Kindergarten teacher blogs can be a lifesaver for kindergarten teachers and homeschooling parents. Actually, any parent of a pre-school or kindergarten student will find a wealth of information that can help your child with social, emotional, and academic growth.
Need free resources? They have them. Need new fresh motivating ideas? There are plenty.
Do you want someone who understands that five-year-old kids have the attention span of a fruit fly? Read on.
I researched the top kindergarten teacher blogs before starting my own. I looked for the ones that offered the most information and free resources.
These are the five best kindergarten teacher blogs out there. They are in no particular order as they are all No. 1 in my book.
The name alone is brilliant. Kindergarten life is foreign to all who have never taught a lesson with 25 pairs of hands reaching into the air to tell you something completely off topic.
Kindergarten is definitely a smorgasboard of tiny people with so many different thoughts and learning styles.
Greg Smedley Warren, a Kindergarten Rock Star, and his husband, Jason (The Mister) are creative, ingenious and have amazing fashion sense. Honestly, I don’t know which one is cuter.
They have built their brand and blog into a resourceful place where kindergarten teachers find incredible lesson ideas and instructional strategies.
Their amazing bootcamps encompass all content areas with motivating and engaging themes and strategies.
Kindergarten Smorgasboard also provides videos that will demonstrate how a content area is taught. This is extremely helpful.
This is another one of the amazing kindergarten teacher blogs that I have found.
Marsha is a teacher-mother who is dedicated to meeting the needs of different learning styles in the classroom.
The Differentiated Kindergarten Blog is full lesson ideas for center activities and Daily 5.
There are task cards for Legos which I absolutely love and so do my students.
There are many resources for developing fine motor skills through fun activities. The use of play dough and the geoboard are extremely motivating for all learners.
The accompanying materials that are found on this site are truly one of a kind. It is differentiation in its finest form.
You can find many task activities and engaging materials here. What more could you ask for?
Next, Simply Kinder is one of the incredible kindergarten teacher blogs that made the top 5 list. Jennifer began this blog to help make the lives of kindergarten teachers easier.
Well, she accomplished her goal.
The resources on Simply Kinder are top notch. They combine hands-on activities with quality teacher-made worksheets.
There are articles on everything from classroom management to outlining the first day of kindergarten (minute by minute)
Millions of people search every day and, of course, every night for the magic cure to teacher insomnia.
Natural, pharmaceutical, and make believe home remedies are bought and tried by desperate people everywhere whose greatest wish is to snooze like they once did.
If you envy babies, dogs, and people that fall asleep at church, sleep is a problem for you, but there is a solution for teacher insomnia. Thank goodness!!
Many people view the natural act of sleep as an enemy. In order to make sleep an ally, we need to change the way we think and act towards this biological need.
We all have different root causes that lead to the same effect: No ZZ”S!!!
Anxiety is the main culprit fighting our basic desire to achieve peaceful oblivion. Job anxiety is a huge problem with teacher insomnia.
I had major anxiety. Thoughts of what I needed to do to help the students in my class achieve success consumed my thoughts. This led to an irrational fear that I would never be able to sleep again.
This is very common among insomniacs. I began researching tips for sleep extensively as it was affecting my whole entire life and that of my family.
I read books, saw therapists and learned many helpful solutions that I still use today when faced with a never-ending night of tossing and turning.
Use sleep promoting habits to eliminate teacher insomnia.
There are a few physiological concepts that you should understand about sleep.
Our body temperatures do not stay the same throughout the day. They follow a natural rhythm that changes over the course of activities.
Body temperature is the lowest in the wee hours of the night and fluctuates throughout the day reaching its high around 6:00 p.m.
The times we are most alert are in the late morning and early nighttime hours.
This is why teachers feel a need for caffeine in the afternoon.
In the evening as body temperature declines, we biologically become drowsier with the strongest innate push for sleep being about 3:30 in the morning.
The key to working with your body’s circadian rhythm is to enable your body to have a low body temperature when you are trying to sleep.
