The start of the school year is so exciting! New teachers, new friends and sometimes a new school.
For preschoolers, their parents and teachers, the start of the school year can bring anxiety, apprehension, and fear of the unknown. As a teacher I do my best to make sure the parents feel confident that their child will be loved and nurtured when they are in my care. For the students I offer security and do my best to calm their nerves with fun activities, clear easy to understand boundaries, consistency, and of course a lot of hugs anytime they need one!
I have a lot of ‘About Me’ activities that make those first weeks fun, easy, and really bring our class together as we learn how much we have in common and the ways we are different.
One activity the kids really love is an ‘About Me” bag. (I cannot take credit for this amazing idea…I found it on Pinterest and added it to my curriculum) At the beginning of the week I send home a brown bag with a note on the front with an explanation. The idea is to put 3 things in the bag that tells a little bit about who they are. (I used to do 5…but it was too much. You can decide). Make sure names are on the bags, or you will be in a world of hurt…I know this from experience! (LOL). Usually the kids bring a family photo, a small toy they love, and something that is special to them. Each day during circle time I choose 3 kids to show and tell us what is in their bag. Some kids are pretty shy at first and need a lot of questions…and there is always one who just won’t talk in whole group at first, so you may have to do the talking for them. The kids are so excited to show what they have brought and we all learn so much about each other. This activity meets most states speaking and listening core standards, so there is a lot of learning happening as we go!
I will also use this week to talk about our bodies! We trace our hands and see how many buttons will fit in the middle, we mark our height on the closet door-which is so much fun to do again near the end of the year…the kids LOVE to see how much they have grown! I also have made mats and cards for marking the parts of our bodies as we find them on ourselves. The kids love how silly the person on their mats look once they are covered with bright buttons! As part of introducing counting and sorting, I have made mats that say either “I Have 1″ or I Have 2”, we use a different set of cards to sort parts of our bodies such as…eyes…do we have 1 or 2? Most kids in my 3 year old class cannot count much higher than 2 at the beginning of the year, so this is my launching pad for one-to-one correspondence and counting and cardinality-more core standards being met!
All of these activities are simple, developmentally appropriate, meet state core standards, and begin to put the kids at ease while we learn about ourselves, our classmates, and our daily routine. These centers are short enough to make those first center times go smoothly.
All of these centers, along with a daily plan, book suggestions and so much more are included in my “All About Me” lesson plan in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Follow the link below for a detailed preview of what is included.
All About Me! 5-Day Unit/Lesson Plans for Preschool, Pre-K, K, & Homeschool
I will continue with “All About Me” in my next post with some awesome name activities plus I’ll show some examples of my class book pages…an all-time favorite of the kids…and me too!
