Sample Ezine Issue of
The Preschool Press

Below you will find a sample Ezine issue of The Preschool Press. Enjoy!

Welcome

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun
And find your shoulder to light on,
To bring you luck, happiness and riches
Today, tomorrow and beyond.
~Irish Blessing

What a beautiful blessing to bestow on someone! This spring season teach your children all about the wonderful world of butterflies.

There are so many activities that you can do, it could fill a whole book! I have picked some of my favorites to share with you. I hope you have as much fun as I do teaching this theme.

~ Lindy

In this Issue of
The Preschool Press:

1. Quick Tip:
   Quiet Tips
   
2. What's New:
   - 6 New Pages
3. Theme of the Month:
   Butterflies
4. Featured Website:
   Phonological Awareness Activities
   
   

Quick Tip:

I have noticed in my classroom the noise level can become...shall we say...a bit loud. :) Here are some quick tips for how to gain attention when it's noisy or get it to be a bit quieter:

• A little rhyme - You say "One, two, three, eyes on me!" The children respond "One, two, eyes on you!"
• Have a child walk around with a sign that has the word "Whisper" and a little whisper picture to remind children to speak quietly. This is especially helpful during center time.
• Clap a rhythm and have the children echo it.
• Hold up a hand and say "Give me five!" Then all the children hold up their hands and count backwards from 5. When they get to zero, it should be silent.

Are you a new teacher? If not, do you know someone who is? Either way, you have to check out this New Teachers Kit.

New teachers can save hours with this printable, editable kit for first time educators! Signs, displays, rosters, labels, charts, advice from a teacher who did it the hard way.
Find Out More Here

Thanks for Linking!

Near the bottom of every page on my website is a box that says "Share This Page", which makes it easy for you to link to that page or share it around the Web.

Thank you - every link helps! :)

 

What's New
On The-Preschool-Professor.com:

New Pages:

1. Preschool Lessons
   What do you think about custom-created lesson plans?
2. Behavior Management
   A must-have skill for teachers!
   
3. Child Discipline
   So many methods of child discipline. Which one is best?
4. Positive Reinforcement
   What are the best ways to use positive reinforcement with children?
5. New Position, Struggling School
   Words of advice for this reader in her new teaching position?
6. Happy Child Guide Book Review
   My honest opinion of this child discipline guide.

Share Your Preschool Teaching Ideas

I invite you to share your preschool teaching ideas, lesson plans, tips, stories, etc. - right here on my website.

It's a friendly, creative atmosphere of ideas and networking.

Wouldn't you like to be able to say you have your own webpage on a site about preschool? Send the link to your page to your family, friends, and colleagues!

The more we all contribute, the better the site will become for everyone.

So come on in and take advantage of all these great opportunities for sharing:

Share Your Unique Ideas

(And of course, you always keep the copyright to all of your own content that you share on my website.)

 

 

Theme of the Month:

Butterflies

by Lindy McLean

Decoration:
Get the kids ready to learn about butterflies by decorating with:

• Hanging paper or plastic butterflies
• Flowering plants
• Butterfly crafts the children have created

Activities:
Try these fun butterfly-related activities during this theme.

Science Center:
"Butterfly Garden" - Buy a butterfly kit (like the one pictured above from Amazon) and watch the butterfly life cycle in your classroom or home. There is no substitute for watching it in person!

Math Center:
"Butterfly Life Cycle Chart" - Give each child a paper plate that has been marked into quarters and a ziploc bag filled with one bowtie pasta noodle (adult butterfly), one small shell noodle (egg), one large shell noodle (cocoon), and a spiral pasta noodle (caterpillar). Have them glue the noodles onto the plate in the correct order of a butterfly's life cycle.

Dramatic Play Center:
"Gardener" - Give the children gardening tools (plastic!), some gloves, and an apron and let them "plant" their own butterfly garden. You could also have a pack of seeds, a floppy sun hat, and some plastic butterflies for them to play with.

