Tag: Tips for Teachers

Parent / Teacher Guide – Add A Little Curriculum – 2 Year Old

Posted on by S. J. Little

 

Add A Little – 2 Year Old Curriculum – Intro

Parent / Teacher Guide

 

Intro

Why name a curriculum “Add A Little”? Because that’s exactly what this curriculum is designed to do – add a little enhancement to your child’s development by providing ideas and activities for you to do with them. This light curriculum was developed with the busy parent or caretaker in mind.

 

Activities For 2 Year Olds

2 year olds need free play. They can also be learning to follow simple instructions. You’ll find a bit of both in Add A Little (AAL). Most of the activities have been kept simple with little prep needed and using supplies you may already have on hand. With one unit each month, this curriculum is designed to add a developmental boost to your child(ren)’s life without overwhelming you.

Check out the Tips for Success below.

 

Table of Contents

Each Unit Includes:

  • Fun Theme
  • Developmental Focus
  • Muscle Moving
  • Brain Boosting
  • Let’s Sing
  • Let’s Read
  • Let’s Sing A Christian Song
  • Let’s Read A Bible Story

Supplies Needed

Tips For Success When Using Add A Little Curriculum

Disclaimer

Units

Helpful Links

Each Unit Includes:

Fun Theme

Every unit has an engaging theme selected specifically with a 2 year old’s development in mind.

 

Developmental Focus

Each unit targets an area of learning and growth.

 

Muscle Moving

Being up and active is incredibly valuable for 2 year olds. Not only will they strengthen their muscles, but studies have shown that movement is important for overall brain development as well.

 

Brain Boosting

Under this heading you will find activities engaging various areas of the brain, whether that be hand-eye coordination, using the 5 senses, or more academic and STEM related activities.

 

Let’s Sing

Singing and music are highly beneficial for overall child development. That’s why every unit includes a simple fun song for you to sing with your child(ren).

Want more songs or don’t like a suggested song? Check out this list of Simple Preschool Songs: https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/big-list-of-simple-preschool-songs/

 

Let’s Read

Taking time to sit down and read with your child(ren) offers countless developmental benefits, sets them up with a lifelong love of reading, and is fun. Each unit includes a book suggestion that (mostly) lines up with the theme.

Also, check out my board, “Books for Toddlers and Preschoolers”: https://www.pinterest.ca/sjlittleauthor/books-for-preschoolers-and-toddlers/

 

Let’s Sing a Christian Song

The Christian elements of each unit are optional. They have been included since many of our subscribers appreciate them. However, you are free to skip them.

Want more Christian songs? Visit: https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/7-simple-christian-songs-for-preschoolers/

 

Let’s Read a Bible Story

Developing a love for God through reading the Bible is invaluable to the Christian life. To help you begin instilling truths about who God is in your child’s heart, every month will have a suggested Bible story. More specifically, every month will include a recommended chapter from the Beginner’s Bible. The Beginner’s Bible is widely available for purchase. If you already have a different Children’s Bible, you are welcome to use it to follow along instead.

For more information visit: https://www.thebeginnersbible.com/products/

 

  

Supplies Needed

AAL curriculum strives to be low hastle. Part of this is accomplished by using supplies you likely already have on hand. That said, for the 2 Year Old Add A Little Curriculum, among other things, you will need:

  • Paper (coloured and white)
  • Washable children’s paint
  • Unused sponges
  • Masking tape or other tape that can cleanly peel off walls and floors
  • Crayons
  • Recyclables such as cardboard boxes and various sizes of washed plastic yogurt or margarine containers, etc.

 

Tips For Success When Using Add A Little Curriculum

How do I get my child to participate in the activities?

  • Engage

    • Two year olds love to play with you. If your child doesn’t immediately engage in an activity, sit down and do it yourself for a few minutes. Encourage your child to participate with you. Cheer them on when they do join in.
    • If they still don’t want to join in, don’t sweat it. Put the activity aside and assess what their reason for not engaging might be (tired, hungry, feeling too wiggly, etc.). Try the activity again in a few days.

  • Adapt

    • Every child is different. You know your circumstance and your child’s abilities and interests. Take a moment to consider the suggested activity, then adapt it to your own situation.

