Classroom Routine
The Orange Classroom is a very busy room, sometimes looking chaotic in appearance. Actually, this is all part of our daily schedule. Children thrive when they have a predictable routine and this experience is explained well in this explanation from PBS:
Daily Schedule
In order to establish daily routines, most preschool classrooms follow a basic daily schedule. Among other things, a schedule can help to ensure the consistency that young children need and also help teachers encourage all areas of development by planning a wide range of activities. It's helpful to think of a daily schedule as a guide which is responsive to children and teachers. Flexible schedules let us capitalize on those moments that arise when children discover something that interests them. They allow us to extend a play period so the children gain maximum satisfaction from what they're doing. In creating schedules, it is also important to provide a healthy balance for children, between group times and more solitary moments, quiet and noisy activities, indoor and outdoor play. (Source: https://www.pbs.org/wholechild/providers/little.html)
The general daily schedule for our class is:
9:00 Arrival and wash hands
9:05-10:05 Free play and Art and bathroom
10:05 Cleanup
10:10 1st Meeting & Story Time (poems & songs)
10:25 Snack (wash hands before & after)
10:45 Big Room
11:05 Bathroom
11:10 2nd Meeting & Story Time (poems & songs)
11:25 Playground
12:00 Dismissal
12:05 Lunch Bunch begins
The children know what to do at the different times of the day making for an organized day. They know that when I get out my black speaker, we are going to have Movement Class. They know that Mrs. Wada has a red speaker for Music Class. When it’s cleanup time, they know to put the toys in the provided containers and bring them to the side countertop. They know that they take a turn in the bathroom before cleanup time and again before the playground. They know that when they sit down for snack the first thing to do is open their napkin and when they are finished to throw the napkin away, put their cups in the dishpan and wash their hands. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Our goal is to have the children be in an environment in which they feel safe, is predictable, and give them independent skills that they will need as they grow. And now that they have the routine as second-nature, it’s easy to be flexible when either necessary or to be able to capitalize on an interesting idea that comes up. Our predictable schedule allowed our newest student to fully embrace the Orange Class after only a few days.
This week we were fortunate to have two special visitors during Circle Time. Every day Pig sat on the rug and enjoyed having our Hello song sung to him in pig language, and on Wednesday, Mrs. Reiss’s dog Reggie visited. The children were able to approach him one at a time and give him a pat. Reggie always enjoys his visits to MWS - he even knows the preschool routine.
Last week I introduced Mama Duck who came to visit her daughter, Daisy Duck. Mrs. Rappaport (the teacher of the Green Class) heard that I needed another large trash can so Papa Duck could visit Donald Duck and on Monday she surprised me with a red one. I explained to the children that Mama Duck moved out of the Blue Trash can and Papa Duck moved in. They were very happy to have many ducks visit and I was very happy that the children were happy with my explanation - no questions asked.
Do you ever wonder what kind of cups the children use at snack time? They use plastic mugs with one handle that have their names. These are washed and put thru the dishwasher/sanitizer machine daily. Because we are a preschool class, it is expected that there will be some spills with the open cups, but mastering the use of an open cup is one of the many skills the children learn. Most of the children bring water bottles in their school bags or lunches and we use those when the children ask for a drink outside of snack time. We always have some paper cups if there is no water bottle available.