What is “W” sitting?Marianne Gibbs, EdD, OTR/LGibbs Consulting, Inc. “W” sitting occurs when children sit on the floor with their legs bent in the shape of a “W”. Observe your students today and see how they sit on the floor at school and home. Do they sit in the “W” position?             Why do children “W” sit?Children may develop a habit for ...

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now   Last year, I had a post here with Montessori-Inspired April Showers Activities. Today, I decided to add some Montessori-inspired May flower activities. I used some great free printables I found online to create the activities. The hands-on activities in this post are for preschoolers through first ...

Hello again from Ayn at little illuminations!   In our Pre-K classroom, most of our art is process focused. Occasionally, though, we do a product focused project like this one. During NAEYC's ''Week of The Young Child'' this year, our school had special activities that were planned (not by me) for each day. One of the suggested ideas was for ...

WHAT ARE CHILDREN CAPABLE OF? Perhaps a better question would be what are they NOT capable of?  Great to have you back visiting my blog, which is part of collaborative blog here at PreKandKsharing.  It's always a pleasure to share what I've learned from children and my fellow teachers with all of you from around the world.  Enjoy!Enrique, Founder ...

THE MONTH OF MAY! WELCOME!!!It's time to turn another page on your calendar. Debbie Clement of RainbowsWithinReach here. Queen of this collaborative effort. Happy monarch of sharing: rainbows, polka dots and learning new things. I'm so excited about today's article. It's FILLED with sights and sounds and inspiration and joy and color and ideas ...

Connecting the “DOTS”             Hello from the International Reading Association’s annual conference in San Antonio, Texas. As luck would have it, I am presenting a seminar entitled “The Power of Parents: Building School and Home Connections,” based on a series of kits I have developed. The kits train parents, teachers and administrators how ...

Hi!  I'm Miss Carole of Macaroni Soup! Active Music for Kids!  Today I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking!  But a few wise words in preface: ''The more participation there is with music early on — through singing and movement — the more it simultaneously activates multiple levels of the brain. If you look at the corpus callosum ...

APRIL SHOWERS BRING “MUD!” It is that time of the year when I watch the plants poke their little heads through the damp, cold, muddy earth.  Every child should have the chance to see this spring event.  They should be able to predict: what will happen as the flowers grow what color will they bewhat kind of flower is it (daisy, tulip, etc.)how ...

Hello again and Happy Spring from Ayn at little illuminations!  We have been learning about weather in our class lately. Even though the calendar says Spring is here, it has still been unseasonably chilly in our area. We've talked a lot about the weather and how certain weather conditions happen. Our discussions have led to several science ...

I am Marianne Gibbs (Dr. Mari) and thrilled to be a new contributing author to PreK and K Sharing!  As an occupational therapist, national early childhood educational speaker, and creator of Fine Motor Skills…Write Out of the Box, I address fine motor development of young children via keynotes, once-in-a-lifetime workshops, resource materials, and ...