERE.
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I sat on the fence long enough!  I have read about and heard so many teachers share all the wonderful resources that they received through Donors Choose and still I waited!

I made the leap this year and was honored and humbled by the support that poured in from family, friends, staff, parents at our school (both in my class and those I have never met!) and total strangers! It touched my heart and the heart of my 18 students.  Now it is my turn to give a little back!



We had FOUR projects funded over a three month span and now each child in my class has their own stability ball! My kids {LOVE} them and we are so excited to have them.  I could go on and on about stability balls, but that will be another post:)



I have to say that these particular ball chairs and the Donors Choose projects were inspired by a post at Mrs. Stanford's Class.  You can click on her button below to take her to her post about ball chairs.


So now it is time to give a little back!  I have signed up at Donors Choose to donated $10.00 a month so each month they send me a reminder with account credits.  So here is YOUR chance to get $10.00 towards YOUR PROJECT!  What??  No project??  This is your time to sign up or pick a favorite project you would like to support!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to leave a comment with YOUR favorite Donors Choose project! I can't wait to see them all. GOOD LUCK!