A Great Way to Start the Day!
Circle time for preschool is part of the daily routine. In the morning, when the children arrive at school, they usually play with table toys while they are waiting for the rest of their classmates. Then the teacher tells the children to put the toys away, and come join the circle. All the children then sit on the carpet with the teacher. Generally, circle time starts with a good morning song and attendance. Going over the attendance is a great way for the children to learn each others names.
The Good Morning Song
The following video is a typical good morning song that preschoolers sing when they start their day. This particular song is Good Morning by Gregg and Steve.
My Thoughts
Starting the day with a “good morning song” helps preschoolers feel comfortable and welcome in the classroom. It is important that the song is positive and energized because this encourages the kids to feel excited and curious about the day ahead.
Calendar
Next, the teacher will most likely have the children review the calendar. This is a good way to help children learn about the names and spellings of the days of the week, as well as the months of the year. Also, counting to the current day’s date is a fun way to teach counting and number recognition. Similarly, the calendar can also be used to teach the children about the yearly seasons.
Classroom Helpers
At some point during circle time, the teacher will probably choose classroom helpers. There are a lot of good reasons for having classroom helpers. First of all, being a helper builds self-esteem and gives each child a sense of accomplishment. Second of all, working together and doing special jobs teaches children about the importance of teamwork. Thirdly, having a job is a positive way to help children who are facing challenges controlling their behavior in the classroom. Having a classroom job also teaches children to be responsible for themselves. Last of all, it helps the teacher a lot!
What’s the Weather?
Most likely, the teacher will talk about what the weather is like on that day. She will pick the assigned weather helper to go to the weather window and report back to the class. The weather helper then picks a weather card with a picture of that day’s weather and puts it on the weather chart. The weather helper and the class pick out cards with pictures of different kinds of clothes to wear in different kinds of weather. For example, if it’s raining, the weather helper will pick the umbrella, rain hat, raincoat, and rainboots. He or she might then dress the poster weather child with the clothes. This is a good way to teach children about the right kind of clothing to wear.
Monthly Theme
The teacher will then most likely talk about the theme the class is learning about during that month. For example, if one of the themes for that month is “Families”, the teacher might read a book about families and then let the kids take turns talking about their families.
Circle Time and Age Appropriateness
I want to mention that the types of circle time activities will vary depending on the children’s age. The activities that I describe in this post are usually appropriate for 3 and 4-year olds. 1 and 2-year-olds have shorter attention spans and learning needs, so while the structure of circle time will be similar, the activities will be adjusted so that they are age-appropriate.
Important Information
It is crucial for parents and teachers to recognize the importance of play for healthy child development. For more information on this topic, as well as toy safety and age-appropriateness, please visit the website for The National Association for the Education of Young Children, also known as NAEYC by using the following link. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/topics/play/toys