Resources

Resources

I have been asked many times about a lot of the resources that I use for games. I am very big on using hands on games for learning activities. 

* The mailbox: I find a lot of my board games, transition cards, learning mats, and theme kits from http://www.theeducationcenter.com. I order the books and they have the game pretty much ready. You just have to cut them out.

Mailbox: 

        
Websites that I have found that are useful for computer games are: www.starfall.com; www.abcya.com; www.pbskids.com; www.headsprout.com; and www.abcmouse.com

Website for file resources:
www.filefolderfun.com;  www.filefolderheaven.com/
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Passion, Motivation, and Wisdom

"I had just a built-in passion that it was important to make a real contribution in the world, to fix all the injustices that exsisted in the world, and I wanted to do that through teaching." - Louise Derman-Sparks 

 ...Passion to make sure that all children were taught in an environment and in ways that truly nurture their ability to grow and develop to their fullest ability." -Louise Derman-Sparks

Dr. Sylvia C. Chard/Lilian Katz

Dr. Sylvia C. Chard/Lilian Katz
“We take the view that children acquire much knowledge,information,concepts, and facts from those around them, who share what they know in effective ways."

 Engaging Children’s Minds:The Project Approach/Lilian G. Katz and Sylvia C. Chard-2nd ed.

Susan Bredekamp, Ph. D

Susan Bredekamp, Ph. D

"Developmentally appropriate practices are ways of teaching that vary for or adapt to the age and experience of the individual learner. So fundamentally the definition has not changed. Instead, it has been expanded to include the fact that not only do you have to consider children as individuals, but you also have to consider children as members of groups with their own cultural identities."

 “Child-initiated activity is all that’s important and that teacher-directed instruction or any form of teacher-directed activity is not appropriate.” by Susan Bredekamp. (ECT Editorial Staff, April 2006)

 "Children benefit most from teachers who have the skills, knowledge, and judgment to make good decisions and are given the opportunity to use them." 

 References

NAEYC, Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs   Serving Children from Birth through Age 8 (2009)


Scholastic http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article
 “child-initiated activity is all that’s important and that teacher-directed instruction or any form of teacher-directed activity is not appropriate.” by Susan Bredekamp. (ECT Editorial Staff, April 2006)

Personal Childhood Web

Just a thought on this week's reading...

What is your passion? What makes you drive... When you think of your future do you know what it is that you want to do? What Motivates you? If you don't know then that should serve as a clear sign for you to do some soul searching and find out... Opportunity is knocking.. .this world is filled with hopes and dreams just waiting on you to embrace them. It seems like yesterday I graduated from high school and honestly didn't know where I stood in life and had no idea what my passion was. Finding a place in this world is often hard. You may find you have more than one passion. But just know in you heart that you are the only one that holds the key to unlocking your happiness within... Stop wasting time and become something great!

A story about a child that touched my heart!

I had a child in my class one year that was very shy and cried all the time. She seemed to never be happy and refused to play with anyone. I have a very tender heart and I take my job very serious. I made it a personal goal to help the child adjust to the class and hopefully enjoy school one day. Some how this resulted with the little girl getting really attached to me. She was Hispanic and spoke very little English but knew enough to let me know when she needed something. I had a really hard time finding ways to help her. I am normally really good at this so it was very challenging for me. I just couldn't figure out what I could do to help her. In the middle of the year her mother came into the class one day and asked to speak to me. She told me that her daughter has always had a really hard time opening up and had expressed her concerns about how she could help. She said she had noticed a really big difference in her this school year. She caught her playing school and pretending to be Ms. Ellis was especially funny. She said because she takes her doll by the hand and says it's going to be okay let me show you a game I know. Then she would sit down at the table and say, " what color is this? Okay find me Blue... and so on. Good job! Way to go! I am so proud of you! Can you show me another one?" My heart was so touched because to this point I thought I wasn't getting anything thru to her. She barely talked to me and hardly every told me the color or shape until I told her the name of it first. So the next day when we were in class I went over to play with her. She was playing in the sand box and I told her that I had heard that she liked playing school at home. She looked really surprised and shook her head yes. I told her we could play school at school to. We just had to use our imagination. She looked really surprised so I explained to her how we could use our imagination. Needless to say somehow that opened her up to a whole new world. We would pretend school and the other children would come over and want to play too. She quickly got involved with helping the other children to understand how we pretend school at school. She got very involved with the other children. I told her everyday how proud I was of her. She would give me a big thumbs up at me and smile. Memories like these are the reason I love to teach.

Image of my child's art work!

My son is three years old! We are working really hard on his alphabet and hand writing. We had been discussing the letter M earlier today. He wanted to color a little while ago. A few minutes later her runs to me and says, "mommy look I write M."  He said there is a monkey somewhere. I love encouraging children to learn all that they can. I do see the letter M!  

Quote

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
― William Arthur Ward

I really feel that this quote sums up the type of teacher you are or want to be. You have the choice in what type of teacher you are.  

 “I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.”
― Albert Einstein

I like this quote because I believe if you teach thru a learn thru play atmosphere it is the best way to ensure learning in preschool children. 

“Teaching is only demonstrating that it is possible. Learning is making it possible for yourself.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Pilgrimage
“You can't really teach a kid anything: you can only show him the way and motivate him to learn it himself.”
― Dave Cullen, Columbine 
This is so true because I feel that we learn best when we find out for ourself. 



 

What fuels my passion for the early childhood field?

I have been asked so many times, why do you want to teach preschool? Isn't preschool baby sitting? Remarks such as these are disheartening to someone that really loves preschool. I love the preschool setting. I have found that it is my area of interest. I love how the children learn thru play. It seems to be a better stress free way of teaching them all they need to know for kindergarten. I know that kindergarten seems to be so stressful these days. I enjoy watching children learn and knowing that I have a part in this. I feel that preschool is a child’s foundation and it is up to me to set the foundation for them to learn all they can. One small step at a time I pray that I can make a difference in someones life. 

My Favorite Children's book

The Kissing hand is my favorite children's book. I like to use the book the first week of school. I learned this strategy from another teacher a couple of years ago. We read the kissing hand to the children and used two racoons puppets to tell the story. It really seemed to help the children become comfortable with being away from mom and dad. After we read the book to the children we made hand prints with each of the children and had them glue a heart to it. We attached a poem to the activity for each child to give to their parents when they went home. It makes a very good keep sake for parents to remember their child's first day of school.

What is Family?

Family is made up of the people that lift you, the people that are there for you when you down, and the people that not only support you but that you also support..

 My biggest fans are my two amazing children, Jaydyn and Brandon Jr. They are my reason that I strive to succeed.

                                     My mom and dad have stood behind me through everything!

 My big sister Julie has been my back bone. She has supported me through everything. Without her I am not sure that I would have gotten this far.