Structured Play

Every classroom teacher knows how crazy the classroom can be from Halloween to winter break. There are fun community activities, holidays, and a lot of excitement! I learned instead of trying to fight against the hype, to channel the excitement into projects!    This time of year the necessary elementary classroom routines become dull and have a harder time keeping student interest. So what better time to introduce project-based learning! I feel strongly about learning about the culture and traditions of others. In my classroom, over the years I have learned traditions celebrated in holidays I was familiar with and traditions from holidays I was not aware of previously.  This project was created to provide a way for students to share their personal family traditions during this exciting time being all-inclusive and without making religious statements.  Project Objective: The students will each select and read a picture book to the class asking questio...

Joey enjoys turning his sensory box into a make shift kitchen. This month their are beans, a toy pumpkin, gords and counting blocks. He poured and stirred the beans making sure all other items were out of the box. He used the pumpkin to make pumpkin pie and we pretended to eat it. He also spent time counting the blocks and the beans. Remember the purpose of a sensory box is to explore texture, pouring, scooping. From there it is up to their imagination! Let them explore and pretend!

We have a new baby coming and a wedding/vacation coming up so I wanted to get the plans ready and for both! I have chosen an Airplane Theme this month because we will be taking our first airplane trip with the kids. Yay! (I think.) I am hoping these activities will be fun and help educate the boys before we make the venture. I will try to post more but am just having a hard time keeping up. I figure the plans are the important part, right?!? I want to reiterate a few points before the download: 1. My plans are not meant to be completed in any specific order. Each day is different and Structured Play time should be a fun learning experience. Pick an activity or activities that fit the mood of your child for that day. 2. Practice activities more than once because repetition is key to gaining new skills. 3. READ, READ, READ- Read everyday and reread stories to allows your child to "read" the books themselves. This is a first step in literacy. 4. Walk Away- Try to keep St...

Hard to believe it is December already! We are spending December talking about Christmas. I hope you join us for this busy month! Remember repetition is key so activities should be repeated throughout the weeks. December Activities

Welcome to Autumn!  We are finally feeling cooler weather to match the changing of the leaves. Fall is upon us and we are loving it! While the leaves are changing around us we are going to take time to enjoy nature and all of its changes. Won't you join us? November Plans Resource Document

Fall is here and it feels oh so good! Windows open, cool breeze flowing! This month our Theme is Pumpkins. We will spend time on alphabet and number practice as well as spending time working on motor skills and the always fun crafts! Keep checking in for free printables and examples of each activity. October Plans  

Well, my little guy is now 3 years old! It is so hard to believe! Now that he is 3 I have decided to change our Structured Play time a bit. I have a new format for the plans and a new plan for our daily schedule. Jacob is doing great and I am very proud of his progress. I have decided to make goals for each week and try to hit 5 activities in a week. I am sure we will be doing repeats of activities but my goal is hitting 5 new a week plus Letter of the Week. I want to hit letters and numbers and a craft each week. September Plans   As far as literature this month, I have chosen to take a different approach now. We will be reading and rereading one theme book a week. I want to instill in Jacob the importance of re-reading. I want to hit the same story repeatedly so that we can to some pre-reading practice with him. More on that to come. Hope you are "Playing" along with us!

August is my favorite month of activities! Jake loves all things construction so this month, his birthday month, I spend on all construction themed activities. Now don't get me wrong he loves animals, farming, the beach and all the other themes but construction is his favorite! Which makes it my favorite as well! You will see how much fun teaching is when the child is really into it! Let me reiterate a few points before the download. 1. My plans are not meant to be completed in any specific order. Each day is different and Structured Play time should be a fun learning experience. Pick an activity or activities that fit the mood of your child for that day. 2. Practice activities more than once because repetition is key to gaining new skills. 3. READ, READ, READ- Read everyday and reread stories to allows your child to "read" the books themselves. This is a first step in literacy. 4. Walk Away- Try to keep Structured Play time FU...

This month is an Animal Theme! What Toddler doesn't love animals? Jacob spends most everyday playing/pretending with animal toys. I love this month's activities and can't wait to get started. We will be out of town for the first week of July so posts will not start until next week. Go ahead and get a jump start without us!  I want to reiterate a few points before the download: 1. My plans are not meant to be completed in any specific order. Each day is different and Structured Play time should be a fun learning experience. Pick an activity or activities that fit the mood of your child for that day. 2. Practice activities more than once because repetition is key to gaining new skills. 3. READ, READ, READ- Read everyday and reread stories to allows your child to "read" the books themselves. This is a first step in literacy. 4. Walk Away- Try to keep Structured Play time FUN. If things get frustrating to you or your child, walk away and pick up where you le...

