Take a Break and Pamper Yourself

We are not just teachers, we are…

·         Moms

·         Wives

·         Daughters

·         Sisters

·         Friends

·         Co-Workers

So take a break and do a little something for you.

Pumpkin Spice with Honey Mask

It is pure heaven on your face.  If you enjoy pumpkin and the aroma it has then you will enjoy this pumpkin mask for your face and body.  This mask will helps to rejuvenate and return firmness to the skin, while hydrating and restoring elasticity for a younger looking you.  You will be glad you took the time to pamper your self!

It also makes a great gift for all your friends.

Pumpkin Facial Mask

1 cup cooked or canned pumpkin

2 Tablespoons of honey
4 Tablespoons powder milk (makes a richer texture)

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Face and Body Scrub

Add raw sugar or brown sugar for a sweet scrub.

Keep Refrigerated 

Pumpkin is high in Vitamin A which helps skin heal, Vitamin C which is an anti-oxidant and zinc.  The pumpkin builds and heals the tissue to return its firmness

Honey is an antiseptic, which means it inhibits the growth of bacteria and honey will help hydrate and restore the elasticity.

Milk will help with moisturizing and it is also a alpha hydroxyl acid.

Fall Fun in Preschool

Fall Bulletin Board

Finger painted leaves and arm and hand print branches made up our fall tree.

Fall Color Pocket Chart using Children’s Names

Fall Pocket Chart Download

________ saw _______ leaves falling.

(Child’s name)               (Color leaf)

Tami saw red leaves falling.

Cody saw yellow leaves falling.

Leaf Prints 

Children painted leaves with different colors of paint.  Once they finished painting their leaf they pressed and rub a sheet of white paper on top of the painted leaf.  Children can embellish their prints by sprinkle glitter onto the wet paint.   

Leaf Math Cards 

Leaf Bucket Math Card Download

Set out a supply of craft foam leaf for counters.  You can purchase them from a dollar store.  Give each child a bucket math mat, one dice and one dry erasable marker. 

Have children roll the dice and identify the number on the dice.  Next have the children count out that number of leaves and place them in one of the buckets.  Once the children have filled their first bucket with the right amount of leaves have them roll their dice again and do the same thing with the second bucket.  Once both of the buckets are full have them add the two together and write the amount in the square.

To make the math mat simply click on the link above and make copies of the math mats onto card stock.  Cut each sheet in half and then laminate for durability

For more Fall Fun Lesson Plan Ideas go to Teachers Pay Teachers

Fall Theme Lesson Plan

This 63 page lesson is packed full of ideas that will turn your classroom into fall wonderland.  This lesson is full of hands on approach at learning through play that are sure to spark the interest of all children in your classroom and give them the joy of life long learning.  This lesson will cover large group activities, small group activities, science and math activities, language and literacy actives along with creative art ideas and movement ideas.

You will find in this lesson:

Letter Bingo Game

Word Wall Cards

Math Grid Mats

Math Dice Game Mats

Flannel Board Story

Pocket Chart Story

Leaf Pattern Cards

Writing Center Cards

Color Sorting Mats

Letter sound Cards

Leaf Memory Game

Paper Plate Web with Spider

Children first painted a white paper plate black and gave it a little glitz by sprinkling glitter onto the wet paint.  

Once the plates were dry children cut slits around the edge of the paper plate.  Next they wrap yarn around the paper plate and trough each slit.  When finished they attached the end of the yard to the back of the plate with tape.

Children then went to the spider making station where they created a spider out of apple carton circles.  Children colored the top of the apple carton black, purple, or blue and punched four holes around the edge with a hole punch.  The last step was for them to thread the pipe cleaner through the holes and twist for the legs and also glue on eyes.

Math Fun with Spiders

Friday Night Lights

We are not just teachers, we are…

·         Moms

·         Wives

·         Daughters

·         Sisters

·         Friends

·         Co-Workers

So take a break and do a little something for you.

After a long week of work it was time for my break for the week.  I spent my break under the Friday night lights of our homecoming football game where my youngest son was up for homecoming king along with his girlfriend.

We spent a fun filled evening with family (children home from college) and friends.  

Now take the time for you it can be anything, just do something you deserve it!

Monster of a Time

Monster Mash Theme Lesson Plan

We have been have a monster of a time learning in preschool.

Monster Emotions

Finger painting or roller painting butcher paper and then collaging our monster emotions.  Sometimes we feel happy, sad, mad or even silly.

White Board Math  

We add monster together that were going to bed and subtracted monster that were jumping on the bed.

Say It, Count It, Write It Monster Math Game 

Download Monster Say It, Count It, Write It Math Mats

Give each child a Monster mat and a number dice or dotted dice, and wiggle eyes.  Have the children roll a number dice. Have them identify the number on the dice (say it). Once they have identified the number have them count out the wiggle eyes (count it). After the children have counted out the right amount of eyes have them write the number on the math mat with a dry eraser marker (write it).