This can be done in various ways to help eliminate teacher insomnia.
With the risk of sounding like one of your parents, have a regular bed and wake up time.
Sleeping in on the weekends completely destroys your circadian rhythm.
Body temperature rises in the morning as soon as we start moving and see the sun. If this is delayed, your body temp will also be delayed at nighttime.
Turn down the darn air conditioning.
I get it. I live in Las Vegas, and my dad always had the air set at 85.
If we were hot, his solution for everything was to jump in the pool. Sleeping weather is cold weather.
We enjoy better sleep in the winter than in the summer. Why? The cold helps to lower your body temperature.
Pay a few dollars extra as your mental health is worth it.
Do you wake up as soon as the morning sunlight hits your face? I did until I eliminated the sunlight hitting my face.
Darkness helps lower the body temperature as well. Melatonin levels are increased when there is darkness, and this is what creates the feeling of drowsiness.
Melatonin also regulates your circadian rhythm, so having a room dark as space is helpful for many reasons.
There are very reasonable priced black-out shades that make it seem like it is pitch black outside at 2:00 in the afternoon.
Take a hot bath with lavender two hours before bedtime.
We need to prepare our brainwaves to relax and forget about the events that lead to teacher insomnia.
A hot bath for 15-20 minutes will also raise our body temperatures and cause it to fall in a few hours.
Lavender has been shown to relax a person. Putting a few drops in a water bottle and spraying it on the pillow at night produces a calming effect that lasts throughout the night.
Kick your partner to the curb or maybe the couch.
A National Sleep Survey found that one in four couples go to bed in separate rooms due to issues affecting sleep such as different work shifts, snoring, and restless movements. Because insomnia affects moods and behavior, this might actually improve your relationship instead of hurt it.
Exercise!
This is a big deal.
Exercise eliminates stress by kicking in endorphins, dopamine and serotonin.
These are the chemicals that regulate mood and calm down brain waves enabling sleep to come easier, faster and longer.
Exercise is invaluable to the sleep equation. It works to lower body temperature at night, relieve the anxiety and depressive feelings that contribute to insomnia and contribute to overall self-confidence.
This doesn’t mean that you need to run five miles a day or take a Cardio Pump class although this would probably give you an incredibly restful night’s sleep.
Try 20 minutes of walking quickly around your house while playing on your phone or listening to Journey’s Greatest Hits.
That’s what I do anyway.
Get Rid of Negative Thoughts!
Greg Jacobs, in his book, Say Goodnight to Insomnia discusses in detail how negative thoughts are playing a role in teacher insomnia behaviors.
Fearing that you are not getting enough sleep actually contributes to the lack of it.
Common negative sleep thoughts are:
If I don’t sleep tonight, my day tomorrow will be ruined.
I am never going to fall asleep.
I am never going to fall back asleep.
I really need to sleep tonight.
I’m awake!!!!!!!
I can’t stop thinking ridiculous thoughts.
I know these thoughts creep up on us. What do we do instead? We replace them with positive thoughts such as:
I will fall asleep soon.
I will be fine tomorrow.
I will exercise tomorrow and sleep better tomorrow night.
Use Sleep apps.
Another strategy that can be used when insomnia prevents peaceful slumber is to use a sleep app. My favorite is called Relax Melodies.
This app has soothing sounds that calm active brain waves setting the stage for blissful sleep to occur.
Sounds may be created by combining two or three together such as soft rain and ocean waves.
The ambient sounds are amazing. The reviews are incredible and it comes highly recommended for anxiety, depression and sleep issues.
Practice breathing techniques.
I have had tremendous success with the breathing technique 4-7-8 which is recommended by Dr. Andrew Weil.
I use the simple process of inhaling through my nose for 4 seconds, holding it for seven seconds and exhaling though my mouth for 8 seconds.
Repeat the cycle three or four times to relax your mind and body.
You can feel it working to achieve a greater sense of calm and peace that helps eradicate those teacher insomnia thoughts that keep us awake.