  • Repeat

    • 2 year olds enjoy repeating activities until they have mastered them. While the Add A Little curriculum only provides two activities in each unit, these activities can be repeated several times throughout the month, and during the following months as well.

  • Less Is More

    • Did you know that young children play better with less toys at a time? Try putting away most of their toys before attempting to engage them in a new activity. Putting most of their toys away also allows you to do toy rotation. If you haven’t tried toy rotation, read this article https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/toy-rotation/ . You’ll be amazed at the difference it makes to your child’s play.

Disclaimer

All activities require adult supervision and discretion.

Every aspect of the Add A Little Curriculum is suggested with the expectation that it will be done under adult supervision. Some activities include potential hazards. You and your child(ren) participate at your own discretion.

Every child, family, setting, and circumstance is different. Recommended tips and/or activities in this curriculum may work well for some children but not for others. Adult discretion is required. In some cases, you will need to adapt the curriculum to fit you and your child(ren)’s specific needs.

Units 

Every month, one new unit is released. Here is a list of units that have already been released:

Unit 1 – Zoom!

Unit 2 – Let’s Wash

Want More?

Do you want to receive notification of each new unit of the Add A Little 2 Year Old Curriculum when it is released? Join S. J. Little’s preschool email list today.

 

 

Helpful Links

Smoother Transitions: https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/smoother-transitions/

Choosing Excellent Books https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/choosing-excellent-books-for-preschoolers/

Big List of Simple Preschool Songs https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/big-list-of-simple-preschool-songs/

Toy Rotation https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/toy-rotation/

Clean Up – 1.9 – Add A Little

Posted on by S. J. Little

 

Add A Little – 1 Year Old Curriculum – Unit 9

Clean Up

Vocabulary: Find, Pick Up, Container, Put In

Tent, Blanket, Build, Knock Over

Disclaimer: All activities require adult supervision and discretion. Read more…

Want to learn more about Add A Little Curriculum? Check out the Parent / Teacher Guide

Let’s Wiggle

Pick Them Up Game

Supplies:

  • A set of 8-15 small to medium toys. Could be almost anything. Consider:
    • Bean bags
    • Balls
    • Pompoms
    • Cars
    • Stuffies
  • A basket or box that holds all the toys

Time to Play:

  • Show your child the basket of toys and explain that you are going to play a pick them up game.
  • Dump the toys on the floor. Work together to pick up all the toys.
  • Consider singing the Clean Up Song while you pick them up (see video below).
  • Optional: for children who have a solid grasp of colours, consider challenging them to pick up the toys by colour: “Can you pick up all the yellow ones?” “Now pick up the red ones.”

Let’s Explore

Toy Insert

Supplies:

  • 10-20 small items. Consider:
    • Plastic chain links
    • Q-tips
    • Standard playing cards
    • Washable markers (if your child cannot open them yet)
  • A container to hold the items. Consider:
    • A yogurt container (clean)
    • A cardboard box

Prep:

  • Cut a slot in lid of the container that is a bit bigger than the items you are using.
  • If your cardboard box has a handle hole, consider using that as your slot by setting the box on its side.

Time to Play:

  • Model for your child how to insert the items into the container.
  • Encourage them to try.
  • Optional: Extend the fun by setting the container at one end of a hallway while you stand at the other end with the items. Hand one item to your child at a time. Encourage them to run to the container to insert the item.

Let’s Sing

The Clean Up Song

Let’s Sing

Christian Song

Jesus Loves Me

Let’s Read

Clean-Up Time

Author: Elizabeth Verdick
Illustrator: Marieka Heinlen

Coat Flip Trick

Posted on by S. J. Little

 

Getting a toddler or preschooler ready to go outside can be quite the hassle. This is even more the case when one or two teachers must prepare a whole class of children to go outside.

Here’s a simple trick your child can learn to enable them to independently put their coat on.

How young is too young? I learned this trick from a preschooler whose parents taught him to put on his coat this way. Then, when my daughter was one and a half years old and desiring independence, I tried teaching her. Within a few days she was happily putting on her coat all by herself (though I still had to do the zipper).

 

 

The Coat Flip Trick

 

  1. Place the unzipped coat on the floor or a low ottoman with the hood towards your child.
  2. Direct your child to put their arms into the sleeves of the coat.
  3. Help your child lift their arms straight in the air, flipping their coat over their head.
  4. Assist your child with doing up the coat zipper or buttons as needed.

