Posted by Teacher Ria in Lesson Plans, Preschool, Teaching Resources, Tips and Tricks | 1 Comment

Teacher Made Resources: Alphabet Dress Up Cards

I was able to dig up one of my old teacher made materials just in time for our class discussion on clothing. I made this probably five or six years ago and I was amazed that it still existed!

When I first made this, what I had in mind was integrating academic concepts to a “fun” game. As such, I created a paper doll, a farmer to be exact. The goal was to dress up the farmer with articles of clothing that matched based on the letter seen on his hat. I guess you can see what I mean in the photo

Cute, don’t you think? hmmm….maybe I should patent this right about now hahaha!

Posted by Teacher Ria in Arts and Crafts, Teacher's Corner, The Library, Tips and Tricks | 2 Comments

My Concept Wall

It’s been over a month since classes started and I realized I still have not posted what my classroom concept wall looks like. With no further ado, here it is!
The caterpillar is actually a recycled one from my Toddlers days but I love it so much I decided to keep it, even if my students don’t really need it. For the calendar, I decided to up the ante by having the kids master the concepts of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

My favorite feature, however, is the reading train. My co-teacher painted that over the summer There are a series of pockets which currently hold our various word lists. An alternative I was thinking of is tracking titles of books we read throughout the month. Fun idea, huh?

Join in and jump aboard the reading train!

Posted by Teacher Ria in Teaching Resources, Tips and Tricks, Toys and Playthings | 0 Comments

Homemade Face Paint

Whenever I host or help out in kiddie parties, I notice that the activities that gain the most attention are face painting and tattooing. While finding affordable temporary tattoos that are hypoallergenic and of good quality is relatively easy, finding the face paint is not as easy.

I’ve tried several homemade recipes for face paint. Some are quite simple to make and use common household ingredients such as night cream, corn starch, corn syrup and food coloring. So far, however, I can’t find one that offers the same consistency as that of store bought face paint. Plus the food coloring seems to stain the skin and clothing.

Do you have a good homemade face paint recipe you can share? If so, please leave me a comment

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Teacher's Corner, Tips and Tricks | 0 Comments

Prepping the School Emergency Kit

Among the many things we have to do in preparing for a new school year is to check up on all the emergency supplies our school has. This includes updating insurance policies, refilling the fire extinguisher and checking on the contests of our emergency kit. We make sure that the medicines and ointments are not yet expired and that we have the necessary first aid equipment.

Here are some things we try to keep on hand in the emergency cabinet:

• Betadine or other antiseptic ointments
• Alcohol
• Cotton and cotton buds
• Band-aids
• Over-the counter medicines including paracetamol
• Tweezers for splinters
• Hydrogen Peroxide

We also try to make sure we have first-aid medical equipment such as an ambu bag and a  wristech blood pressure monitor in case one of the teachers, nannies, parents or whoever suddenly experiences a hypertensive attack. Also, we coordinate with the local emergency service because there are some emergencies that really are beyond our capability of dealing with. I remember one time we had a major medical emergency which involved one of our staff members who suffered a miscarriage. Since then, we have made sure that we are equipped to handle any emergency that comes our way. It’s also great that there’s a new hospital that opened about 5 minutes away from our school. This sure helps us make sure we are ready for anything that may happen. Of course, more than having this, we try to make sure we provide the kids with a safe environment that will ensure their well-being always.

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Arts and Crafts, Tips and Tricks, Toys and Playthings | 0 Comments

Learning from scraps and household items

During the summer, it is customary in the preschool I work in to do a general cleaning where we get rid of all the old junk and make room for the new stuff that will come in for the upcoming school year. However, every year we seem to find more and more bits and pieces of scraps that we teachers can’t seem to let go off because we transform them into learning materials. We have a shelf-full of all sorts of odds and ends, from toilet paper rolls to old party hats, scraps of cloths and buttons, as well as all kinds of things you wouldn’t really think of keeping! Even old office papers find a home in our school. See that tall stack of white papers just waiting to become artworks?

Although it may look like a mess, this is a source of endless fun, adventure and learning, not just for the kids but even myself as their teacher! Teacher-made materials are excellent learning tools because you can design it to cater particular themes or needs your students have. Plus it can come out more cost-effective, especially if you teach in the Philippines where educational toys are quite expensive.

Here are some fun things my students and I have done with scraps and household items we’ve used as learning supplements in class:

Toilet Paper. I use these to measure my kids’ heights by taping to to the wall and counting how many squares tall they are. To further extend the lesson, we compare the number of each student then we put it in order from least to greatest. This teaches them sequencing, comparing greater and less than, and other math concepts

Gumamela flowers to make bubbles or other fallen flowers and leaves for drying or incorporating to handmade paper.  To make our handmade paper, we’ve used old window screens for straining and draining the paper pulp pressed together. Sometimes the paper comes out quite thick so we end up using this to make picture frames or other crafts.

Old water bottles are big favorites for kids! Whether its filling them up with colored water, stones or whatnot, they love shaking it around and are quite fascinated by what goes on inside the bottle! If you’re lucky, you can find those little connectors that allow you to put together two bottles to make one of these tornado bottles It works best though if the water bottle is the thicker kind of PET bottles.

Making Christmas crafts from leftover paper plates and cardboard is also a good way of harnessing a child’s creativity and fine-motor skills.

Wondering what to do with old tires? Make them into playground swings! A word of advise though: be careful when cutting the rubber because there are a lot of steel wires on the inside. We had this done by our school carpenter and he sanded down the wires and we wrapped them up in protective sealants before painting it.

