I was recently asked by a colleague to suggest ideas for rules that should be posted in the preschool classroom. I had to pause because I realized that I have never actually had a set of rules written out and posted on my classroom wall.

Preschool age children are still developing their sense of right and wrong in almost every action they take. They are testing limits, exploring their environment, and discovering how to get along with others. Preschool age children are cognitively, socially, emotionally, and physically developing their sense of right and wrong in just about every thing they do. It is when developmental understanding is present that young children are now ready to live by a set of formal classroom rules that come with consequences.

While preschoolers learn the boundaries of their behavior towards others and towards their environment, the teacher can best participate by consistently and patiently communicate teacher expectations (the rules) and then consistently guide children towards making positive choices.

IF I were to design a set of rules for the preschool classroom, I would focus on only 3 to 5 major rules that the preschoolers would be able to understand and successfully apply. In addition I would…

Emphasize the action I want rather than the action I don’t want!

I do think that preschool age children need clear expectations defined for them so they will understand their limits and boundaries but in my experience, the best approach is to not depend on a set of rules but rather make your expectations a part of your teaching process as you consistently provide guidance and redirection.  For more on this topic, see this article I wrote titled Teaching Children Expectations!

I can’t remember who taught me this little technique for teaching preschoolers how to manage a puzzle but it is a technique I have used for many years with much success.

When a very young child takes a puzzle and dumps all the pieces out, chances are he or she will have a little trouble figuring out where to put the pieces back.

Before the child moves from simple board puzzles to more complex jigsaw puzzles, it can be helpful to teach the child this simple approach.

1. Invite the child to set the puzzle in front of him or her.

2. Encourage the child to take each puzzle piece out and set the pieces to the left side of the puzzle so that all the pieces can be seen.

3. Now invite the child to look at the shape of the puzzle pieces and see if he or she can find that same shape on the puzzle board. The child will be more likely to observe the picture on the puzzle piece but you want to encourage the child to also look at the shape. Encourage the child to pick up the puzzle piece and feel the edges. Are they straight, curved, pointed?  Now look for that same shape on the puzzle board.

Putting pieces of the puzzle to the left helps the child with a few developmental concepts…

• Promotes visual tracking from left to right which is also how we read and write – from left to right.
• Promotes the development of organizational skills so that the task of putting the puzzle back together is more manageable.
• Helps the child to develop spacial awareness and fine motor control.

Of course, we don’t want to over emphasize this technique – we want to allow room for problem solving in the child’s own way as well. In my own classroom, I look for opportunities to give guidance when the child seems ready and give freedom to explore as well.

See this article on Games in the Classroom!

In my years of classroom experience, I have found that the more I encourage children to take care of their own property the more responsive and cooperative they become.

Naptime is an example of how children can be taught to take pride in doing something well and then enjoy the results.

Naptime begins in this classroom by having each child get their blankets out of their own cubby.

The cots are already placed on the floor and after getting blankets (and sometimes a naptime toy) the children place their items on their cot.

This little girl demonstrates for me how she can neatly make her “bed” all by herself…

And when one child finds making the bed to be something of value or fun, the other children want to try it too…

And once the cots are all made up, the lights will dim and the soft music will play and the children will rest in a place where they are capable of doing things all by themselves.

Let your preschoolers make their own lines to color inside!

Start by giving a child a piece of paper and some crayons….

Then invite the child to draw some lines….

And some shapes…..

And then invite the child to color inside the shapes!

How important are those lines anyway?

The process of creating their own lines and coloring in the shapes will lead to an improvement in fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, creative inspiration, and it can be simply fun!

View this article on Structured and Unstructured writing opportunities!

I observed some children cutting today and realized there was an odd assortment of scissors on the table.

I noticed that some of the children were struggling with the ability to cut so I wandered about the quality of scissors. I decided to check them out myself.

This pair was unusual in that it didn’t open and close. This pair always remain open and only allows the scissors to close. To cut, you squeeze the handles close then let go. The edge seemed sharp enough but you had to really give a good squeeze to cut.

I wasn’t thrilled that these scissors did not invite the children to learn the open and close skill they will need later. I also felt that the scissors did not promote good control over the direction a child would want to cut. The focus would only be on squeezing the scissors and letting go.

This pair of scissors is surrounded by a plastic covering along the blade. It was almost impossible to cut with this pair unless you cut using only the back corner of the scissors.

The tip of the scissors just folded the paper.

This pair of scissors had a thick plastic covering which made it more challenging to see what you were cutting.

This pair of scissors cut fairly easily and the grip was comfortable but the thickness of the scissors seemed to block your view. It was hard to see what you were cutting which doesn’t lead to truly mastering eye-hand coordination as part of the cutting process.

This pair of scissors was certainly the most ordinary looking pair of scissors.

This pair of scissors cut easily and smoothly and the handle was comfortable to hold.

My unscientific observation resulted in the following…

• Pair #1 seemed to be the most usable for teaching children how to cut properly and the best pair for promoting eye-hand coordination.
• Pair #2 came in second for being sharp enough to cut well. I could see how it also helps to build fine muscle strength but not necessarily control.
• Pair #3 came in third for having a sharp enough blade for cutting but I felt the handle was too large to promote fine motor control and eye-hand coordination.
• Pair #4 came in last. It was just a frustrating pair of scissors to try and cut with. It was easier just to tear the paper. I would use a pair like this in the play-dough center!

Read more about teaching children to use scissors here!