Tips to a Kindergarten Teacher

It's hard to believe but I've only got 3 weeks left in school.  I'm right in the middle of report cards, IEP's and end of the year celebrations.

At point in the year, most teachers know what grade they teaching next year and if you are just joining kindergarten, this post is for you.

I'm joining Sharing Kindergarten to offer some tips for kindergarten teacher from a kindergarten teacher.

The first tip may seem like an odd one but in kindergarten we not only get children who have never been to school before, but we also have parents that have never "let go" of their children before.  Kindergarten can be a huge step for parents in placing their trust in YOU, their child's teacher.  If the child has special needs, this may be an even bigger leap of faith.  So my first tip to you is to also nurture your parents.  Go the extra mile to reassure the parent that may be overly anxious.  Don't forget, they may be new to this too.

Tip two will help you avoid problems as the year goes on.  Set down the ground rules right from the get go and follow them.  Let the children help you decide what should be part of the rules.  You want to avoid as many behaviour issues as possible.  When the children know that you will be enforcing the rules, you will be surprised at how smoothly your class will run.  For special needs students, they may need explicit teaching of the rules, social stories, or modelling before they understand what is expected of them.

In kindergarten, it's important to have a routine and follow it.  Special needs children thrive on structure and knowing what comes next.  That doesn't mean you can't have choice, just make sure it's within a schedule.  You may need to make a visual schedule with pictures they can remove when the activity is done.

This is the most important tip of all.  Have Fun!  Kindergarten children are so much fun and they say and do the funniest things.  Enjoy every minute of them.  Remember, you are their first experience with school and you set the tone for all the teachers that come after you.  Set the bar high.

Check out the posts below for more great tips.

An InLinkz Link-up

Bright Ideas - May

Non slip mats are an essential part of a special education class that has children with physical disabilities and low tone or poor fine motor skills. This is a non slip mat that can be purchased inexpensively at the Dollar Store.  It's easy to cut into any size you want.

Here are a few ways we use it.

For children with low tone, they often have trouble staying in their seat.  These are the kids that keep sliding out.  A little square on the seat under their bum helps them stay put.

A little square under bowls and plates, stops them for sliding around the table while children are trying to eat.

We roll up a small piece around a pencil to make a pencil grip.  You can make it as thick as you want.  The texture gives feedback to those who need it.

Putting a piece under toys and games will help them stay put while children are using them.  This was our egg spinner from Easter.

The last tip I have for you is to use it use technology.  I keeps the laptops and ipads on the table and off the floor.

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For more bright ideas from 150 different

bloggers, please browse through the link-up

below and choose a topic/grade level that

interests you. Thanks for visiting!

An InLinkz Link-up

Zoo Interactive Readers

Last week we took a trip to the zoo.  I love the zoo.  There is so much to see and do.  There is so much language that can be used to describe the animals and most zoos are fairly accessible for mobility issues.

I decided to redo my zoo interactive books as they were one of the original ones I made and they were in need of updating.

If you have already bought this from me, please go and redownload.  It now contains an extra book and 4 mini take home books.

This is the third book.

This book requires the child to pick the correct word to put in the sentence.  I usually do this book after we have read the first book (it's not interactive) so that the child "really" knows the story.  I use Velcro to keep the words in the book.

Here's a sample of what is the in the rest of the books.

Click on the picture below to grab this for half price until the end of the week.

Bee flash cards and freebie

We are still working on our Bee theme and as we near the end of the year, we've been working on practicing our adding and subtracting.

I redid my bee flash cards with updated graphics and fonts and the kids love them.

Since I did adding and subtracting, I figured I may as well make multiplication and division cards as well.  

Scroll down to the bottom to grab the division set for free.

Bee adding freebie

I am so thankful for my fellow teachers and all that you do.  

Here is a little freebie you. 

Children pick 2 numbers and add them together.  They then cover the total on their mat with a bee.  The first person to cover their mat wins.

Click on the picture below to grab it for free.

Pizza Math Update

I gave my pizza math unit a facelift just in time for the sale.

It will be on sale for Tuesday and Wednesday for 1/2 price.

Don't forget to enter your promo code for a bigger discount.

You can now get my Pizza math activities and Pizza Interactive books bundled together.

The bundle is on 1/2 price for the next two days as well. 

Plant Labeling

Now that spring is here, we have started to talk about plants.

We started by making a plant and labeling the parts.

We also touched on what plants need.