Each morning we have time set aside in our day that we call 'Learning Stations'. The children rotate in small groups through four activities. Two are teacher led, two are 'on your own'. We are working on developing routines with the children and modeling how to handle small amounts of time on their own. Each station lasts a short seven minutes right now, until we develop a greater work stamina. The 'on your own' stations serve two purposes: teaching the children to work independently and to build confidence.
One station is always on our class iPads. The children are given one app to work on by themselves. These apps are highly engaging and the children really enjoy managing this learning station on their own. The iPads are locked to one app to eliminate opening and closing several apps.
Sometimes it is hard to rotate away from the iPads, but this is a slow learning process. I know we will get there. We do offer the iPads during free play time, but the kiddos rarely choose them for play time. They really love to play with our toys. Even though this makes our room pretty noisy, I love this. Talking and playing alongside friends is why we are together!
The other 'on our own' activity takes place on our rug. The children have Daily 5 and Math tubs with familiar games and activities. All the activities in these tubs have been taught in small groups in the last few weeks. Because the activities are familiar to the children, and are 'games' they encourage the children to participate. We are still working on choosing partners and working the whole time. (We are just barely over 48 months old, so this will take time but with just under a month under our belts we are really doing some amazing things! )This week the children practiced counting and worked on fine motor skills at the same time. The children counted items on a card and used a clothespin to cover the correct number. The cards are also leveled so as the children show proficiency with one set of numbers they can be given higher numbers to master. The object remains the same, but the task more challenging.
Sometimes it is hard to rotate away from the iPads, but this is a slow learning process. I know we will get there. We do offer the iPads during free play time, but the kiddos rarely choose them for play time. They really love to play with our toys. Even though this makes our room pretty noisy, I love this. Talking and playing alongside friends is why we are together!
The other 'on our own' activity takes place on our rug. The children have Daily 5 and Math tubs with familiar games and activities. All the activities in these tubs have been taught in small groups in the last few weeks. Because the activities are familiar to the children, and are 'games' they encourage the children to participate. We are still working on choosing partners and working the whole time. (We are just barely over 48 months old, so this will take time but with just under a month under our belts we are really doing some amazing things! )This week the children practiced counting and worked on fine motor skills at the same time. The children counted items on a card and used a clothespin to cover the correct number. The cards are also leveled so as the children show proficiency with one set of numbers they can be given higher numbers to master. The object remains the same, but the task more challenging.
Our teacher table tasks were quite impressive too. We told the children we were collecting data. They love when their work sounds important. We took turns rolling a Pete the Cat die and recording the number on a bar graph. We introduced the words more, less, and equal. Our basic goal was to correctly identify numbers 0 - 5 but these guys are brilliant. This will be a task we can move to our Math tubs in no time.
In serious thought
This picture captures a tool we use to help manage our time. It is just as much for me as it is for them. At the beginning of each rotation we start the timer. It is also projected on our Smart Board so the students can see it. At the end of our time an alarm sounds indicating to our Teacher's Assistant it is time to ring the chimes. Our assistant announces "It is time to switch" and the kiddos clean up and stand ready to move on. Even though we are still new at this, most of our kiddos are able to predict which station they will move to. Moving locations in a predictable manner helps the children be more successful and independent.
We also have our very own Handwriting Without Tears workbooks. We have completed a few introductory pages teaching the children appropriate pencil (crayon) grasp, correct pressure, and how to trace lines. Before proceeding with numbers and letters in our books we will spend a few weeks using chalkboards, clay, and stamp screens to become familiar with letter formation.
Handwriting Without Tears is a fabulous program, developed by Occupational Therapists. In addition to our hands on tools, this year we are using two digital tools. All our letters are taught and practiced on our class Smart Board. We also have the Wet Dry Try app on our iPads. While the Smart Board tool is only available for schools, the app is available at the App Store. Follow the link below for more details.
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