Preschool Tips - Getting & Maintaining Attention

I hope the beginning of the school year has been good for everyone. So many of you have emailed me asking for preschool tips for getting and maintaining your children's attention.

Try using the element of "surprise" with your children. It is almost foolproof and your kids will respond quickly.

Here are a couple of ideas that have been sent to me from my readers. They use my surprise tactic as well and show just how easy it is to grab their attention.

Hands on Head
When the kids are out of control I simply state loudly, " Everyone, HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!" Its so funny to see, all of them drop what they're doing and place their hands on their heads. They all think it's fun and quickly the room falls in to control.

Preschool Mad Libs
When my kids get restless during story time or singing time I will often incorporate their names, a silly word or phrase, or leave blanks for them to "mad lib" and give me a noun, verb or adjective to spice it up.
For example:
Ask: "Goldilocks sat down on mama bears chair, but it was too... what?" "Scratchy!"
Sing: "Ryan's workin' on the railroad, all the live long day..."

These egocentric little people are always up for being the star of the show, and unless I let it get too silly they usually stop being so fidgety and can focus on what we are doing.

Keep your ideas coming in and I'll share them here for all.

If you like these preschool tips, you'll love the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

Check them out:

http://www.preschoolplanner.com/thefullstory.html


Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


PS: If you would like to receive my free newsletter for more ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

http://preschoolplanner.com/preschool-activities.html

Toddler Preschool - Hands On Play

If you're classroom includes toddler preschool age children, it is important to remain aware of developmental expectations of two year olds.

Your two year olds experience play and activities much differently than your three and four year olds. If you keep the following tips in mind you will provide the best learning environment for your toddler preschoolers.

Hands-on experiences are the best kind of play. They learn much quicker than if they are told or “talked to”.

**This is also an excellent reason why it is better to not do worksheets at this age.

Toddlers need to have playmates around. Even though they may not play with another person at this age, they are always paying attention to what is going on around them and what their peers are doing.

Their emotions are close to the surface. Think of them as a light switch—one minute they might be happy and suddenly they are sad; they can go from calm to agitated in a second. Your best approach is to stay calm yourself and be patient.

Activities, projects, and play time allow us as teachers and caregivers to share valuable time together in a meaningful way. We can observe how they are learning and where we can enhance their opportunities.

If you like these toddler preschool teaching tips, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

http://www.preschoolplanner.com/thefullstory.html

There are Two Editions now for the Preschool Planner: Basic or Platinum.

If you prefer lessons which have ideas for the Toddler Age, go here to the second volume of lessons. There is an entire bonus section devoted to TODDLERS.

http://www.preschoolwhiz.com/v2.html

Send me any ideas you would like to share and I will post them on my Blog.

Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com