 

There you have it. A simple little trick to make your day go so much smoother.

Parent / Teacher Guide – Add A Little Curriculum – 1 Year Old

Posted on by S. J. Little

 

Add A Little – 1 Year Old Curriculum – Intro

Parent / Teacher Guide

 

Intro

Why name a curriculum “Add A Little”? Because that’s exactly what this curriculum is designed to do – add a little enhancement to your child’s development by providing ideas and activities for you to do with them. This light curriculum was developed with the busy parent or caretaker in mind. It is divided into monthly units of repeatable activities.

 

Activities For 1 Year Olds

Every 1 year old develops at a different pace. The Add A Little 1 Year Old Curriculum is designed to be easily adapted to your toddler’s developmental level and interests. Units 1-5 target children aged 12-18 months while units 6-10 focus more on activities of interest to children aged 18-23 months. Units 11-12 are optional Christmas and Easter themed units designed to hold appeal for ages 12-23 months.

Check out the Tips for Success below. 

Table of Contents

Materials

Each Unit Includes:

  • Theme
  • Vocabulary
  • Let’s Wiggle
  • Let’s Explore
  • Let’s Sing
  • Let’s Read
  • Let’s Sing a Christian Song

Tips For Success When Using Add A Little Curriculum

Disclaimer

Units

Helpful Links

Materials

To keep things easier for you, most of the materials used in the Add A Little 1 Year Old Curriculum are things you likely already have or can access inexpensively. Some activities call for recyclables. If you don’t already, I recommend washing and collecting various recyclable items since they can make excellent toys. More specifically, recyclable materials you will need this year include:

  • Paper towel tube (or a couple of toilet paper tubes)
  • One aluminum pie tin or similar (holes in it are fine)
  • Several plastic containers with lids from things such as yogurt, margarine, grated parmesan cheese, or cream cheese
  • (Watch out for lids that are too small, thus creating a choking hazard.)
  • Cardboard boxes, including one big one
  • One clean egg carton

 

Each Unit Includes:

Theme

Each month, all activities will be loosely based around an age-appropriate theme.

 

Vocabulary

Try to find opportunities to incorporate the suggested vocabulary words throughout the month so that your child can learn to recognize them.

 

Let’s Wiggle

These activities involve full-body movements. Your child will strengthen their big muscles (gross motor muscles) and improve their coordination. Did you know that exercise and big movements are important for brain development too?

 

Let’s Explore

Here you will provide your child with an opportunity to investigate and manipulate intriguing materials. These activities often involve hand-eye coordination and smaller muscle strengthening (fine motor muscles).

 

Let’s Sing

Music is an important part of brain development and it’s fun! Each unit will include one suggested simple song. Sing this song often throughout the month so your child can learn it.

Want more songs or don’t like one of the suggested songs? Check out this list of songs including classics and originals: https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/big-list-of-simple-preschool-songs/

 

Let’s Read

Being read to is an important pre-reading experience. Books also help expand your child’s vocabulary and general knowledge base. If you don’t have the book I recommend, you could check with your library or buy it. If you don’t want to buy the book, no problem. Try searching for something similar at your local library.

Here are some tips for finding good books. https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/choosing-excellent-books-for-preschoolers/

Also, check out my board of recommended books for toddlers:

 

Let’s Sing a Christian Song

Each unit includes a bonus Christian song suggestion for those who are interested. Not your thing? That’s fine. Feel free to skip over this part. Want more Christian songs? Visit: https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/7-simple-christian-songs-for-preschoolers/

  

Tips For Success When Using Add A Little Curriculum

How do I get my child to participate in the activities?

  • Model Then Encourage

    • One year olds love to copy. If your child doesn’t immediately engage in an activity, sit down and do it yourself for a few minutes.
    • Once you’ve set an example of how to participate, encourage your child to join you. Try handing them one of the pieces. Cheer for them when they do join in.
    • If they still don’t want to join in, don’t sweat it. Put the activity aside and assess what their reason for not engaging might be (tired, hungry, feeling too wiggly, etc.). Try the activity again in a few days.