These tips should make you feel more in control and confident about solving your teacher insomnia issues whether short term or long term. I bet you will sleep better tonight and every night.
I remember the “first-year excitement” like it was yesterday even though it has been over 20 years. I couldn’t wait to decorate my room, buy “teacher clothes” and have my very own students.
The novel teaching methods and philosophy that you learned more than likely are part of my own philosophy. In fact, when I started, the “old” teachers told me that my methods were “en vogue” at some point in their careers.
The pendulum swings, and it swings often.
My first days in the classroom, fresh out of college, were met with teachers close to retirement who offered lots of advice for a new teacher.
“Kids have changed,” they said, referring to behaviors borne from a rapidly changing world and environment.
But, It’s the same adage I hear every day, still. Changing or should I say challenging behaviors are always a problem as long as we have tiny human beings dealing with unimaginable trauma and emotional damage. Children with problems are children who cause problems in the classroom.
Finding the solutions are the hardest part of teaching but also the most rewarding.
Advice for a New Teacher: Build real relationships with students.
Kids cannot be fooled into believing that teachers genuinely care. They know, and they know right away. Sometimes, I overhear a teacher call their class “kiddos,” in an attempt to build relationships.
If it is sincere, great. If it is not, your students cringe as much as I do upon hearing that word.
Pick one different child each day to compliment or ask a personal question. This goes a long way in showing extra care and building relationships. Being proactive helps minimize behavior problems and encourages motivation and learning.
Advice for a New Teacher: Create a classroom that you want to be in.
You spend a lot of time in your room. Because of this, make it an environment that makes you happy.
In my first year of teaching, I bought an amazing teacher wardrobe. Buy, most of the nicer items ended up with permanent markers and paint stains. So not worth it!
Always, be practical if you can.
Advice for a New Teacher: Stick to the list.
Every new year when I begin to set up my classroom, I start one task and then see something across the room that I need to do and begin that task.
We are moving in every direction when it comes to teaching because there are so many tasks to complete.
My advice for a new teacher is to make a list on your phone and tackle one thing from start to finish. Of course, this takes self-control and discipline.
Have one day where you tie up all those loose ends.
Advice for a New Teacher: Be solution-oriented.
Be reflective and analyze why a lesson went wrong or right. Keep trying and never give up. One size never fits all in education. Keep searching for solutions to why a student may be misbehaving or not learning.
Ask for help again and again.
Look for teaching methods that fit your personality and style. Also, don’t get hung up on the teaching program. Change it to fit the needs of your students.
Advice for a New Teacher: Laugh whenever possible.
A sense of humor goes a long way in the classroom. The funniest stories happen with kids and their innocent or not so innocent comments and questions.
Sometimes, teachers think laughing at a student’s joke is unprofessional or will diminish student respect.
In my experience, it is the teachers with a keen sense of humor that build strong relationships with students.
Yes, we are not there to be our students’ friends, but we can establish boundaries and build relationships at the same time. Humor builds that bridge.
Advice for a New Teacher: Prioritize.
There are so many daily tasks that suck the life out of you. Try to focus on the chores that are essential to student learning or that need to be turned in right away.
Spending hours upon hours decorating doesn’t make sense if it is at the expense of a successful lesson.
Also, try to get into a strong daily routine that manages time effectively.
Advice for a New Teacher: Be prepared to fail.
Mark my words, you will feel like a failure often in teaching especially in the first years. In my first year, I remember crying alone in my classroom after the students had left.
Every year is different. Every day is different.
The only way to develop the confidence that is needed to be effective and successful is to fail and learn from those failures.
Be reflective and take notes of what went right and what went wrong.
Advice for a new teacher: Go to the Teacher’s Lounge.
Advice for a new teacher has always been to stay out of the Teacher’s Lounge because of the negativity that can be found there. I disagree.
Seek out the teachers with a wealth of knowledge that will be able to mentor and listen to your teacher struggles, as there will be teacher struggles.
