Most preschools have Centers. Or, that is what I hear :) My preschool hasn't had a formal "center time" so far, but I have sure thought about it. We have an hour of choice time each day, where kids can use any activity in the school, a daily whole-group project, and a variety of outdoor activities after lunch. Each year I have made a step towards centers, or work-stations, (like buying a set of three awesome mini tables and chairs that are perfect for centers, and then the next year adopting The Get Set For School Curriculum with many small-group mini lessons) but I never made the actual jump. This year that is all going to change! During my Summer break, while I was off dancing tango across the country, I was secretly thinking of Center Time! In the back of my mind I was throwing around ideas about: set-up, routines, or how in the world I was going to get ten kids to stay focused at various centers with only me there to supervise. Especially because I wanted to lead one of the centers and get some extra-small group time with the kids each day. It was a lot of pondering. But finally, this past week, I had a magical thought. Preschoolers love anything hands-on! They also LOVE pictures of themselves. Like, really, really love them! So, I decided to combine these two things to create my own Center system. I can't wait to try it out this Fall. In case you are curious, here is what I have been working on the past week:
Laminated Mini Pics
I asked all my parents to send me a good picture of their child's happy little face! Then I used these photos to make mini laminated photo cards with velcro scares stuck to the back of them. They are too cute!
Velcro Up The Centers!
After I had velcro on my mini pictures of the kids, I had to decide how many kids I would want at each of my center activities. Most of my center options are in tubs or baskets so I added velcro squares to the different tubs (in places where you can't see them while they are on the shelves). If I wanted four kids allowed at the block center, for example, I put four velcro squares on the block bin. This way when the kids go to pick their center they can easily see if there is still a velcro space available! If there is, they can stick their cute picture right on there and get started. If all the spaces are taken they have to try something else. I plan to have kids rotate through three center choices, rotating every ten minutes...so they will get a chance to visit all three available centers each day. I'll have fun picking which three center choices we will have out each week, hopefully connected to our learning goals for the week or month! I love that one of the centers can be with me at our large table, working with 3-4 kids on a Get Set For School Mini Lesson.
The Flow
I am excited to get the kids set up with this new routine. The first two weeks will be mostly about learning our routine of using our pictures and velcro squares, learning to work at the different centers together, and how to rotate. Once the first two weeks pass I plan to run one of the centers with an activity from Get Set For School at our large table. The other two centers will be student guided. One in our Centers Room (pictured above), and one in our large Calendar room on the floor. This should give us a lot of options for activities! All those lovely tubs have their set number of velcro squares ready for Fall!
Center Variations
I spent a little extra time making photo/name cards (and laminating them with velcro) to put inside my bins for all of the possible center activities I would like to have out. This way, if I want to put a new activity in a bin, I can easily change the label to show the kids the new option. This should come in handy later in the school year when we may want centers that match what we are learning about!
Sometimes I try to think ahead :)
Sometimes I try to think ahead :)
Do you have centers in your preschool? Or does your child love the center system their teacher uses? I would love to hear and share ideas!