  • Adapt

    • Every child is different. That is perhaps never more true than when considering 1 year olds. Some one year olds can walk, others can’t yet. Some can talk, others just aren’t there yet. Some put everything in their mouth, others rarely put anything in their mouth. You know your circumstance and your child’s abilities and interests. Take a moment to consider the suggested activity, then adapt it to your own situation.

  • Repeat

    • 1 year olds thrive on repeated activities with slight tweaks to give them just a little more to explore each time. While the Add A Little curriculum only provides two activities in each unit, these activities could be repeated several times throughout the month, and during the following months as well.

  • Less Is More

    • Did you know that young children play better with less toys at a time? Try putting away most of their toys before attempting to engage them in a new activity. Putting most of their toys away also allows you to do toy rotation. If you haven’t tried toy rotation, read this article https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/toy-rotation/ . You’ll be amazed at the difference it makes to your child’s play.

 

Disclaimer

All activities require adult supervision and discretion.

Every aspect of the Add A Little Curriculum is suggested with the expectation that it will be done under adult supervision. Some activities include potential hazards. You and your child(ren) participate at your own discretion.

Every child, family, setting, and circumstance is different. Recommended tips and/or activities in this curriculum may work well for some children but not for others. Adult discretion is required. In some cases, you will need to adapt the curriculum to fit you and your child(ren)’s specific needs.

 

Units 

Here is a list of all 12 units:

Unit 1 – Open and Shut

Unit 2 – Mountains

Unit 3 – Down

Unit 4 – The Simple Things

Unit 5 – My Body

Unit 6 – My Fingers

Unit 7 – My House

Unit 8 – Buildings

Unit 9- Clean Up

Unit 10 – My Turn, Your Turn

Unit C – Christmas

Unit E – Easter

Want More? 

Do you want to stay up to date with new activities and resources as they are released? Join S. J. Little’s preschool email list today.

 

 

Helpful Links

Smoother Transitions: https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/smoother-transitions/

Choosing Excellent Books https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/choosing-excellent-books-for-preschoolers/

Big List of Simple Preschool Songs https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/big-list-of-simple-preschool-songs/

Toy Rotation  https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/toy-rotation/

Preschool, Playschool; Daycare, Day Home, What’s the Difference? https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/preschool-playschool-daycare-day-home-whats-the-difference/ 

 

Ways to Engage Preschoolers with Stories

Posted on by S. J. Little
Woman talking to her laughing toddler

Some children get excited for storytime. Other children are restless and simply cannot be bothered to pay attention at storytime. Some adults enjoy reading picture books to their children. Others do not. Regardless, engaging children through story is valuable for pre-reading development.

I hope this helps you on your journey of engaging preschoolers with stories.

Why engage preschoolers with stories without reading a book?

As a preschool teacher, here are some key reasons I would tell a story without using a physical book:

  • Children who have a limited grasp of English, whether due to speech delays or English being a second language, find it hard to follow long strings of words.  Many picture books have a lot of words with only a few storyline clues in the pictures. Several of the methods recommended below show the action of the story rather than just telling about it.
  • Some children have a hard time sitting still in general. Using new and unusual ways to tell a story catches their attention far better. Later, as they learn to follow and enjoy stories, they may be more able and willing to sit for a picture book.
  • Sometimes the child has already heard the story you are telling many times before. They get bored and fidgety because they know exactly what’s coming. This is an important indicator for the storyteller that it is time to find a different story or a new storytelling method to help capture the attention of the audience.

Methods of storytelling

The possibilities are endless, but here are a few ideas to get you started. Keep in mind, you don’t have to make up your own story. Find an engaging preschool book you enjoy and retell the story using one of these methods.

