Being an early childhood educator requires the ability to learn from others and the desire to keep learning. A great teacher is always looking for way to adapt and support their students. One of the best resources for a teacher are other teachers, knowledge gained from other teachers is priceless. Here is a list of some of the best websites for early childhood educators and the reasons why I love them.
• https://teachpreschool.org
o I love this site because the creator has over 30 years of experience and she values the importance of play and movement in the classroom. She also documents classroom activity in a way that lets the reader observe. One of the best posts on site is about circle time. Ten Tips for Circle Time (https://teachpreschool.org/2013/03/25/ten-tips-for-circletime/) is great because she explores using movement and interaction during circle time making it a whole group activity rather than a sit and listen activity.
• https://happyhooligans.ca/
o This is another great blog that values play in the early childhood classroom. This blog is a fantastic resource for crafts and activities that encourage learning through play. The creator has over 20 years of experience running a preschool. One of the best resources on this blog is the crafts that go along with literacy and other core subjects. https://happyhooligans.ca/bird-nest-egg-craft-preschool/ The craft listed here is a great one to make with younger students after reading the book and talking about birds and eggs.
• https://www.simplykinder.com/
o This blog is a resource heaven! So many ideas and free printable resources, it literally is a tool for the classroom. One of the best ideas on this blog is the use of music and dance in the everyday. There are resources for songs associated with letters, colors, numbers etc.… Many hands-on resources and ideas to engage students. I think that movement, play and hands on learning is key for future academic success and this blog has numerous supporting resources. The post on the importance of “Brain Breaks” is one of my favorites and has a list of songs to use in the classroom. https://www.simplykinder.com/brain-breaks-old-school-kindergarten/
• https://differentiatedkindergarten.com/
o This blog is cool because it is tailored and designed to meet the needs of a classroom with many different learning needs. I think that this is important because the reality is that our classrooms are more diverse in so many ways and we need to meet the needs of each individual student. The creator is very structured and organized and I like that she incorporates a lot of pictures to give you a good idea of what she is doing. Her classroom is extremely organized and labeled making it easy to learn. Her ideas are great starting places for forming your own classroom. She has a great post on centers, center schedule and classroom set up for this type of learning. With lots of pictures this post gives you a great idea of what works in her classroom. https://differentiatedkindergarten.com/setting-up-for-a-successful-year-of-daily-5-in-kindergarten/
All these blogs offer great resources for early childhood educators. It takes a village and I hope that there is something in these blogs that can help you create your classroom.
