IDK if this will interest anyone but I've always liked thinking about how fun it would be to have a "preschool" for littles. Basically a place where your inner child would be safe to be present, but with some structure instead of the chaos of regular day care. For my own tumblr a while ago I wrote down what I always envisioned for the very beginning of the day and thought maybe some of you would find it interesting or fun to read. If people like it I'd love to talk about my other ideas, but it's ok if not!
First, I saw this idea on another blog and I think it's genius!
Before the day starts and we're waiting for everyone to come in, the students can decorate their own name/pronoun tags. If you can't write, someone will help you!
Once everyone is here, everyone come to the carpet for circle time, but first, we do the wiggle dance! everyone get those wiggles out! get ready to learn!
Now that everyone's ready to use their listening ears, take a spot at the rug! no pushing or fighting over who gets to sit where.
don't forget to grab a carpet square so your butts aren't in each others' personal space!!
Everyone take three deep breaths, in through your nose and out your mouth. Good, now we're all focused and calm. First thing, my "assistant" takes attendance. The person who does this job needs to be confident and know how to read.
They chant: "Teacher, teacher are you here?"
I reply: "Yes, yes, I am here!"
And they go through the entire class roster. If someone isn't present, we reply in unison, "No, no, they're not here!"
We have some new friends in the group, and I think we should all introduce ourselves. We'll sing the name-learning song to help.
I start: "my name is teacher, teacher, teacher, my name is teacher, what's your name?"
little one, speaking: "my name is sophie and my pronouns are they/them"
group: "their name is sophie, sophie, sophie, their name is sophie, what's your name?"
And we go around until we sing everyone's name! (it's okay if you're too shy to sing, though, no one has to if they don't want!) Even though we have name tags this is a way to really be introduced to each other properly. Plus it helps anyone who struggles with reading! And just like that we're all friends!
Then we look at the job chart and see whose job is what for the day. If you've been assigned something you don't feel you can do, it's ok to tell us! If someone wants to trade with you, that's fine, and if they don't, a big person will take care of it and find you a different job.
What's a job chart? It's a big list of all the jobs that need doing in a classroom. For example, you could be assigned to be:
Assistant teacher (takes attendance - we have a song for that too of course!, lead lines and hold doors when necessary, helps hand out worksheets/coloring sheets)
Newscaster (checks the weather, adjusts the calendars)
Custodian (sweeps after snacktime and at the end of the day)
Librarian (helps everyone choose a book at rest time if they want one, brings books to and from circle story time, put books away at the end of the day)
Busboy (wipe tables after meals and puts used dishes in the sink to be washed later)
Waiter (sets out plates and snacks, pours water if able)
Babysitter (helps everyone choose a plushie at rest time if they want one, tidies nap corner after rest time, puts stray toys away at the end of the day)
Gardener (mists/waters plants if they need it, checks to make sure plants look healthy, looks in on the class pets to make sure they look happy)
Some jobs can be two-person jobs, or combined into one, depending on class size.
A classroom is a team, and everyone should be proud to do their part to keep their classroom in good shape!
Jobs are for big kids! If you think you're not big enough for your job, just let someone know and we'll solve the problem!
And now we need our class meteorologist! This job is super important because it has a lot of steps. First we all sing "What is the weather, the weather, the weather, what is the weather like today? LIKE TODAY-DAY-DAY!" while our intrepid helper goes to the window to lean outside and check. They will then report back and adjust the calendar for us, then make the date accurate! It's a difficult job but someone's got to do it!
And finally, we need someone to go get a marker and mark off today on the paper calendar. Make sure to tell us if there are any holidays or special events that day!
Then we have share time. Everyone WHO WANTS TO can tell us something interesting that's going on in their lives or an interesting fact about themselves. It's ok to be quiet too! But if you really want to tell us about your pets, or the fun trip you just went on, or going to see a movie you were excited about, please do! Or just tell us about yourself!
And that ends circle time! We do the wiggle dance one more time to get rid of any wiggles we missed last time, and then we go on to our first activity of the day!
