I needed to take the time to do a couple dial 3 assessments for transition conferences that will be held tomorrow. I am stoked . Both girls doubled their scores since the beginning of the year. How amazing is that ? I will be doing the other children’s assessments in April and feel positive they […]

Have you ever been really sad or angry but did not know how to verbalize it? Sometimes children feel that way too. That’s why visual supports throughout our classroom are important. At the beginning of the year we tried these bracelets that are different colors. The colors symbolized different emotions. The idea behind their purchase […]

I think the thing we most forget about children is that they don’t know a skill until they experience it or it is taught to them. There is an old saying that you don’t know what you don’t know. But when you do know- do better. So when they do something that is less than […]

The lack of phonemic awareness is the most powerful determinant of the likelihood of failure to read . -( Adams , 1990)  What is phonemic awareness? Phonemic awareness is understanding that the words that we speak are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A child who is phonemically aware is able […]

Today the kids finished up their valentine treat for their friends. Over four days they used a different medium to decorate a small heart. Today they took a list of the children’s names and picked out a special heart for each one and glued it under their name. Theoretically the whole piece is one art […]

One of the moms came in today and said… ” Are you guys doing yoga? ” Why yes, we are. Right now we’re just learning a few poses. We do it during family time when we’re already focusing on being mindful about our breath for calm down techniques. So far we have learned the mountain […]

This week we’re still digging a little deeper into the discussion of consequences. While delivering consequences there are three intentions. 1. You have the intention to punish by making children feel guilty or bad. This is done by losing your temper and saying things like ” you knew better than to do this. I am […]

I remember the days of treasure boxes. I had an old sewing box that was painted gold. I had carefully chosen Jewels hot glued to the top that made it extra special. When children did something special or had a amazing day they were allowed to get something out of the treasure box. There was […]

Hopefully you listened to my two vlogs yesterday explaining how I messed up. I have consequences too. My consequence was the feeling I had when I made a mistake in maintaining peace and safety in my classroom. It was not a great feeling. There are seven powers in conscious discipline and one is the power […]

Yesterday we talked about punishments today we will dig a little deeper into consequences. Consequences teach children how to solve problems and show children that mistakes are opportunities to learn. Consequences rely on reflection and personal responsibility. Consequences provide intrinsic motivation to use or learn new skills consequences and focuses on what to do instead. […]