  • Toys as props
    • Lego/Duplo – If you have time beforehand, you can build whatever building or vehicle the story requires. Better yet, ask the children to help you build it, then set it aside until storytime.
    • Small dolls or animals (stuffed or plastic, etc.) – I recommend using small dolls or animals, especially ones that can bend as needed for the story (some dolls can’t sit down).
  • Playdough
    • Some stories might lend themselves well to playdough. It would likely be best to pre-build all the props you will need, or at least practice building them so that you can make them quickly without losing the children’s interest. Think ahead about how you will make sure all the children can see what you’re doing.
  • Act it out
    • Stand up, put on a hat and play the parts yourself. Only some stories will work well this way, especially for preschoolers. Alternatively, allow the children to be actors. However, here again, I caution you to be intentional to keep things fair.
  • Felt board
    • Felt boards or flannel boards might seem old fashioned, but the children love them. You can buy felt board sets to use that correlate with specific stories or buy generic sets of farm animals or community workers. Also, consider cutting your own shapes out of felt or paper with velcro on the back.
  • Puppets
    • Puppets can be store-bought or homemade. Children thoroughly enjoy puppets with or without a puppet theatre to hide behind. If you don’t want to make the puppet talk, have them whisper in your ear and then repeat what they “told” you, such as:
      • “What’s that, Mr. Rabbit?” “Oh, you’re looking for your carrot?” “Mr. Rabbit says he wants us to help him find his carrot.”
  • Cut out paper shapes
  • Picture book pages
    • When it comes to preschoolers, you don’t have to change things much to make it seem brand new and exciting. Do you have a picture book with a spine that is falling apart? Consider cutting all the pages out and laminating them. Then you can hold up the pages, one at a time, while you tell the story. I encourage you to number the pages for your own reference. Laminating the pages will help them last far longer.

Tips

  • Know the story
    • Whether you make up your own story or retell a story from your favourite picture book, the most important key to storytelling is to know the story well. If the story is written down, read it over several times and practice paraphrasing it. If you need to, write cue cards to jog your memory of the order of events. If it is a repetitive story such as Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle, try writing out the first few stanzas to help you get started.
  • Know your audience
    • If the story you want to tell is too complex, or otherwise not age-appropriate, you will lose your audience. It isn’t so much a matter of whether the child is a five year old or a two year old. Rather, pay attention to where they are at developmentally. When you tell a story, watch for cues that they are not following a too complicated story or that they are bored since the story is too simple. This, of course, gets tricky when you have more than one child and a range of developmental levels.
  • Make eye contact
    • Once you’ve learned the story inside out, you won’t have to be looking at the words on the page. This frees you to make eye contact with the children as you are telling the story. Eye contact makes storytelling more personal and engaging.
  • Consider the setup
    • Think about how you can hold whatever props you might be using so that all the children can see them. For larger groups, you may need to sit on a chair while the children sit on the carpet. Or if the children are in chairs, you may need to stand. A child who can’t see the props will find it much harder to be engaged.
  • Involve the children
    • Find ways to involve the children in the story. Some of the methods in the following bullet points work well to enhance the reading of a picture book rather than telling the story without using the picture book.
      • Let them fill in blanks: A key way to do this is by letting the children say parts of the story based on clues you provide. For example, when I’m reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, I might say “Brown bear, brown bear what do you see? I see a…” then wait for a child to tell me what picture/prop I’m showing.
      • Include actions: Some stories lend themselves well to actions. Kitten’s First Full Moon, by Kevin Henkes, is a good one for this. You can encourage the children to wiggle their noses or pretend to climb a tree with the character.
      • Ask questions: Pause the story from time to time to ask a question. The question could be in line with the story: “Do you think he will do it?” “How did that make her feel?” Or the question might be a side comment that enhances general knowledge: “What colour is her shirt?” “How many buttons does he have?” Be careful to watch for signs of your audience’s engagement with this one. Too many questions, or miss-timed questions, can break the flow of the storyline.
      • Hold props: Most children love being allowed to hold the props, but I caution you on this one. Be very careful about fairness. For small groups of children, or one on one storytimes, allowing the child to hold the props, or find whichever prop you need next, can be excellent. However, if you have a large group of children, but only two props, it may cause arguing over who gets to hold it. On another note, once you’ve let the children hold the props for one story, they may beg to hold them for all future stories. Therefore, consider carefully whether this powerful engagement tool will be beneficial in your setting.

Other resources

Need something simpler, yet still engaging? Check out my post about 7 interactive preschool books. These are a great way to engage a child with picture books who won’t sit for most books. sjlittle.ca/preschool/7-fantastic-animal-guessing-books-for-preschoolers 

For a list of my favourite stories see my Pinterest board: www.pinterest.ca/sjlittleauthor/preschooltoddler-books-s-j-littles-favourite 

Other picture books I also recommend: www.pinterest.ca/sjlittleauthor/books-for-preschoolers-and-toddlers 

What are other ways you’ve engaged preschoolers with stories?