Do you have any New Year's resolutions for teaching in 2013? Whether it's maintaining a more positive attitude to inspiring more enthusiasm in your students, we have some tips and tricks for keeping them!

Resolution #1: To better understand the cultural differences of my students.

Tips for keeping it:

• Children learn best when the educational experiences they receive are meaningful and relevant. So try to:
• Make many connections to a child's home life and what happens in the family setting.
• Identify and discuss special celebrations and neighborhood events children know about and participate in.
• Invite parents and neighborhood leaders to be vitally involved with school happenings.
• Collect artifacts for displays that are representative of the cultures in the class group.
• Sing songs and play games that connect to children's cultures.
• Display pictures of a variety of cultural groups, not only those cultures that are represented in the class.
• If children speak other languages, learn a few key phrases in their language to use when the children arrive on the first day.

Resolution #2: To keep a more positive attitude in my classroom.

Tips for keeping it:

• Try a few of these "emotional getaways" to lift your spirits:
• Plan a trip to the gym. Have an invigorating workout.
• Call a friend you haven't talked to in a while.
• Read an uplifting book.
• When you're in the classroom, try these tips for looking at life more positively:
• Plan activities in the classroom that will help you get in touch with each child's emotions.
• Talk to children about feelings. Tell them that all of us have negative feelings periodically.
• Remember that developing positive relationships with young children is the most important element in teaching. Focus on who the children are, not what they need to know in order to achieve.

Resolution #3: To inspire more enthusiasm for learning in my students.

Tips for keeping it:

• Add a few new toys or sets of puzzles that will challenge children.
• Create a bulletin board and encourage children to participate in its creation.
• Do seasonal activities. For example, in autumn, start a collection of acorns or leaves that children can collect on the playground.
• Change a few books in the Book Corner to accompany a new thematic study or a change in the weather.
• Introduce a new song that develops spontaneous movement activity.
• Invite parents or visitors into the classroom to share their various areas of expertise.
• Collaborate with another teacher to develop an activity that will be mutually beneficial to both groups of children (for example, older children reading to younger ones or a pen-pal program).

Resolution #4: To better plan transitions from one activity to the next.

Tips for keeping it:

• Plan for transitional changes, so children can make them with little disruption or rowdiness. Here are some suggestions for making transitions:
• Use a cueing signal to announce a transitional change.
• Ask children to move in a specific way (tiptoe, crawl, pretend to skate, pretend to be a caterpillar, walk like a cat, twinkle like a star, or others).
• Call children to line up by the color of their clothing.
• Call children to Circle Time (or the next activity of the day) by the color of their eyes or hair.
• Observe children as they clean up, and as they finish, tell them it's their turn to line up at the door (or come to Circle Time or whatever part of the day you are transitioning to).
• Begin by tapping one child who, in turn, taps another, who taps another, until all the children have been tapped to move.
• Ask the line leader to decide what transition to use.
• Ask one child to name a favorite song, which becomes the tune to move by.

Resolution #5: To set up a more interesting and attractive classroom.

Tips for keeping it:

• Place an inviting sign or poster on the classroom door to surprise the children as they walk in.
• Change bulletin boards periodically to enhance classroom learning.
• Display children' work (art is best) whenever possible, consider setting aside one bulletin board that will always have children's work on it.
• Personalize the classroom as much as possible (for example, display children's birthdays on a bulletin board).
• Provide a message board to write messages to various children during the week.
• Set up centers that are inviting for children to want to use.
• Mark areas of the classroom with attractive sings.
• Provide classroom spaces that offer children privacy when they need it.
• Provide a variety of sensory experiences for children.

 

 

For more teacher-tested techniques for successful teaching and learning, check out Preschool Classroom Management by Laverne Warner and Sharon Anne Lynch.

What would a new year be without some exciting new products from Kaplan Early Learning Company? Check out some of our hottest new arrivals (and be sure to snatch them up before they're gone)!

 #1

3-in-1 Sports Arcade™

Perfect for ages 5 & up. This toy is really three great games in one! Shoot hoops, perfect your pitching, or roll high scores! The special return ramp keeps the challenge going while kids enjoy continuous triple-action sports play. Set includes 3 balls and 2 basketballs.

 

 

 

 

 

#2

Animal Train Sort & Match

Perfect for ages 3 & up. With the Animal Train Sort & Match, children will practice fine motor skills while learning color-matching, shape recognition and patterning. Set includes six double-sided pattern cards, 43 animal and train pieces, wooden storage case, and self-propping display board.

 

 

 

#3

Let's Take It Outside!