Beach Theme Ah, how I would love to be there right now! Last year we had our first beach vacation with Jacob. I wanted to make sure he knew exactly what we were going to be experiencing. This year we are not going to the beach! :( But we are still using the theme to learn about the ocean, sea creatures, and shells. I want to reiterate a few points before the download: 1. My plans are not meant to be completed in any specific order. Each day is different and Structured Play time should be a fun learning experience. Pick an activity or activities that fit the mood of your child for that day. 2. Practice activities more than once because repetition is key to gaining new skills. 3. READ, READ, READ- Read everyday and reread stories to allows your child to "read" the books themselves. This is a first step in literacy. 4. Walk Away- Try to keep Structured Play time FUN. If things get frustrating to you or your child, walk away and pick up where you left off ...

We're back!!!! We have moved and unpacked. It was an exhausting process but it is over and hopefully we will be here a long time! In the mean time we are ready to get back to our Structured Play time! I have decided to change things around a bit. I had been doing our 30 minute/ 1 hour Structured Play time in the late afternoon. That worked for over a year but as Jacob grows and changes I feel the need to make some changes to our schedule. We will start our Structured Play time in the morning during the baby's morning nap. I think this will work better on a couple of accounts; in the morning Jacob will be more focused and we will not be distracted by the baby. I want to reiterate a few points before the download: 1. My plans are not meant to be completed in any specific order. Each day is different and Structured Play time should be a fun learning experience. Pick an activity or activities that fit the mood of your child for that day. 2. Practice activities more than on...

This month I chose to focus on Dr. Seuss. March second is Theodore Geisel's (Dr. Seuss) birthday. Dr. Seuss books are wonderful early reader books and provide amazing fun! We will continue to use the Letter of the Week  activities for about 1/2 hour a day and Seuss activities a 1/2 hour.     I want to reiterate a few points before the download: 1. My plans are not meant to be completed in any specific order. Each day is different and Structured Play time should be a fun learning experience. Pick an activity or activities that fit the mood of your child for that day. 2. Practice activities more than once because repetition is key to gaining new skills. 3. READ, READ, READ- Read everyday and reread stories to allows your child to 'read' the books themselves. This is the first step in literacy. 4. Walk Away- Try to keep Structured Play time FUN. If things get frustrating to you or your child, walk away and pick up where you left off the...

Pin It This month I chose to focus a bit on Valentine's Day and a little on firemen. Jacob is loving firemen right now so I wanted to use his interest to infuse some of the skills I am trying to build. Many of the activities I planned for this month were found on Homeschoolcreations.com and 1plus1plus1equals1.com . These websites are great resources. I had planned to start Letter of the Week last month but we did not get started. Look for the start of a Letter of the Week this month! I am going to be adding Letter of the Week activities for about a half hour a day. Our Structured Play time has stretched to about an hour a day and now I want to cut that in half. We will do our Monthly Theme activities for a half and hour and Letter of the Week activities for a half and hour a day.     I want to reiterate a few points before the download: 1. My plans are not meant to be completed in any specific order. Each day is different and Structured Play time should...

Pin It Happy New Year! A new year is upon us and I am excited for some large strides this year! Jacob is really showing a lot of learning and I feel he is ready for so much more! Look for the start of a Letter of the Week this month! I am going to be adding Letter of the Week activities for about a half hour a day. Our Structured Play time has stretched to about an hour a day and now I want to cut that in half. We will do our Monthly Theme activities for a half and hour and Letter of the Week activities for a half and hour a day.  I want to reiterate a few points before the download: 1. My plans are not meant to be completed in any specific order. Each day is different and Structured Play time should be a fun learning experience. Pick an activity or activities that fit the mood of your child for that day. 2. Practice activities more than once because repetition is key to gaining new skills. 3. READ, READ, READ- Read everyday and reread stories to allows your ch...

This month we are going to be spending time learning about Christmas. I have every intention of teaching my son about other December holidays but at this time he is not clear on Christmas let alone being ready to learn about other holidays. Since we celebrate Christmas I decided to focus on Christmas again this year. I want to reiterate a few points before the download: 1. My plans are not meant to be completed in any specific order. Each day is different and Structured Play time should be a fun learning experience. Pick an activity or activities that fit the mood of your child for that day. 2. Practice activities more than once because repetition is key to gaining new skills. 3. READ, READ, READ- Read everyday and reread stories to allows your child to 'read' the books themselves. This is the first step in literacy. 4. Walk Away- Try to keep Structured Play time 'fun'. If things get frustrating to you or your child, walk away and pick up where you left off t...

This month we are going to be spending time learning about Pumpkins and farming. I did the Pumpkin Theme last year and have used some of the same activities upgraded for a 2 year old and added other activities.   I want to reiterate a few points before the download: 1. My plans are not meant to be completed in any specific order. Each day is different and Structured Play time should be a fun learning experience. Pick an activity or activities that fit the mood of your child for that day. 2. Practice activities more than once because repetition is key to gaining new skills. 3. READ, READ, READ- Read everyday and reread stories to allows your child to 'read' the books themselves. This is the first step in literacy. 4. Walk Away- Try to keep Structured Play time 'fun'. If things get frustrating to you or your child, walk away and pick up where you left off the next day. Remember it is Structured PLAY, you are not preparing for SAT Exams. Enjoy every minute! Octobe...