Outdoor:
"Butterfly Basketball" - Divide children into 2 teams. Give one child from each team a butterfly net. Give the other children plastic butterflies. Have the child with the net stand a certain distance away from the others. On the word "go", have the teams try to get as many butterflies into the net as they can during the time period. The child with the net can move the net around to try to catch them. If time allows, let other children have turns holding the net.

Art Center:
"Stained Glass Butterfly" - Take a piece of waxed paper and fold it in half, hot-dog style. Draw half of a butterfly on one side, with the body at the fold. Cut out the shape, and use it as a template to cut another butterfly shape out of another piece of waxed paper. On one waxed butterfly paper, place various colors of crayon shavings. After you are done, place the other paper on top and iron the two papers together using low heat. Punch a hole near the top and hang in the window so the light can filter through!

More Butterfly Crafts can be found on this page at The Preschool Professor!

Field Trip:
Our local art garden offers an annual exhibit called "Butterflies Are Blooming." We are lucky enough to live close to this and we take our children every year. If you aren't in our area, however, you can view the sponsor's website at Foremost's Butterflies! You could also show a video to your children about butterflies like this one from National Geographic Kids.

Books:
Check out this list of books to read during your Butterfly Theme:
Best Butterfly Books 

Songs:

Butterfly Life Cycle Song (sung to the tune of Up on The Housetop) -
First comes a butterfly lays an egg
out comes a caterpillar with many legs
oh see the caterpillar spin and spin
a little chrysalis to sleep in
oh oh oh look and see
oh oh oh look and see
out of the chrysalis
my oh my
out comes a pretty butterfly

I Want To Be a Butterfly (sung to the tune of Shortening Bread) -
I want to be a butterfly, butterfly, butterfly
I want to be a butterfly
Just for fun!
First I'll be the egg...etc.
Next I'll be the caterpillar...etc.
Then I'll be the chrysalis...etc.
Now I'm a butterfly...etc.

Snacks:
These snacks will be perfect for your Butterfly Theme.

1. "Butterfly Bites" - Cut celery stalks into sections. Fill each section with a dollup of peanut butter, cream cheese, or hummus. Cut 2 small pieces of celery and stick them in the front of the filling to serve as the antennae. Place 2 mini-pretzels on both sides of the filling to be the wings. Use 2 raisins for the eyes. So cute and healthy too! :)
   
2. "Butterfly Sandwich" - Put a carrot stick in the middle of a plate. Take a piece of bread and spread peanut butter on it. Slice it diagonally. Place the pieces on the sides of the plate for wings. Voila - a tasty butterfly!
3. "Butterfly Vegetables" - Make a butterfly shape using cut up vegetables! Use a carrot stick or cucumber (sliced vertically) for the body, a cherry tomato for the head, and bell pepper strips for the wings!

Featured Website

This month's featured preschool site is PhonologicalAwareness.org. I go to this site ALL this time to find activities to increase phonological awareness.

I love how they separate activites into categories like: Rhyme Awareness, Phoneme Segmentation, Phoneme Blending, and Manipulation Activities. That way, I can quickly find an activity to fit what I am teaching.

Check out PhonologicalAwareness.org to find some great ideas for not only activity ideas, but also background information and hierarchy guidelines. I'm sure you'll find it as helpful as I do!

 

SURVEY:
How Can I Make This Newsletter
Better for You?

If you haven't yet responded to my quick survey, I welcome your input!

Please take the survey here to give me your suggestions and feedback so I can make this newsletter a better resource for you.

I grant as many wishes as possible! :)

Thank you.

If you like this newsletter, please forward it to your friends and colleagues.

Once we reach 1000 subscribers, I will be able to add a forum to my site so that we can all share and chat about our preschool teaching and parenting issues!

If you received this issue from a friend, please subscribe so you won't miss any upcoming issues.

Thanks so much for joining me
for this issue of
"The Preschool Press"!

Join us next month for the Theme of the Month:  Graduation!! I can't believe it's time to say good-bye to all our little ones already. Make this year's graduation ceremony special with the ideas coming next month.

In the meantime...

~ May your teaching journey be fun and inspiring ~

Contact Lindy

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