I’m a graduate teacher starting a new position next week at a kindergarten (4 year olds), and I’m very excited about it! I was told I’m likely to be doing group time in the afternoon on my first day and I’m a little nervous.

I was just wanting to reach out to try and build my toolkit of group/mat/circle time ideas. Whether it’s a song, book, game, routine, transition, discussion, or a whole combination, any ideas or suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

My kiddo is 3.5, and recently started at a new daycare/preschool. All of the kids in his class are 3 or 4.

He does still usually nap at home, and I know that it's required by licensing in our state to offer a nap. What I'm concerned about is what happens when he refuses to nap, which has been happening quite a bit. If the kids aren't asleep, they seem to expect that they will sit quietly on their mats and look at books, without getting up at all, for TWO HOURS. This doesn't seem realistic at all for my child.

We're at an impasse because my kiddo is frequently not sleeping, then (unsurprisingly) refusing to just sit still for hours, and then running and making noise in the room and waking up other children. They took him to director's office once (he told me he "got a timeout in there because I wasn't sleeping"... nap-related discipline is not legal in our state), and now the teachers have brought it up multiple times to me because he is waking up other kids.

What is actually happening here? I don't think their expectations are developmentally appropriate. I know the staffing ratio drops if all of the children are asleep. Are they really confining kids to 2-foot mats so someone can go on break and they don't have to hire a floater?

Is this a normal preschool outing or should I complain? Open camel cart, no rails, city road, 3-year-olds, road with busses and trucks and known for drunk truck drivers a single horn can make camel go wild. And Indian truck n bus drives they honk as hell.

What are your suggestions on joining the pta in your child school

Take your little ones on a calm and peaceful learning journey. Follow the adventures of Twinkle.

We kept missing little things hidden in long messages. Dates, forms, things to bring, schedule changes, random theme days.

For a while I was just forwarding everything to my partner and one of us would add the important stuff to the calendar. Eventually we got tired of doing that manually and built a small app for ourselves called Plancove:

https://plancove.app

It’s been really useful for us. What do you all use to keep track of this stuff?

If a preschooler is interested in letters but checks out when an activity feels like a lesson, try a short sound hunt. Pick one familiar beginning sound, then walk around one room together looking for things that start with it. Say each word slowly and let the child decide whether it belongs. A few silly guesses from the adult ("Does banana start with mmm?") keep it playful and make it easy for the child to correct you.

Stop after three to five finds, even if it is going well. The next round can use toy animals, foods at snack time, or names of people the child knows. For bilingual families, doing one brief round in each language can work better than expecting the same objects to match in both.

No worksheet or scoring is needed. The useful part is listening, moving, taking turns, and choosing words together. If the child starts inventing nonsense words for the target sound, that can simply become the game.

Learning colors just got more fun!

Tiny Steps Curriculum Color Sorting Jars activity gives little learners a hands-on way to practice color recognition, matching, sorting, and fine-motor skills while they play. Perfect for preschool, Pre-K, childcare, homeschool, or learning centers! 🎨✨

Simple, colorful, and made for busy little hands. 💛💚💙🩷

Does creative curriculum change their plans every year? We are team teaching and it seems like it’s so much coloring, cutting n laminating n getting a lot of art projects ready ahead of time !!! Is that the usual model? I’m at a new school n we prepared plans n materials for the entire month of September. TIA 🙂

Hi everyone!

I’ve been working on creating calm, accessible read-aloud stories designed for young children and early language learners. I put together a 27-minute compilation featuring 8 classic stories (including The Three Little Pigs, The Little Red Hen, Goldilocks, The Tortoise and the Hare, and The Three Billy Goats Gruff).

The focus is on clear, slow-paced narration and simple visuals—great for quiet time, story circle reinforcement, or as a resource for ESL/ELL students.

Feel free to use it in your classrooms if it’s helpful:

[Link to Video: 8 Classic Fairy Tales & Fables Compilation] (https://youtu.be/Z7SmJsZfHUA)

I’d also love to know: what classic stories or themes do your students respond to best during read-alouds?

If your child knows what they want to say but struggles to put their ideas into sentences, you're definitely not alone. ❤️

I put together a simple Writing Practice Pack with activities that help kids practice:

✏️ Sentence Building

📖 Story Writing

💡 Creative Writing Prompts

🖼️ Picture Writing

💬 Dialogue Writing

✍️ And much more

The goal isn't just to make kids write more — it's to help them think creatively, organize their ideas, and become more confident writers.

I can share a best printable writing activities here if anyone would like to try them with their kids. 😊

I created this January check-in activity for middle and high school students to help them pause, reflect, and set goals for the new year.

It includes prompts for:

Looking back at the past month

Checking in on how they’re doing

Identifying something they want to improve

Creating a simple reset plan

Choosing a word/focus for January

I designed it to be easy to use as a quick January SEL activity or classroom check-in.

I’d love to hear what other teachers use for New Year reflection activities with their students!

I’m an ECE in Toronto and I’ve been putting together a small Mandarin playgroup for young children. We do songs, stories, games and simple activities in Mandarin rather than traditional sit-down lessons.
We’re meeting again this Sunday morning in North York, and I was wondering if there are other parents here with children around 2–5 who might be interested in this kind of activity.