It’s October, and they still aren’t getting it. You’ve taught the alphabet. You’ve sung the songs. You’ve practiced letters and letter names. You’ve pointed to letters on the calendar, read alphabet books, played games, and probably played the alphabet song approximately 7,000 times by now. And yet, when you hold up a
Can I let you in on a little secret? One of the best ways to make independent kindergarten centers actually work is surprisingly simple. . . stop changing the routine every time you change the skill. Kindergarten students don’t need a brand-new type of activity every week. When the format
If you’re using the Heggerty curriculum this year, you’ve probably found yourself asking the same question so many kindergarten teachers do: “What do my students do after the Heggerty lesson?” Heggerty does an amazing job of building students’ phonemic awareness through quick, daily oral practice. But once those auditory drills
The first month of kindergarten can feel overwhelming. Between teaching classroom routines, helping students adjust to school, and building relationships, it can be difficult to decide which academic skills deserve the most attention. The truth is, you don’t have to teach everything at once. When you focus on the foundational
If you’ve ever taught digraphs, you’ve probably seen this happen. One day, your students confidently tell you that sh says /sh/ or ch says /ch/. But the very next day, they’re reading ship as “sip” or forgetting that two letters can work together to make one sound. The truth is,
If you’ve ever taught CVCe words, you know the moment. Students can read cake and bike in isolation, but when it’s time to apply that silent “e” rule in real reading and spelling, things start to fall apart a bit. They kind of know it, but it doesn’t always stick.
You know that moment when one of your little learners confidently tells you that “cat” rhymes with “dog”? Yep, me too. . . Rhyming looks simple on the surface, but for young learners, it can be surprisingly tricky to hear and hold onto those ending sounds. The good news is
“I don’t know what to write!” Getting young students excited about writing can sometimes feel harder than teaching the writing itself. One minute, they are full of stories to tell, and the next minute, they are staring at a blank page with no idea where to start. If you’re in
Have you ever hit the last few weeks of kindergarten and thought, “Wait… have we covered everything they actually need for first grade?” You’re juggling field trips, testing, behavior, and kids who suddenly have all the summer energy. It’s a lot. The good news is you don’t need to review
Ahhh… spring in the primary classroom. The sunshine is calling, the energy is HIGH, and suddenly your students can’t seem to sit still for more than five minutes. Sound familiar? We have ALL been there! But what if, instead of fighting all that energy, you used it to your advantage?