Find “Your People” that share common experiences, laughter, and jokes that only teachers will understand.
This is a necessity.
Advice for a new teacher: Take care of you.
A physically and mentally healthy teacher is better prepared to deal with the many problems that teachers face every day in the classroom.
Take time to de-stress in whatever way works for you. But, I know it’s easier said than done.
Walk! Talk! Laugh!!! Do these three things daily.
You will change lives.
I look back on my years of teaching with pride and many wonderful memories.
One day, you will too. If I can help you in any way, feel free to contact me.
We are truly all in this together.
Disclosure: Affiliate links are used in this post. The website may benefit from items purchased by clicking the links. This helps to keep the website active.
What are the 5 best ways to teach reading to young students? I have found through my 25 years of experience that there is indeed a recipe for success.
Much like learning to speak, kids have an innate ability to learn to read.
The motivation must be developed and encouraged from the very beginning.
Research indicates that children shouldn’t be pushed but allowed to develop at their own pace, naturally.
There are many strategies that are helpful in fostering the natural desire to interact with the printed word. If used consistently, children develop a curiosity and excitement toward reading.
A love of reading is priceless, and here are the 5 best ways to teach reading to help develop a life-long love and habit.
Expose them to environmental print.
Environmental print is all around us. It is the words, logos and signs that we routinely see in our everyday adventures. Labels on cereal boxes and candy wrappers are all easily recognized and read by kids.
Parents can ask their children the letters and sounds that make up a favorite sign or logo.
This is a beginning step to learning to read. Children are assigning meaning to printed words. They become excited about knowing words on their favorite restaurants and toys.
My favorite game to play in the classroom is Read My T-Shirt. Students with words on their shirts come to the front of the room and challenge their classmates to read the words on their shirts.
I was surprised at how many parents told me that their children asked them to buy them t-shirts with words on them. I even had one dad make this shirt for his child. It was by far my favorite.
Open a book every day.
This is definitely one of the best ways to teach reading to students.
I don’t wait for a magical time in the year such as December to start to have students open a book of their own and read. Many teachers wait until students have learned their sounds to have them handle their own books. That’s madness.
Students learn to read by reading. Memorization is a beginning step. I hear parents say, “He’s not reading; he memorized the book.”
No, that is reading. It is the first stage. They are learning sight words and making meaning from the pictures.
“Pretend reading” is also beginning reading behavior that should be encouraged. It is much like “baby talk.” Students are imitating reading behavior while learning important print concepts like directionality and that the words and pictures tell the story.
I have a reading center in my classroom from day one. I read with each child every day for 5 minutes. It is the best five minutes of their day and my day.
It is also a great way to build those important classroom relationships.
Teach sight words in context.
Teaching sight words is all the rage these days. It is part of our curriculum and students usually learn lists of words.
The problem is students learn these words and then forget them if not taught within the context of actual reading.
Having easy books for students to read is sometimes a better way to get students to learn their sight words than flashing cards. They need to see them in the context of real reading.
Reading and writing should be taught simultaneously. Students should learn how to write sentences with sight words.
“I like” sentences are easy to begin with.
Shared reading works wonders.
Reading Rockets defines shared reading as an “interactive reading experience that occurs when students join in or share the reading of a book or other text while guided and supported by a teacher.”
Big books can be used to read repetitive phrases chorally. Words, letters and sounds can be picked out by students. Text features can also be taught using big books.
My favorite shared reading activity is the Daily News. We know young students love to talk about themselves.
Students are chosen to give a sentence about something they have done.
“It is Chase’s dad’s birthday.”
“Mia went to the water park.”
These sentences are sounded out with the students and written on an easel white board. The class can read them together chorally. Shared reading is so motivating and this makes it one of the best ways to teach reading.
Students may come up to the board and pick out sight words, letters and sounds.
I have found this activity to be very motivating for students. They love to read their own sentences and that of their classmates.
Use a balanced literacy approach.
Balanced literacy is a teaching philosophy that works. It incorporates using the strongest components of phonics and whole language to develop a life long love of reading.
