Hey Sheryl, thanks so much for this! You just boosted my courage to paint with the new young toddlers in our 2nd week of Summer Camp. My last class painted all the time but when starting over with a new set of kids, it's easy to forget that the rules have to be taught and practiced all over again. It just feels so nerve-wracking at first, even after 35 years of new beginnings 😄 😄
Hello ! I love your videos. I didn’t know if you would consider a video on nap times in the classroom. Tips to keeping children on their mats ? What strategies do you use in your classroom ? Thank you 😊
Since my classes are only in the mornings, we don't have nap times. However, it's a popular topic in my Facebook group, if you'd like to join: facebook.com/groups/349498425589921
Hi! Awesome tips as usual! I am changing classrooms this year and my new room is basically half the size of my old one! I would love any tips you have on setting up a small classroom, what’s the most important? Organization? Centers? All the things please! Thanks so much!
My previous classroom was quite a bit smaller than my current one. I learned to be creative with every inch of space. Our science area, for example, was on the top of a low shelf in our block area. Our circle time area was also the block area during centers time. Our main tables were for art during centers, for snack when we ate, and then for table activities towards the end of our day. Don’t forget to use your vertical space. You can attach an easel right on the wall, and/or a felt board. We are lucky to have a nice storage room so that I could rotate toys and materials on a weekly basis. I had to be very mindful of how much was in the classroom so that it wasn’t cluttered. You can find older posts in my website that show my previous classroom, if you want a visual. teaching2and3yearolds.com
Thank you so much for sharing! It's easy and creative! I wanted to ask you, when do you wash kids hands? Right away? And how do you introduce kids to art tools? During circle time or during the centers time when they are coming to tables? Also , how many assistants you have?
We are required to have the children wash their hands before and after eating and after using the toilet or getting a diaper change, but it's not limited to those times. I show how the art tools are used as the children come up to the art table. I have one full-time assistant and one floater (who is with us during centers time).
@@efremchik Our sink is right next to our art table, so that makes it very easy for the children to wash when they are finished with their art activities. But handwashing, as I stated in my earlier reply, is not limited to these times.
Thank you Sheryl My daughter will be almost 2. She used to paint 🎨 a bit with those watercolors but now she’s been folding the paper telling me “like this “ because she saw us do a paper airplane and completely ignoring the paint Any suggestions for her to be interested to paint again
I love this idea. I noticed that the children do not wear paint shirts. DO you have the children wear paint shirts or just have them change clothes after they are done painting?
Children don’t have to wear smocks unless we are using materials that I am not certain are washable (that’s every rare and usually a special activity). I let the parents know in our back-to-school meeting that their children will get messy and to wear play clothes that wash easily. The children also keep a full set of clothes at school, so if we can swap their clothes if necessary.
Hi, I love these video's, thank you so much for sharing. Can I just ask about aprons? In my setting I find it quite stressful getting children to wear them and often have to jump up from an interaction with another child if I see a child begin to paint without one. It can also a negative experience as most children don't want to wear one, then they don't want to engage. However, we get a lot of complaints from parents if they get paint and pens all over their clothes. Also our two year olds are expected to wear a uniform, so you can imagine how the parents feel about it. In other settings we have always stressed to wear old clothes as they will get messy. Do you have any advice? Many thanks.
@@zoecooke3730 - I’m not the one to ask on advice about wearing aprons because we don’t make our children wear them for the reasons you mentioned. Plus we found they would still wipe their clothes with painted hands by reaching under the smock. I tell my parents at open house how their children will get paint and other materials on their clothes and to please send them in “play clothes”. We do use washable paint (except special gifts where it might be acrylic and then I do have them wear smocks). I’ve never had a parent complain in my 26 years of teaching. Educating parents is so important.