Old egg trays or cartons can also be great ways to teach kids colors, one-to-one correspondence, matching and classification. This also helps stimulate a child’s thinking skills. For older kids, instead of using just colors, you can integrate other concepts to it. Ive also used old egg trays as 3D tic-tac-toe frames

Old newspapers and scratch papers are great for paper maché projects!

These are just a few things I’ve done (and have pictures to show of!) but there are so many other ideas to explore. One of my other favorite household trash items I love to use are toilet paper rolls!!! They’ve become musical instruments, bahay-bahayan toys and even presents made by the kids for mom and dad.

So, whenever you have trash at home, think twice about what can be done with these. Just be crafty!

Posted by Teacher Ria in Life Lessons, Teacher's Corner, Tips and Tricks | 0 Comments

And the Underdog, Kris Allen takes the win!

I have always loved rooting for the underdog, albeit  I may enjoy the popular choice better. This years American Idol finale was no execption. While I enjoyed watching the outlandish and lavish performances by crowd favorite Adam Lambert, I secretly crossed my fingers for an upset.

And an upset we all got!

In the latest idol shocker, Kris Allen, the quiet and understated crooner, won the coveted American Idol title leaving many Lambert fans in shock at the results. Immediately after the win the clamor of the upset filled microblogging sites. However, let me, Teacher Ria, take this moment to savor the win of the underdog.

Posted by Teacher Ria in Tips and Tricks | 2 Comments

The Value of Money.

One thing my mother always tried to teach me is the value of money. I don’t really know if she was successful because up to now, I tend to be an impulsive shopper. However, one thing I know for sure is that she taught me that money does not grow on trees.

From an early age, she never really “gave” me money. I say this because she always taught me that if I wanted money, I have to work for it or at least deserve it.  After all, she would say, hindi lang napupulot ang pera (you can’t just pick money off the streets).

Posted by Teacher Ria in Tips and Tricks | 1 Comment

How My Mom Taught Me To Read in Cool Summer Classrooms

Maybe the words “learning” and “summer” do not make the most appealing combination. I’m sure for most students the idea of learning during the summer is the last thing on their minds. However, just because classes are out does not mean learning has to end. Summertime is a great time to explore other interests, talents and skills. Like I always say, learning should not be confined to the four walls of a classroom!

My favorite outside the classroom “classroom” is the beach.

While most parents opt to enrol their kids in sports, creative arts, or even reading/math enhancement programs, my mom used to take me to the beach for summer. We’d stay for extended periods of time, thus not allowing me to have enough time to enrol in whatever program during the break. However, it wasn’t always fun and games while I was at the beach. It was during these vacations that I learned that learning is indeed cool and fun, even in the summer.

Posted by Teacher Ria in Tips and Tricks | 5 Comments

Picking the Right Shoe.

As early as now, I’m sure many mommies and daddies are already gearing up for the upcoming school year. Although I would suppose shoes would be the last thing parents would look for, especially since kids’ feet grow oh-so-quickly, let me offer my two cents worth on picking the right shoe for your kids, especially for preschool-aged children.

There are many websites around offering suggestions and tips on how to shop for shoes for the kids. They talk about comfort, taking the kids along to fit each pair and not just rely on a particular number as a size, and so on and so forth, but as a preschool teacher, these for me are the most practical tips to keep in mind, and perhaps a reason why I feel this way:

1. Pick a shoe that does not have shoelaces that need to be tied. In my practice, I have seen many accidents caused by shoelaces. For safety reasons, I always advice my parents to purchase shoes that do not have these. Aside for safety, shoes with laces sort of defeat my the purpose of teaching the child independence. Perhaps when the child is in the Seniors level/Prep, laces would be okay because they can manage to tie their shoes already. But two, three year olds, not too great.  Nowadays, however, there are shoes with laces that do not need to be tied, just like this one:

2. Should the shoes your child already has have shoelaces, using devices such as the Bow Biter is a good alternative. These were quite popular when I was a teenager, but went out of the market for some time. According to my friend Google, these are now available again. In the Philippines, however, I’m not too sure.

3. Velcro is your best friend. Of all types, I love shoes with velcro for kids best. Unlike regular slip-ons, these types of shoes have enough strapping to tighten its hold on their little feet and yet lessen the need for someone to help them put it on. In the same manner, rubber shoes/running shoes with velcro gives them opportunities for independence.

4. Sling-backs. I think any type of footwear for toddlers should have some form of a strap or sling to hold them in place. These are also easy to wear. Clog-type shoes or flip flops without the slings are a little difficult for them to manage.

5. Always pick a rubber soled shoe. 97% of kids will not sit quietly in school or in a playground. They will run, explore and climb! With rubber soled shoes, the kids can be safe as they explore. This is also quite comfortable for them.

6. For young kids, avoid shoes with wheels, heels, cris-crossing straps and buckles for one simple reason: it’s dangerous. Perhaps another reason I would personally avoid heels for kids is because their balance is not that great yet, plus this may be a cause for foot damage. I’m no podiatrist, but I would that my philosophy about the whole heel thing makes sense.

I am not battling with the shoe industry here, but offering my suggestions to parents to allow them to have a more educated decision making process for buying shoes for their kids.

Incidentally, this Saturday, April 25, Skechers, an award-winning shoe brand, is holding a Sponge Bob and Dora Wave Party at the Bonifacio Global City Open Field from 2-6pm. Entrance is free! The kids can enjoy a day of fun and games while mom and dad scour the Skechers booth for some fab shoes at 30% off.  Plus the kids get to take home all sorts of goodies!