Perfect for ages 3 - 6. Children love outdoor play. Now teachers can combine the magic and excitement of the outdoors with activities that encourage and support learning! Let's Take It Outside! includes more than 100 new teacher-created, classroom-tested outdoor activities that engage children's minds and bodies as much as they explore the limitless bounds of the outdoors while also building key skills in areas like math, literacy and language, science, art, and music. Activities include: counting, alphabet, colors, shapes, art, touch, sound and sight, plants and gardening, bubbles and air, light and shadow, animals and insects, dramatic play, and large motor skills.

 

 

#4

Bear Desk Bells

 

Perfect for ages 3 & up. Delightful sounds of music will ring from this collection of 8 desk bells! These bells are in a diatonic range of C to c'. Each bell has its own unique color and is labeled with its corresponding note. They are perfect for combining learning and music with colors and sound.

 

 

 

 

#5

Hexacus™

 

Perfect for ages 2 & up. Balance, stack, nest and create a wide variety of patterns and shapes with 12 hexagonal pieces. Activity guide includes over 100 examples from easy to more complex designs.

 

 

#6

Roadway Systems

 

 

Build countless roadway configurations with this 42-piece set! Set even includes various sizes and shapes of wooden roadway. The durable, hardwood veneered pieces are sized to unit blocks, at a 5" standard width and easily fit together like a puzzle piece. Ideal for large group play. Builds teamwork, cooperation and enhances creativity and problem solving skills. Sizes range from 2 1/2" to 15" long.

 

 

#7

Rabbit in Lettuce Hideaway Puppet

 

 

Perfect for ages 2 & up. This soft and cuddly rabbit lives in a lettuce house, where the leaves fold down to reveal all of his garden friends. Set includes the Rabbit in a Lettuce hand puppet plus 6 finger puppets: butterfly, ladybird, bee, 2 caterpillars, and a slug. Surface washable.

 

 

 

#8

Mighty Mixer

 

 

Perfect for ages 3 & up. Simply turn the knob on top of this cute tabletop mixer and the beaters rotate. The beaters also lift up making it easy to place or remove the bowl. Great for inspiring dramatic play.

 

 

 

 

 

#9

Memo N' Matching Seasons Game

 

Perfect for ages 3 & up. Explore seasonal concepts with this eco-friendly matching game!  Game includes 4 playing cards, 16 recycled rubberwood playing pieces and game instructions.

 

 

 

 

#10

Step-A-Forest

 

Perfect for children 18 months & up. Made of durable plastic with soft, non-slip surface lines and rings, this unique set allows children to safely experience balance and gain confidence as they explore a path through nature. The pieces can be arranged in endless combinations to develop and enhance gross motor skills. Straight logs are 19"L and tallest stumps are 5 1/2"H.

 

 

#11

SmartMax Power Vehicles

 

Perfect for ages 3 & up. SmartMax is the magnetic discovery concept that enables children, even from a very early age, to experience both the wonders of magnetism and the fascinating world of construction in a safe way. With this set you can build an entire fleet of trucks. The cockpits, cabins, scoops and other attachments click onto the bars. Sets can be combined for more play. Not all vehicles can be made at the same time.

 

 

 

#12

Pop Up Toaster

 

 

Perfect for ages 3 & up. Make a quick breakfast with a pop-up toaster, two slices of bread, butter, and honey. Includes a knife to cut the butter.

 

 

 

#13

Tinkertoy Transit Building Set

 

Perfect for ages 3 & up. Classic building with a twist! A variety of snap together bendable pieces stay together to creative endless creations such as bridges, trains, cars and more. Comes in a sturdy storage box and includes ideas poster.

Which is your favorite new toy of 2013? Let us know! We may even give it away on the Kaplan Early Learning Company Facebook page at the beginning of the new year!

 

"Hold your children close. Enjoy them. Hug and nurture them. Love them." These phrases echo through our schools and communities this week, following the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut.

Much like the rest of the nation, Kaplan Early Learning Company is shocked and devastated by the tragic and utterly senseless shooting last Friday. It seems so feeble in the context of such trauma, but our thoughts and prayers are truly with the parents, children, school staff and community directly affected by this tragedy.

We know that many of you may be struggling to find the right way to discuss this tragic event with your children. It is our sincere hope that these resources will help you, your own children, and even your students, talk about and begin to process this tragic event in a positive manner.

After the Crisis: Using Storybooks to Help Children Cope

* Available as a free eBook download in your MyKaplan account until January 31, 2013.

The literature-based activities in After the Crisis are ideal for communicating with children who have recently been through a trauma. With activities and exercises that can be used in conjunction with children's books, this book is filled with discussion starters and activities that help promote children's ability to process, to cope and to heal. The strategies and activities in After the Crisis address numerous crises that can affect a child, including earthquakes, epidemics and mass casualty incidents, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and major storms, shelter experiences, volcanic eruptions, and the death of a loved one. For a limited time, After the Crisis is available as a free eBook download accessible in your MyKaplan account until January 31, 2013.

