My favorite part of the day is Circle Time. Its a time when we can sit together get our day started, learn, play, and talk. Today in this blog I would like to share some benefits of circle time, my circle time set up, and our circle time routine.
Benefits
Benefits of Circle Time for Kids
• Socialization. As children step out of home, they learn more about themselves by relating to their fellow classmates or teachers. …
• Listening Skills. …
• Readiness for School. …
• Good practice of Routine. …
• Increased Motivation for School. …
• Cognitive Development.
( even my babies love circle time and gain developmental skills as they join us )
My Circle Time Layout
Each new school year Experience Early Learning has developed a new lay out and theme for our Circle Time. I have a mixture of the past couple years on my circle time wall.
A great resource that Experience Early Learning provides is that once you become a member you will be able to locate all the files and print items out from the previous years and themes. For example The paintbrushes, numbers and shapes are part of the Colors of the World Touch & Play Displays.
You can find it on their website as a digital download or the link below.
Digital Downloads – Mother Goose Time
Circle Time Set Up!!
I love Circle Time being in a corner. I use black chalk board paint as my background and I love the way it makes everything pop. I also pick out fun Borders to give the wall definition. You could even change it throughout the year for holiday themes if you wanted to. I simply use rubber cement to attach my border and it stays on the wall perfectly.
Now for the set up you want your wall to flow so make sure you place your pictures in order of your Circle Time routine. You do not what to be jumping back and forth on the wall.
You will want to laminate everything that goes on the wall. You can buy a small laminator off Amazon.http://Amazon Basics 9-Inch Thermal Laminator Machine https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BUI5QWS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_DP810H1740SB1DNQZ38G
Next I have found that velcro has been the best to use to hang up everything. Here are the two i like to use.
I have a mixed aged group and my babies/toddlers love pulling things off the wall. I also fell that Circle time needs to be on the children’s eye level and also at a level where they can participate putting on the calendar pieces, days of the week, weather, and feelings. I do teach that we do not touch circle time unless your name is called but it will take some time for the younger children to learn.
Our Circle Time routine!!
Experience Early Learning ( formally Mother Goose time) in has developed a digital download and CD of a music playlist for circle time. Circle Time Songs – Mother Goose Time I start the “It’s circle time” song and the children come rushing over to the rug.
I always do circle Time after breakfast before we start our daily lesson from our preschool curriculum.
I always greet the Children with a big smile and a good morning friends. I say a quick prayer to get our day started and then we start off with Calendar. I will pick a child to glue the calendar piece on to the poster and then pick another child to place the day of the week cloud onto the wall. Next we sing our days of the week song and the months of the year. Here are the songs we use. Days of the week on our circle time CD. https://secure.mothergoosetime.com/content-restricted/circle-time-songs/.
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday these are the days the week.
I also love this days of the week song.
Days of the week
“Sing to the tune of the Addams family”
Days of the week (snap, snap)
Days of the week ( snap, snap)
Days of the week, days of the week, days of the week. ( snap, snap)
There’s Sunday and there’s Monday there’s Tuesday and there’s Wednesday there’s Thursday and there’s Friday and then there’s Saturday.
Days of the week (snap, snap)
Days of the week ( snap, snap)
Days of the week, days of the week, days of the week. ( snap, snap)
For the Months of the year we love using our circle time CD but I do find it a little difficult for my younger kids so we made up an easier song. Here is a video of our months of the year song.
Moving on to our preschool curriculum monthly Color and Shape. Numbers, and Letters. We sing the ABC’s and count 1-20. Most of time I also use visual aids so we can learn letter and number recognition.
Weather
We open up to this “What is the weather song” here is a picture of the song we sing.
Next I ask the children to look outside and tell me what the weather is. Then i pick a child to turn the arrow to the picture and we sing this song.
It is “sunny” it is “sunny” did you see did you see. did you look outside. did you see the sky. it is “sunny” it is “sunny”. here is an example of our song.
Every once in a while we will do colors and shapes but only about once or twice a week because I do not want circle time to last to long. ( no longer then 15 minutes )
At this time I use my teacher curriculum guide because there will be a circle time lesson to do during this time. Here is an picture of what it looks like.
Next we go over Our theme of the day and do our small group literacy. we normally do small group at circle time because we are all together and the children are engaged.
To finish circle time we do our feelings. How do you feel today? And then we are off the creative art time.
As an Experience Early Learning Blog Ambassador, I receive the Experience Early Learning Preschool curriculum in exchange for my honest and authentic stories resulting from our personal experiences. As always, my opinions on awesome stuff for little kids are 100% my own. Keep in mind that all preschoolers do things in their own time and on their own terms. What one is ready for, another might not be. Please use your best mama judgement when planning activities for your little kids. #preschool #homeschool #mgtblogger
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