Hit!  Pinch!  Kick!  Punch!                                      Wow!  Bam!  Pow!  Slam! Miss Carole from Macaroni Soup here.  What’s happening in our classrooms?  Why are Kindergarteners getting into fist fights?  Why can a three year old go home with bite marks?  What made that child so mad at me that they roared with bared teeth 2 ...

By Deborah McNelis, founder of Brain Insights and author of, The Brain Development Series.Hopefully it has been a wonderful year for you! Everyone of us either contributing to or following PreK and K Sharing, has been dedicated to making an impact toward happy and healthy children. It is a pleasure to be a part of this wonderful community, so I ...

Yesterday we celebrated Gingerbread Day in our classroom, and the children were delighted. We read three versions of the classic story (over two days), and then we decorated gingerbread men with squiggly white frosting. (One girl said, “this is my mom” as she carefully made two frosting breasts on her cookie…..) They were messy and happy as could ...

I love my class, but boy are they loud.  One child with special needs talks really loudly but has no idea that he does.  When I ask him to speak quietly, he looks either blank or confused.  I guess his voice doesn’t sound loud to him.  Little One is pretty good about using an “inside voice,” but when she loses it, she SCREAMS.  And at least half ...

Last year I felt frustrated about my low increase in scores on vocabulary, so I started making vocabulary cards, using Google Images.  (I make two for each word, so that they get used to seeing different images of the same thing for each word.)  So far this year we have introduced one vocabulary word each day.  Some of our words so far:  dolphin, ...

It’s like Lord of the Flies downstairs in our cafeteria every morning.  Last year was the first year that our school breakfast became a madhouse, and it’s even worse this year. The kids get off the bus, come in the door that’s closest to my classroom, and pass me on their way to the cafeteria.  I used to just wave my breakfast eaters on, and have ...

The afternoon teacher only had 8 kids yesterday, on the first day, in part because her busing was all screwed up.  That was hard, because it was too few kids. I had 16 yesterday, and 19 today, and it was kind of too much.  One of the three new ones has special needs, and spent most of the morning crying, screaming, hitting teachers, or collapsed ...

The Chicago Tribune recently published this article about some Chicago area schools using iPads in preK and kindergarten classrooms. I’m not sure what to think.  On the one hand, I would be really gleeful if I got a bunch of iPads for my class.  On the other….um, what exactly would we do with them? I love the part of the article that mentions ...

There’s nothing a teacher dreads more than being absent and having to prepare for a substitute. In addition to the preparations you have to make in advance, often while you’re sick, there’s always the fear that your students will go bonkers in your absence. I’m sure this has never happened to you, when you’re absent your little cherubs sit ...

He’s still bouncy; nope, haven’t figured that one out yet.  I talked to his mom and she was puzzled.  Apparently he’s pretty calm at home, like he used to be in class.  She said, “He really does love school, though” and I told her, “yup, he bounces in with joy each morning!”  She laughed.  I’m glad I’ve been able to be so positive with her (she ...