Socially Strong, Emotionally Secure: 50 Activities to Promote Resilience in Young Children

* Available as a free eBook download in your MyKaplan account until January 31, 2013.

Now more than ever, building a child's social and emotional strength is vital to a child's ability to handle the bigger challenges in life. The strategies and activities in Socially Strong, Emotionally Secure help increase children's natural resilience and keep them socially and emotionally strong for the rest of their lives. For a limited time, Socially Strong, Emotionally Secure is available as a free eBook download accessible in your MyKaplan account until January 31, 2013.

Activities from Socially Strong, Emotionally Secure that focus on reflecting on and talking about feelings, include:

• Give Me a Hand, p. 15-17
• Feelings Quilt, p. 29-30
• Puppet Talk, p. 31-33
• Bright Beginnings, Happy Endings, p. 55-58
• Positive Postcards, p. 59-60
• A Kiss I Can Keep, p. 61-62
• Turn that Frown Upside Down, p. 78-80
• Something to Talk About, p. 116-118
• All About My Feelings, p. 143-145

Additional Resources for Discussing Tragic Events with Young Children:

• Tips for Talking to Children About the Shooting (The New York Times)
• School Crisis Guide (National Education Association Health Information Network)
• Tips for Talking to Children of Different Ages About Tragedy and Disaster (SAMHSA)
• "Coping with School Tragedies, What Do We Do Now?" (BAM Radio)
• A National Tragedy: Helping Children Cope (National Association of School Psychologists)
• Talking to Kids About the Newtown School Shooting (Parenting.com)
• When the World is a Dangerous Place: Helping Children Deal with Violence (Exchange Magazine)

Materials:

• Brown construction paper
• Marker
• Drinking straws
• Yarn
• Scissors
• Brass fasteners, 2 per child
• White crayons
• 1" squares of black tissue paper
• Reinforcement labels (for notebook paper)

What to Do:

• Beforehand, prepare the following for each child:
• Trace the gingerbread man silhouette (see pattern below) onto brown construction paper.
• Tie a 4" piece of yarn at the center of a straw and a 6" piece one inch from each end.
• Trace two arms per child onto brown construction paper and mark them with dots at each end.
• Read the story of the Gingerbread Man. Encourage the children to chant the Gingerbread Man's repeated refrain.
• Run, run, as fast as you can.
  You can't catch me,
  I'm the Gingerbread Man!
• Discuss the ending and whether or not the children like the fact that the man is eaten at the end.
• Encourage the children to suggest new endings, such as ways he could escape or a new character that could save him.
• Help the children make puppets using the prepared materials.
• The children cut out the arms and punch holes in all marked dots.
• Show them how to attach the arms to the boy's shoulders with brass fasteners.
• Encourage them to crumble black tissue to make "raisins" to glue on the puppet. They can use the crayon to draw on white "icing" squiggles.
• Attach reinforcements to the back of the puppet at the head hole and the holes in the arms. Tie yarn through the holes.
• Show the children how to make the puppet move by holding the straw at the center and wiggling the ends up and down.

Gingerbread Man Pattern:

 

 This activity was taken from The GIANT Encyclopedia of Kindergarten Activities and was originally contributed by Sandra Gratias from Perkasie, PA.

The endless possibilities of construction fascinate many young children. This fun-filled building activity from The Budding Builder is sure to ensure that your children have a blast while also developing important life skills, such as planning, estimating, counting, and measuring.

Building an Igloo

Can you make a curved building out of blocks? People who build ice igloos do! So, summon your inner Eskimo with this exciting activity:

What You Will Need:

• Large pieces of Styrofoam
• Masking tape
• Pictures of different types of homes, including igloos

What to Do:

1. Look at pictures of different types of homes that people live in around the world. Compare the houses in hot and cold places. Now find a picture of an igloo, and look at how it is made. Would you like to live in an igloo?
   
2. Ahead of time, ask an adult to collect large pieces of Styrofoam packing (the kind that is used for shipping) and to cut the pieces into sections to resemble large blocks of ice.
3. Arrange the Styrofoam pieces into the shape of an igloo. Think about how you will get into and out of the igloo once it is built, and leave a doorway. Make the igloo large enough for you to be able to crawl inside and sit.
4. Use masking tape to hold the Styrofoam pieces together.

Try This!

Use the igloo to provide the basis for dramatic play. What will you use for food? How will you sleep? What kind of clothing will you need?

 ~~~

For more great ways to take ideas for the limitless imaginations of young children and fashion them into reality, check out The Budding Builder (available in both paperback and eBook formats from Kaplan Early Learning Company).