Garden Center in the Preschool Classroom

For the last couple of weeks, we have been turning our block area into a Garden Center. Here are some of the items we have added on the shelves. Most of it was donated by parents.

Of course, no plant study would be complete without actually planting seeds, so here are some photos of the kids planting. This was one of their favorite things. They love watching them each day to see if they've grown!

During planting, we asked the children lots of questions about what they were doing, what they think would happen to the seeds, what the seed would need, etc.

Here are some of the pictures the children drew as they observed their plants starting to grow. Yes, we do have a student named Daisy and one named Lilly :)

And we also took a nature walk around the school to see what types of plants we could find and make some more observations. Some of the children used clipboards to draw a picture of what they saw.

To incorporate math, we graphed our favorite flower using some pictures we found in a magazine. Each child wrote their name under the one the like best and explained why. Then we counted how many friends liked each and compared which had the most and which had the least.

 Here is a very rudimentary chart I made using real nature items I gathered up to show the life cycle of a dandelion as well as some other types of seeds. Sorry it is difficult to see with the tape reflecting light. It could have been a lot neater had I had more time to spend on it, but this still works.

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHERE I LINK UP

Thinky Linky Thursday: Birthday Edition!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEE!!!

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Here are the featured links from last week:

30 Earth Day Ideas for Preschoolers by Preschool Powol Packets

Water Play with Slippery Spheres by Mama Of Many Blessings

Thanks so much to everyone for linking up! I was pleased to see so many new blogs linking up last week and hope you are all back again this week! It would be a lovely 31st birthday present to see 31 or more link-ups this week, so tell all your friends!!!

Wishlist Wednesday: Herding Kats in Kindergarten

This week's guest blogger is from Herding Kats in Kindergarten. Please take a moment to stop by and check out all the classroom ideas, resources, and best of all FREEBIES!

 

Hi all! This is Jennifer from Herding Kats in Kindergarten! I am a mom of 4 (ages 5 to 12) and the proud teacher of 19 superfirsties in Oklahoma. I am thrilled to be guest posting on Wishlist Wednesday! When Lori first invited me, I really had nothing on my Wishlist, but then I walked into the kindergarten class across the hall and saw something I really wanted! It was after school, and I went to pick up my son Joshua, who for some reason hadn't come straight to my room at the end of the day. When I walked in, he was siting at a table with his teacher, a few students who hadn't been picked up yet, and our Title I coordinator. They all looked incredibly serious as they gathered around a colorful gadget on the table and they were suspiciously quiet. This is the gadget they were so intent on:

Turns out that Joshua's teacher was using The Eggspert as a kind of quiet game! The Eggspert would randomly choose a color and whoever's color it was would have to sit silently for 10 seconds while the Eggspert ticked down. If they could be quiet for that 10 seconds they got a little candy. What a great way to help a child learn self-control! It was clearly very difficult for one of the students to stay silent - she had to cover her eyes and mouth with her hands and her whole body was shaking, but she did it! It's only 10 seconds, but you can increase the time as they get more self-control. I thought it was a great idea to use with those itty-bitties that haven't mastered sitting still or not talking. A lot of our kinders come to us with no prior school experience, so they find it very difficult to wait patiently, to sit still, to stay quiet etc. What a fun way to work on those so-important skills! 

 Mrs. McKelvey also uses it to randomly choose tables to line up for lunch or which tables get to go to free choice centers first. But, it's so much more than just a fun classroom management device. It also functions as a kind of Jeopardy buzzer system. Just divide your class into 6 groups and assign each student in the group a number. Then assign each group a color on the Eggspert. Now you can have the different tables play against each other as you review concepts. Every child with a 1 in front of them holds the buzzer first and buzzes in if they know the answer. Then they pass the buzzer to the student with a 2 in front of them and so on. This way no one fights over the buzzer and everyone gets a turn! 