Monster Colors Pocket Chart 

Monster Draw 

For more monster fun go to Teachers Pay Teachers

Monster Math Theme Lesson Plan $5.75

This 62 page lesson is packed full of ideas that will turn your classroom into a Monster Mash Ball.  This lesson is full of hands on approach at learning through play that are sure to spark the interest of all children in your classroom and give them the joy of life long learning.  This lesson will cover large group activities, small group activities, science and math activities, language and literacy activities along with creative art ideas.

You will find in this lesson:

Color Bingo Game

Word Wall Cards

Math Grid Mats

Math Dice Game Mats

Flannel Board Story

2 Pocket Chart Story

Writing Center Cards

Letter sound Cards

Monster Memory Game

Vote for Me

If you would like to vote for Learning and Teaching with Preschoolers for the Top 25 Teacher Mom Blogs please click on the link above.

You can vote once a day until Nov. 8^th.

I appreciate all the love and support I get from all of you!

Thanks,

Planting Trees with Children and Families

Our outside play areas were in need of shade, so what better way to fix it then to have a family night tree planting party with BBQ.

The Sacramento Tree Foundation came to our school with 32 donated trees and staff to help our families plant a tree with their child. 

We live in an urban forest.

The Sacramento Tree Foundation's mission is to grow healthy, livable communities in the Sacramento region by building the best regional urban forest in the nation. We are leading the effort to plant 5 million trees in our region. 

You can also find us in the Appeal Democrat

Tree planting at Yuba City's Richland Housing tree, yuba, city - Appeal-Democrat

Fairy Dust Teaching: A Dash of Power E-Course

Dash of Power E-Course

You can never have too many tricks in your bag of tricks when it comes to classroom management.  That is why I am taking an E-Course on Classroom Management called a Dash of Power.

Fairy Dust Teaching: A Dash of Power E-Course: Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times ...

Remember a good teacher is made by the teacher next door.

So come on over and check out the class description.  I hope to see some of you over there at a Dash of Power E-Course.

Check out the link below

Word Walls In Preschool

When creating a print-rich environment word walls are a fun and effective learning tool in any preschool classroom.  Being exposed to a print-rich environment is a critical component to early literacy.  When children see words on a wall that have meaning to them, it helps them become excited about words and helps them to understand that word are important.

Word wall will help children learn

*        The names of letters (letter recognition)

*        ABC Order

*         Letter Sound

When creating a word wall remember that it should be at eye level of the children.  You can put your word wall in a Group Area where information can be added on a regular basis.  Remember that words from a theme or lesson plan work the best.

Our word wall goes along the back side of the children’s cubbies.  It is not in front of my group area but instead it runs down the whole side of my circle area.  The small blue strip of carpet is a walk way area for the children to move in and out of the circle area. 

The first words under our word wall are the words that go to the song Alphardy by Dr. Jean.  As we sing this song we use a pointer and point to each letter say the word and then the letter sound.  We are now in October and I have to say that I have a class size of 32 children and more than have of the children can say the letter and letter sound in random order.  I have never had this success so early in the year.  I have to say I love this song.  My staff teases me and says that it is my theme song.  I guess there is nothing wrong with that.

Next we have placed all the children’s name under the letter that their name starts with.  When I talk about a letter they know who start with that letter they will shout out A is for Arianna and Ashlie.

Sing To Learn CD by Dr. Jean

  Song: Alphardy

As we use our word wall we will be build vocabulary by using the word wall.  We will find opportunities to use new words through out the day that are related to the theme or story of the day.  We will have the children say the word again and use it in a sentence.  We then will encourage the children to use the new word through out the day.  The children will then help put the new word under the corresponding letter that it starts with (leaves under the letter L)

You have to laugh when…

You have to laugh when you hear your co-worker calling your name and “Yelling I need your help in here.”  You walk down the hall to find her with her butt up in the air reaching between her desk and the wall.  In a soft whisper you here her say “I’m stuck.”  Once I stopped laughing which took me a few minutes.  She yells, “I’m being serious I’m stuck to a mouse trap, it’s stuck to my dog tag (name badg on a lanyard) which is stuck to the desk.”  She thought I was laughing before once she said that I laughed so hard I could not breath.  Once I started laughing she started laughing and we had a hard time composing our selves to get her unstuck.  We are talking those industrial sticky mouse traps have some serious stick to them.  It took everything I had to get her unstuck off that desk, and then what?  It stuck to me, both hands.  Nothing like a good laugh to get the day going.

Take the time to laugh with one another because, what soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.

Roll On Painting

Don’t toss those used up roll on deodorant bottles; reuse them as roll on paint bottles.

Here is what I did.  I ran the empty bottles through the dish washer twice to make sure that there was no deodorant left in the bottles.

I did not fill the bottle up with paint, I placed shallow bowls with a little bit of paint in them.  The children simple rolled the bottle through the paint dish and then onto their paper.