Instead of focusing on only phonics in the beginning of the year, meaning making is developed by surrounding students with interesting books and print.
Balanced literacy is the “Best of Both Worlds” Thanks Hannah Montana.
The best book I have found is called Reading Strategies. It gives so many useful strategies and ideas that are so relevant to use in a balanced literacy approach. There are so many anchor chart ideas that can be a great addition to the literacy-based classroom.
Re-reading the same book and close reading are valuable tools to allow students to create deeper connections to the text.
So there you have it: the five best ways to teach reading to young students. It really is an incredibly rewarding task. Young students develop quickly if surrounded by a literacy-rich environment in addition to the best phonics strategies.
Disclosure: Affiliate links are used in this post. The website may benefit from items purchased by clicking the links. This helps to keep the website active.
Kindergarten graduation is the first real milestone that children have in school. The kindergarten graduation songs can add to the celebratory and memorable atmosphere.
I like to use the popular kindergarten graduation song parodies made exclusively for this event. The parents know the songs, and who are we kidding? This day is really for them.
I am not sure who it was that made up the words to these songs, but I want to thank them. Parents always compliment me on the fun songs that we sing for graduation.
Here are my favorite kindergarten graduation songs and ideas.
This is honestly my favorite. Maybe, it is because I love John Travolta. Or, maybe it is because it lends itself to the cutest movements ever. Regardless, everyone is impressed with this kindergarten graduation song. Words can be found here.
I found this song when my daughter’s kindergarten teacher used it for her kindergarten graduation. It is so adorable that I asked her for a copy of the words. This song is a timeless favorite.
Also, kindergarten students doing a kick line is priceless. Click for the words.
I love this one as it is so easy for the kids to perform because they are just imitating what you say. The students also love this kindergarten graduation song/chant. They cannot contain their enthusiasm when they say, “Left, right, left right.”
This song is perfect for the last song. It is very beautiful when the kids sing it with the sign language actions. Parents will be extremely touched by this number.
Kindergarten Banner
Making a classroom banner to display at kindergarten graduation is a fun decoration that your students will love. Having the students place their hand prints on the banner helps each child to play a bigger part in the celebration.
All you need is butcher paper and some paint and a bunch of little hands. Paint Reach For the Stars in big letters and paint or punch out some stars to go along with the hand prints. Voila!
Kindergarten Poem
If you have a Cricut, you can make letters in the word to be held up. Luckily, the word Kindergarten is long This allows two students to hold up one letter in the word.
K is for kindergarten! Hip, hip hooray!
I is for imagination. We use every day.
N is for numbers. We know, one two three.
D is for drawing, the best you can see.
E is for exercise to keep our bodies strong.
R is for reading books all day long.
G is for good friends. We make more every day.
A is for the alphabet we know how to say.
R is for remembering everything we learned.
T is for treats that we sometimes earned.
E is for excitement. This year we had some.
N is for next year. First grade here we come.
Kindergarten T-Shirts
I saw this idea in a newspaper article, and I had to use it. Students draw their faces on a small square of paper. Each individual drawing is placed on the shirt to make a classroom portrait. The shirts are always over-sized, and they wear them proudly for many years to come. I have spotted an occasional third grader sporting this kindergarten keepsake.
Introductions
We all know that parents are going to be looking at one person: their child. Each of those special students should have an opportunity to say something if you are doing the graduation as an individual class.
Having the students introduce themselves and say what they want to be when they grow up or their favorite part of kindergarten is very entertaining. This can be done as the students are being handed their diplomas.
Collecting pictures throughout the year and putting them to music is simple and easy these days. I have a created a slideshow and scrapbook template that will make things easier. Most phones can do this with a touch of a button on I MOVIE. Kindergarten is a special year. This is a day that parents will often recall forever. Having a sweet song with adorable innocent pictures often evokes tears of pride.
Kindergarten graduation is an occasion that parents and students will look back on proudly. My daughter is graduating from high school this year, but I will always remember her sweet face at her kindergarten graduation.
