From Stormie:
I think
the "D'Nealian Handwriting Readiness for Preschoolers, Book 1" is terrific,
by Donald N. Thurber. I especially appreciate his "How To Teach Letters"
sheet that comes with it. The book is for helping children recognize
letters and their proper construction through oral directions and finger tracing.
Although I was
taught to avoid "worksheets" like a plague (and I do for the most part), when
teaching pre-writing skills, I love my "Let's Write" prewriting book, written
by Paula Corbett and illustrated by Jane Shasky. This book has darling
reproducible pages with a Mother Goose theme. Children can practice upstrokes,
downward, horizontal, and oval strokes. As the book states in its introduction,
these pages "assist children in the development of their handwriting while making
the transition from scribble to correct letter formation."
From
Amy:
The Oriental Trading Company
has great things: shaped erasers, linking shapes, manipulatives for math games
(patterns, sorting, and counting). I also got large sized dice to use for
math. I picked up some inflatable chairs to put into my reading center --
just be careful to use them on the rugs, so they don't slip too much. You
can also get lots and lots of crafty things for a good price. Find the Oriental
Trading Company on the web at www.oriental.com/home.htm or call 1-800-555-1212
and ask for the number for a free catalog.
From
Edna, in Bogor, Indonesia:
Childcare and
Education, by Tina Bruce and Carolyn Meggitt (Hodder & Stoughton Educational,
London, UK 1996): The basic knowledge of all aspects of caring for and educating
children up to age eight.
From
Melissa, in Auburn, Alabama:
The Chinaberry
Book Service, Inc. is SUCH a spectacular find! The people there have
put their hearts and their love of literature and children all together to provide
a resource like NO other. In addition to fantastic and thorough (and
VERY accurate, in my view) reviews of appropriate books to help children grow
to be happier, healthier, and more tolerant people, they have excellent customer
service and very quick delivery.
From
MJ, in Texas:
"Miseducation: Preschoolers
At Risk" by David Elkinds: Good philosophy book
"The Hurried Child" also by David Elkinds: He
discusses how we force our children to grow up too soon and what we can do to
let kids be kids (what a concept!!) I highly recommend his books.
From Cassidy
F., Montessori teacher in Flower Mound, Texas:
One
book I recommend to everyone would be Montessori For Under Five, by David Gettman.
It's easy to read and packed with great ideas and directions for making the materials
yourself.
From
Cassie Leatherwood, in Attalla, Alabama:
Mailbox Magazine is a great place to find craft and bulletin board ideas,
plus pattern books.
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Reminder
from Stormie: If you would like to begin collecting ALL my current classroom
ideas (each on a 4 x 6" index card), as well as new ones that I create, you
can do so by ordering my "Activity Cards." Click here
to check them out.
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