The Eggspert is great for making concept review fun - it's easy enough to use that kindergartners and Mrs. McKelvey can figure it out (she is one of those adorable technologically inept people - I frequently have to help her reply to an email or reset her Smartboard - so if she can do it, anyone can do it!). When I get one for my classroom I know I'll use it to practice spelling words, as well as addition and subtraction facts. At the beginning of the school year I can even use it to review procedures, for example, "Who can show me the proper procedure for walking in the hallway?" might be one of my questions. 

 I also have to give a shout out to Educational Insights for standing behind their product. Mrs. McKelvey had some trouble with hers and emailed the company, which sent her a brand new Eggspert! You can't beat customer service like that. In short, The Eggspert is on my Wishlist and hopefully I will be able to add it to my classroom before next year! 

Thanks again to Lori for letting me share my Wishlist, please drop by Herding Kats In Kindergarten and say hello!

Visit from OSU Dental Students

Some dental students from Ohio State came to our class a couple weeks ago and did some activities with the kids. They split the class up into 2 groups. The first group was sorting felt foods into 2 categories: Foods that make your teeth happy and foods that make them sad.

The second group got to dress up like dental hygienists and pretend to clean teeth and put in fillings. Then when each group was done, they switched.

The kids really had a blast! The dental students were so good with the kids and I would recommend doing this in your classroom! The only regret I have is that we didn't know about it until an hour before they showed up, so we didn't have a chance to do any activities or discussions leading up to their visit.

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHERE I LINK UP

My Absence

Hello All! I feel like I have been neglecting all my lovely readers the last couple of weeks. It has not been my intention, however, my dad has been going through some serious health problems. I have been visiting my parents a lot and have barely had time to do anything, so I sincerely apologize. I know you all understand though as you have families as well and know that they come first. My dad did have surgery to have his kidney removed last Friday and is currently recovering. Any thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Meanwhile back on the blog, I have gotten away from doing Storytime Sunday and Motivational Monday and after this week, I don't have anymore Wishlist Wednesdays scheduled. I will keep up with Thinky Linky Thursday unless something major happens. But for now I am postponing the others until further notice.

I am sorry for any inconvenience this causes anyone. Also, I am willing to take volunteers for Wishlist Wednesday, I am just not actively seeking guest bloggers at this time. 

I am hoping that once summertime comes, I will be able to get myself back together, but even that I can't promise. I am doing my best and I appreciate all who continue to visit Cachey Mama's Classroom and link up on Thursdays!

Thinky Linky Thursday

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Featured this week on Thinky Linky Thursday:

The 5 Senses from Mama of Many Blessings

And both from Criss-Cross Applesauce

Jelly Bean Color Game

Jelly Bean Pattern Mats

Congrats! Seeing as both the ladies at Criss-Cross and Mama of Many Blessings already have my featured button, I won't post it up this week.

Wishlist Wednesday: Mama of Many Blessings

Nicole is my guest blogger for this week's edition of Wishlist Wednesday. There are tons of wonderful resources on her blog, so be sure to stop on over there and leave a comment or 2!


Hello everyone. I am Nicole from Mama Of Many Blessings, I was so very honored when Lori asked me to be Wishlist Wednesday guest blogger! Her Wishlist Wednesday series is a  wonderful series, I have enjoyed reading!

First and foremost I am a daughter of Christ, second I am a wife to an amazing husband of 13 years, and I am also a mama to 6 blessings, Serena(13), Dustin(12), Cody(10), Anthony(8), Ethan(4), and Gabriel (2). I blog over at Mama Of Many Blessings, sharing about our homeschool journey, arts, crafts, recipes, hands on learning, and of course our life with 6 kids (3 special needs) which can get quite interesting and yes, crazy sometimes. I started blogging as a way to connect with other homeschool moms, and as a hope that someday my kiddos will be able to have the blog to look back on all the fun homeschool experiences we have enjoyed during our homeschooling journey.