These kindergarten graduation songs and ideas will help you create a celebration that will be forever remembered and appreciated.
Disclosure: Affiliate links are used in this post. The website may benefit from items purchased by clicking the links. This helps to keep the website active.
“I’m done Mrs Barton,” said one child who actually scored the highest on one of his standardized kindergarten assessments. He honestly looked as though he had completed a marathon.
The poor boy’s hair was everywhere and he was completely out of breath. No joke. He looked like I do after teaching on the first day of kindergarten.
With the passage of No Child Left Behind in the early 2000’s, more and more standardized testing started being implemented in an effort to raise achievement.
Testing slowly made its way down to the lowest grades where kindergarten teachers everywhere disagreed with the value and developmental appropriateness of these kindergarten assessments.
With good reason too, standardized kindergarten assessments do more harm than good, and here’s why.
Kids endure unnecessary stress.
An article entitled Scrap the MAP called for the elimination of the MAP test in the early grades citing severe stress.
In response to administrators having a protocol for students getting sick before testing, a comedian, John Oliver said, “Something is wrong with our system when we just assume a certain number of students will vomit.”
At a time when young students should be developing their innate curiosity to learn and develop a love for reading and writing, they are being exposed to teachers bribing them to do their best on inaccurate measures of achievement.
The school environment suffers.
When testing scores are our main goal, the entire classroom environment changes from a safe place where risks and mistakes can be made to a “Why aren’t you understanding this?” mentality.
So, administrators pass stress down to the teachers who are now often times evaluated based on student test scores. Yes, even in kindergarten.
Then, the teachers pass this stress down to the students.
The test score is valued and not the learning process.
Should we really pressure early elementary teachers to judge their effectiveness at a career they couldn’t wait to start by the results of kindergarten assessments that aren’t developmentally appropriate?
No.
Competition among teachers increases.
Teachers are at their best when they collaborate with one another. In contrast, they are at their complete worst when test scores drive teachers to want to outscore their colleagues.
If you don’t believe that teachers are competitive, watch a teacher-student softball game. There is no mercy.
I bought into this mentality that I was doing something wrong after our MAP scores were compared to that of other schools. Mine came out low.
Honestly, I should have known better. I am a veteran. But, we want our data to reflect our competence.
So, I actually started to change my teaching style to teach to the test in kindergarten. Then, I came to my senses.
The price was too high.
Behavior problems increase.
A recent study showed that a student’s social-emotional skills are highly predictive of their academic and social success all the way through adulthood.
Students with higher ratings in kindergarten were more likely to get a college degree.
For every one point decrease in the social-emotional ratings in kindergarten, students were 67 percent more likely to be arrested.
Also, late bloomers are often mistakenly identified as behavior problems because they are not ready for the instructional demands that the testing culture requires.
In addition, ADHD diagnosis is on the rise because kindergarten students aren’t developmentally prepared to sit for so long.
Parents are confused.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that students at age five aren’t going to perform up to their potential on kindergarten assessments.
At times, I have to repeat the directions twenty times on every instructional activity I teach. What makes anyone think kindergarten students can focus on a computer-generated voice from a standardized test?
In many states, parents receive letters when their child doesn’t meet the standards on the kindergarten assessments. Teachers bear the responsibility of explaining that there is no cause for worry.
Parents usually respond with, “Then, why do you test the kids? Isn’t that a waste of time if results aren’t reliable?”
Yes, yes it is.
Let them have one year.
So, what if we just let the kids learn for one year without any kindergarten assessments at all? Would they be unprepared for the next grade?
I think not.
Students would be able to develop and grow at their own pace. Wow, wouldn’t that be great?
Teachers would be more relaxed. Behavior problems would decrease, and parents wouldn’t have unnecessary worry.
Sounds like the kindergarten classrooms of the past. Take me back.
%20no-repeat;width:135px;height:40px;background-size:contain;%22%3E%3C/a%3E){kind=link}