Cozy, educational and homey atmosphere! Main preschool room.

Much of the art we do will be on my kitchen table, so that the children have lots of room to spread out; this, however, is a cozy spot where a couple of the children can relax and work on a project if they like.

Blocks to Build Math Skills:  count the blocks, sort the blocks by color and size, design and construction, measuring, opposites, shapes

Reptiles and plants in our terrarium

I love books, and I love reading books to children, and I love to watch their faces as I read to them.  I try to discover all of the children's interests and then search out books that relate to their interests!  The children love to play dress-up, so I'm always scouting out various dress-up items for them.

Five Rules to Reach Our Goals:  Helping Hands!  Looking Eyes!  Quiet Voices!  Listening Ears!  Walking Feet!

Our ABC Food Rug; It's funny, but I can't figure out what the food is that X represents!  Guess I'll have to wait until my preschoolers come and figure it out!  

I like the fact that the children have a pretty view to look at out the preschool room window.  Our Weather Bear is waiting to get dressed by the children during Circle Time, when we learn all about the weather! 

So that the children know our basic routine for each day, I created this poster.

Some of my teaching materials--actually this is just a smidgen of what I use (I actually looked up the word smidgen to be sure it was a word--haha.  It is!)

I covered my sofa with material that I can easily take off and put back on for washing purposes.  I will also cover the pillows for the same purpose.



I kind of like that word smidgen, so I'm going to use it again.  Here is a smidgen of the art supplies I have for my students.  I love art for all of it's creative aspects, ability to act as a stress reliever for kids and adults, imagination, and fine motor skills!

Bible and talking about God and all of His creation will be a large part of my curriculum.  I feel that a majority of the problems in our schools today is due to lack of morals, values, standards and a sense of hopelessness.  With God, all things are possible, and I want my students to know they are loved by their Creator.

This poster caught my eye right away when I saw it.  I always desire to have high expectations of all my students, and I so enjoy seeing their faces light up when they conquer some activity with which they have been struggling.  When children are young, they are more easily convinced that if they keep trying, they will get better. Practice never makes perfect, but it sure makes better!

Bullying is a big problem in our schools and in our world in general today.  I encourage my children to "use kind words" to solve their differences.  We role play various problems that might come up when playing together; then we think of ways in which the problem can be solved.  We also read lots of books on how to get along! Abe Lincoln said, "People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."  I couldn't agree more.  Happiness is a choice we make each day, and children are never too young to start learning this.



Our Goodbye Rhyming Poem.  My students love to say this to someone who has been visiting and are about to leave.  It's fun to say!  I stand to the side of the poster and move my finger along the words as the children recite them.  This also helps them to realize that we read left to write and top to bottom.

I never thought about the many activities that can be used as math manipulatives for children before I studied early childhood education.  Puzzles are wonderful to teach math, and kids love the challenge.  Lacing activities are great for teaching math skills, also.  The children are actively engaged in a hands-on activity; meanwhile, you can ask them to make patterns with colored beads, and even to place enough beads along a shoelace to equal the length of a pencil; voila--they are measuring!

Numbers at eye level for the children.

Our picnic area for snacks and lunches on nice days!

A place to sit and rest!

Climbing/Running - Gross motor development

The back of the house.  I want each of my children to plant a container garden in the spring.  I love gardening, so I hope to inspire a love of plants and nature in my students.  Who needs iPads when there is so much to see and do outdoors!

This table will serve many roles:  snack/lunch table, art table, experiment spot!