Sewing Table-A Collaborative Fine Motor Experience

Sewing is a great activity to do with young children to develop their fine motor abilities.  I have a low table in the classroom with about a three inch lip all around it.  I stapled and then duct taped a large piece of burlap to cover the entire table leaving a large community sewing surface.  I then threaded and tied a needle full of colorful yarn to each corner.  

Documenting And Reporting The Power Of Play

As an advocate or the belief that children learn best through play what are you checking for in terms of progress? As a preschool manager who holds the same beliefs I would love some advice from you on progress reports for parents who see writing and number recognition as their top priorities for school readiness.  Your views would be greatly appreciated.  

I received this great question the other day on my facebook page, Playfully Learning, and wanted to share my answer as many of you may be faced with similar challenges.  

I teach in a private nursery school in Connecticut.  We do follow the state guidelines for our objectives, The Connecticut Framework.  This has thirty objectives across several domains: Personal & Social, Physical, Cognitive and Creative.  My staff is responsible for creating environments and activities that will foster development in children across these areas as well as assessing their progress on each of the objectives. 

Oh, Lovely Snow! A Literacy Activity

We recently read one of my favorite books to read with young children, Mrs. Wishy Washy.  This is a predictable book with a repetitive pattern and lively funny illustrations that lends itself very well to children rereading it independently.  It is about some animals who decide to frolic in the mud much to the chagrin of their keeper, Mrs. Wishy-Washy.  It is a terrific book to act out.  One of the activities we did with this story is to create our own version of it.