I had a hard time trying to think of 1 thing at the top of our classroom wish list, but I finally was able to come up with something that would be a huge help to our classroom along with our house, something I have wanted for a while now. An indoor sensory gym. First off we are a family who is not into much television, as the matter of fact we don't even have cable, we do have Netflix, but the kids are VERY limited on what they are allowed to watch, so keeping active and having other options for the kids is something that is pretty high on our list. Although having 5 boys is enough in itself to need somewhere for them to get their energy out on rainy days or during the winter when it's to cold to stay out for long, but having 3 boys with sensory issues just makes the need even greater.

The sensory gym is a kit you buy and put together yourself, my husband is good at that stuff, so he would be the lucky person to have to put it together for me. When you add in the gym, wood, ladder/monkey bars, a rope ladder, and a safe floor under the gym comes with a price tag around $500. Of course if you had to pay someone to put it together it would cost more.

Source: kidsdreamgym.com via Nicole on Pinterest

So there you have it our #1 wish for our classroom/home what child wouldn't love something like that in their house/school. I can't wait for the day my wish becomes a reality! Thanks for taking the time to hear our Wish. Please take some time to stop by and see all the fun we are up to at Mama Of Many Blessings!

Thinky Linky Thursday

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Thanks again for all the great link-ups last week! There were so many great Easter and spring ideas. Here are the most clicked links:

Easter Egg Hunt Game from Preschool Powol Packets

Toddler Easter Basket from Two Sasters

Hungry Bunny Toddler Game from H is for Homeschooling

List of First Readers from School Time Snippets

Paper Tree Tutorial from Think Magnet

If you were featured, feel free to grab a button below!

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Wishlist Wednesday: Traditions, Laughter and Happily Ever After

This week's guest blogger is Vicky from Traditions, Laughter and Happily Ever After. You should definitely stop by and check out her creative ideas and all her awesome freebies and give-aways! Don't forget to become a follower and leave some comments while you're there :)

Hi there everyone ~ I'm Vicky from Traditions, Laughter and Happily Ever After. I was thrilled and honored when Lori asked me to do Wishlist Wednesday for her over here. I have been teaching for...gulp - 18 years and have seen a lot of changes in education over that time. I teach at a wonderful school in southern California just north of San Diego. I could come up with SEVERAL ideas for my wishlist but after doing a little research and talking to my principal I would have to say iPad(s) for the classroom. I found this photo/link from Pinterest - it has lots of great ideas on how to use iPads in the classroom.

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We share our campus with a special needs preschool and each of the preschool teachers got 3 --- yes you read that correctly 3 iPads for their classrooms about a month ago with special ed funds. They came with these super cool, thick, spongy protectors so there would be no damage even if dropped. The possibilities are endless with an iPad as far as classroom use. But after researching about the use of them I discovered that there is strong evidence that digital technology in the classroom ( such as iPad's ) has been proven to have very positive effects on the learners. It has shown to
* improve confidence levels
* improve attitudes towards learning
* improve student engagement
and even improve student attendance
Now what teacher wouldn't want those benefits on top of just the fun and wonderful opportunity of having the iPads in the classroom...it would be so great! Well I appreciate the invitation to come on over and be a guest blogger. I do wish I had a magic genie or wealthy donor's choose benefactor here to help me out and grant me my wish -- LOL Thanks again Lori! ~~ Vicky

T.E.A.C.H Awards

Sorry, I completely missed March for the T.E.A.C.H Awards, so here they are just a little late :)

T-Thrifty

Mirror Mirror Castle

The Chocolate Muffin Tree

E-Educational

Spring Addition Game

Love Those Kinders!

A-Artsy

(I couldn't decide, so I chose 2)

Easter Egg Spin Art Garland

The Imagination Tree

A-Artsy (#2)

TP Roll Flower Egg Craft

Little Family Fun

C-Creative

10 Ideas to Foster Creative Play with Kids

Inner Child Fun

H-Hands-On

Lighted Easter Egg and Water Beads Sensory Bin

Train Up a Child

Congratulations to those who were featured. Please feel free to grab one of the buttons below!