You said “yes” to the school board and are planning on teaching a roomful of students within a couple of weeks. You enter the bare classroom with its blank walls, empty bulletin boards, stacks of curriculum, and odds and ends...

Over the years, teachers have become very creative with helping students get through the winter slump–those months between Christmas and Easter when the only hint of vacation or respite is a huge blizzard or ice storm that leaves...

What is a better way to countdown to Christmas vacation as a teacher than with great picture books that focuses on the Christmas and winter season? You can find most of these books in your local public library system. Take the...

Our experience When I noticed that my two year old was not speaking as clearly as his older brother had at his age, I decided to call for an evaluation by the Early Intervention team in our area. A date was scheduled for the team...

This is the time of the year when I start screening students entering the classroom in the fall. For two private Anabaptist schools in the area, I test any new students wanting to apply to kindergarten. If they have chosen to do...

Photo by Jessica Lewis on Unsplash Can we predict if students will succeed or struggle before they begin their school journey? Over the past several years, I have had the privilege of screening students before they come into...

If you missed Part 1 and Part 2, you may want to read them before reading this post. Part 1 looked at the differences between the way American parents and educators seem to view outdoor play for children in contrast to the way it...

If you have missed Part 1 , you may want to read that before delving into this post. Within that post, we looked at the differences between the way American parents and educators seem to view outdoor play for children in contrast...

I spent eight years teaching at an Anabaptist school; and to be honest, the least favorite part of my winter days was outdoor recess. Granted, after I got all my first graders as well as myself bundled up, the sun and crisp air...

It wasn’t until I started teaching first grade that I began to see the seasonal changes in our world through the eyes of a child. Their awe at the trees changing colors, the plentiful bouquets of colorful leaves they delivered...

Image by Jim Varga from Pixabay Communication can make or break your school year. From the onset, you want to be intentional on communicating your expectations to your students and patrons as well as hearing their expectations,...

At the end of a school term, I sent off my students with a list of fifty tasks to complete over the summer . Certainly they were all optional, and some were more educational than others. This year, I want to give you as a teacher...

Image by Markus Spiske on Unsplash Due to COVID-19, many of us are experiencing a longer summer vacation than normal. And even if your summer vacation has not come early this year, many of us have not been able to have a normal...

Image by Виктория Бородинова from Pixabay I realized that I never truly appreciated the change of seasons until I became a teacher and observed the children’s excitement grow with each new discovery of a new season approaching....

For many of our private schools, kindergarten only runs several days of the week or starts in the second half of the school year and may have barely gotten a start before COVID-19 made its appearance and changed the school year...