One Hot Preschool Mama! : Style Secrets For ECE Fashionistas and Daycare Divas

Kohl's

Aerosoles

Kohl's 

Kohl's 

Kohl's 

Charming Charlie 

Gone are the days of frumpy jumpers, ridiculous rompers and dancing bear appliqued sweaters of the 80's preschool princesses. In comes sparkling earrings, streamlined shirts, stylish capris and cute and comfy flats.

Preschool princesses of the past would be fuming up to the tiaras in envy at their fashionable 2000's counterparts. Professionalism, functionality and comfort are the most important factors in the search for a quality daycare wardrobe.

I tend to be a rather picky preschool teacher who likes to showcase her style with bold colors and flamboyant earrings. I am not afraid to wear chandelier earrings while doing a exuberant movement activity or don a rhinestone tiara while performing my duties as a storytime princess.

In order to become a ECE Fashionista or Daycare Diva remember the following essentials:

• Buy quality clothing made from durable materials. 
• Say yes to Spandex. It's the fabric that just keeps giving from early morning to night. 
• Wash and wear should be your mantra. Sticky fingers always have a way of finding their way onto your most fashionable blouse. 
• Make a statement with bold and trendy jewelry. Charming Charlie offers some of the most stunning jewelry at bargain basement prices. 
• Kohl's, Marshalls and T.J. Maxx should definitely be on your radar. These stores offer trendy and classic pieces whose price tags will still allow you to pay your rent. 
• Aerosoles are a Godsend. Those suckers give your feet plenty of support and look like a million bucks! 

Check above for some of my most recent style sensations from Kohls, Aerosoles and Charming Charlie! 

It's Circletime: Circletime Set-up Pictures

Turn your circletime into a fun, educational and exciting learning experience. Bright colors and creative design will capture and entice your pre-k pumpkins and turn them into pre-k superstars! Check out my circletime below:

My Circletime 

Conscious Discipline Tree 

Weather Charts and Puzzle Piece Shapes

Paint Can Colors 

Caterpillar 1-10 Number Chart and Spanish Fish Number Chart Border 

Preschool Party Animals: School Year Kick-off Party

On Thursday, all of the staff of my preschool were invited to a school year kick-off party at the director's house. Let's just say everyone picked up their sensible teacher heels (or lack there of) and enjoyed a feast of barbecue dishes that would make backyard BBQ titans shake in their boots.

The spread was catered by a local restaurant named Skuddlebutts. I believe they should definitely rename their establishment Skuddleyums because the food rocked everyones' taste buds. The delicious smorgasbord included cheeseburgers and hot dogs with all the fixins', baked beans, salad and much, much more!

An award ceremony was included in the BBQ where seasoned teachers received awards for their commitment and years spent at the preschool. One teacher eyes welled up with tears as a letter from a fellow co-worker and friend spoke of her love of teaching over the years.

After the festivities, I can say I was one pooped preschool party animal!

Everybody in a Circle!: Circletime Basics

As the school year begins, teachers are busily running around their classrooms preparing for another year of new smiling faces. Nametags need to be made, bulletin boards beautified, and circletime areas rearranged.

Circletime is my favorite part of the school day. I feel this is the single most important time spent with our students. I can assess skills, broaden their knowledge of the basics such as shapes, colors, and the ABC's, get jazzy with movement activities and introduce important social skills such as listening and taking turns.

Below is a list of circletime items that help keep our little charges on track to preschool success:
(Lengthen your circletime as the school year progresses. In the beginning, start with five minutes and then increase to 15minutes (as your students' attention span increases))

An Opening song to get children excited about circle. Look up transition songs or circletime songs on the Internet for ideas. My favorites site for these songs are preschooleducation.com.

Flag 

Calendar: Try a pocket chart calendar where you can create calendar pieces for every month of the year: hats and scarves for January or flip flops and suns for June and so on. This is also a wonderful way to teach patterning: one day use a flip-flop and the next a sun. Remember to put all the information together at the end of the calendar lesson for example: Today is Saturday, August 24th 2013.

To spice up your calendar spiel, you can add a season wheel which reflects the importance of temperature in the changing of the seasons. This helps you effortlessly flow into the weather chart. Seasons wheel from mommynature.com.

Weather Chart: I have an excellent weather wheel from mommynature.com that really strikes up excitement over this blustery topic.

Storytime Song: I sing "These Are My Glasses" by Laurie Berkner. This fingerplay and song get the kids revved up on reading.

Read a story based on your unit topic. 

Activity based on your topic which could include a fingerplay, flannelboard, movement activity and so on. When in doubt, get your wiggles out with movement (especially if your lesson plan is not working out as swimmingly as planned). 

End with Attendance. I use a song and a chart with cards featuring the children's photos. The children place their photo in the chart as I sing their names. My song focuses on name recognition of the children in my circle.

My attendance song is found below:

Where is _____________________? (child's name)
Where is _____________________? (child's name)
Point to her/him. Point to her/him. (children point to the student)
There is _______________ (child's name)
There is _______________ (child's name)
Point to her/him. Point to her/him.*

by Jennifer H.

* At this point the student places their photo card in the attendance pocket chart.

Best of luck on an A+++++ school year!


In a future post (drumroll please) I will show you a picture of my circletime area. Please try to contain your preschool teacher excitement (smile).

Ahoy Matey!: Check out this Swashbuckling Pirate Flannelboard!

I wrapped up our Summer Camp with one swashbuckling and handsome pirate with a fancy for fashionable eye patches.

Our sight-challenged, yet debonair flannelboard pirate struck quite a pose as he randomly chose an array of colorful patches to suit his mood. I sang a sea-worthy song to the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb"as I placed the flannelboard pieces on our dapper old boy.

The template for this hysterical and charming flannelboard can be found at makinglearningfun.com.

This flannelboard was an absolute hit with the kids who easily recognized the colors and enjoyed participating in the jolly song whose tune I altered from "Mary wore a Red Dress".

One Tree-mendous Treat: A Visit to the Morton Arboretum

Ladybug 

Spider 

Dragonfly 

Grasshopper 

Bee

Ant 

Old-Fashioned Water Pump

Windmill 

On the weekends, I like to recharge my batteries after a week of daycare dilemmas. This Sunday, I visited the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois. It was quite a delightful and educational day of buggy encounters, beautiful blooms, and warm and windy breezes.

One of the most fantastic sculptures I have ever seen were the gigantic insects painstakingly carved from numerous woods that were scattered across the stunningly beautiful grounds.

Flowers of every variety dotted the landscape and I explored a cute-as-a-button wonderland in the children's garden. This garden included three shopping carts loaded with a delicious bounty of gorgeous flowers and a fully functional water pump!

An adorable gift shop held a wide variety of woodsy and botanical inspired jewelry, books and clothing that were perfect for everyone. Their children's nook was filled with glorious picture books, t-shirts and much more.

As a preschool teacher this is a must-see site for young children interested in nature and fun. Remember, a walk through an arboretum today may result in a future botanist, horticulturist or arborist of tomorrow.