Teacher Newsletter
August 2018
Top Ten Tips for Teaching Outside
- Before going outside with children, get to know your area’s outdoor spaces on your own.
- Ask someone who is familiar with nature in your area to identify the plants and animals. The only ones you have to worry about are the dangerous ones.
- If there are truly serious hazards, remove them.
- Maintain an extra clothing box to supplement children's clothing. You could add some adult-sized hats, mittens, and boots for parent volunteers who also forget.
- The first time out with children, do something simple. Let them learn their boundaries.
- Establish a consistent schedule for going outside. Teachers complain that there is not enough time. It takes a few weeks, but eventually you will be able to get a room of 4-year-old's to be dressed to go outside in under 10 minutes.
- Make sure you inform parents that their children WILL get dirty, and that they must be dressed in play clothes. If parents want kids in fancy clothes, tell the parents to bring the fancy clothes when they pick up their child.
- Let the children play and explore, but also give the children something to do to stay focused on the lesson. You can do story time outdoors. The children can sit on carpet squares or a blanket. You could give them sand pails to collect nature items to sort.
- Be creative with your outdoor space. Look for teaching opportunities. You can even bring some of the indoors outside. Take a container of blocks outside to build with.
- If you’re still nervous, “Just do it!
Article: www.plt.org/educator-tips/top-ten-tips-teaching-outside-early-childhood/
Additional Resource: https://www.southernearlychildhood.org/upload/pdf/Dimensions_Vol41_3_Jacobi_Vessels.pdf
Teacher Spotlight
Meet Haley Shelton, Toddler 2 teacher at Rainbow's DS1. Haley's very loving and compassionate towards the children. She's flexible and is willing to help out in any classroom, anytime. She sets a good example all the time for the children, helping them learn and showing them how to do things versus just telling them. The compassion she has for the children is very clear when you see her in a classroom. She always has the children involved in some sort of art or sensory project. She has been with Rainbow for about 2 years.
August Curriculum
Toddler, Young Preschool, Preschool, Pre-K Academy:
July 30-August 10 Exploring My World
August 13-24 Things That Go
Private Kindergarten:
July 30-August 10 Summer Camp
August 13-24 Back To School
Montessori: Things That Go
Varsity Club: Summer Camp
Kids of Character: Leadership
Pre-K Academy Project: "Classroom Sensory Boxes"
Varsity Club Community Service Project: "Back to School" supplies drive for local community members in need
Baby Sign: Touch
Ready, Set, Grow!: T-Ball
Language Immersion Spanish: Greetings and Farewells
Zoo Phonics: uppercase: V, W, X, Y and Z review: Q, R, S, T and U
Family Calendar of Events: August Dates to Remember
(held between 8/27-8/31)
SV1
CM1
TM1
Professional Development
C.C.E.I
C.C.E.I. is always adding new courses that pertain to various levels of Early Childhood development.
Their newest courses include:
CHD106 Understanding and Promoting Infant Development, CHD107 Understanding and Promoting Toddler Development, CHD108 Understanding and Promoting Development in the Preschool Years
CUR119 Theater Arts in Early Childhood Education
CUR120 Trouble-Free Transitions that Teach
CUR121 Establishing Growth Mindset Practices in Early Learning Environments
These courses will provide more insight and ideas for best practices in your classroom, as well as incorporating theater arts! These are all Beginner Course Level, with the exception of the CUR119, which is Intermediate. If you have any questions pertaining to C.C.E.I., please contact Stephanie Stepaniak at 248-519-1953, or by email: sstepaniak@rainbowccc.com.
Happy Learning!
T.E.A.C.H.
T.E.A.C.H Early Childhood® Scholarship Program
Currently active in 24 states, T.E.A.C.H Early Childhood® is designed to help the Early Childhood industry as a whole address education, compensation and turnover issues that affect the field by helping ease the cost of furthering employee’s education. It also leads to higher quality care for our families, because teachers will be more familiar with best practices. T.E.A.C.H Early Childhood® and Rainbow partner together to help cover some of the cost of tuition, books, and related education expenses as well as compensating employees for the time spent doing schoolwork in the form of release time and providing employees with bonuses as they finish classes and programs.
To be eligible to participate in T.E.A.C.H Early Childhood®, an employee has to have been employed with Rainbow for at least 6 months year. They must work at least 30 hours a week and agree to work for Rainbow for one year after finishing their T.E.A.C.H Early Childhood® contract. The employee must be going for either their CDA or Associates degree in the Early Childhood field. Currently there is a maximum of three employees per location in the T.E.A.C.H Early Childhood® program. Employees in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Alabama, and Ohio are eligible, because T.E.A.C.H Early Childhood® is currently is operating in these states.
After speaking with your Program Director to check that you meet the criteria to be eligible, call T.E.A.C.H. at 866-648-3224 for an application or visit your states T.E.A.C.H Early Childhood® website. You can find all contact information for your states T.E.A.C.H Early Childhood® Program at http://teachecnationalcenter.org/state-contacts/
Rainbow Child Care & Rasmussen College Partner in Your Education
Benefits to you as an employee of Rainbow Child Care
* Staff and immediate family members eligible for up to 10% tuition discount.
* College credit available for your CDA
* Programs offered completely online for flexibility and convenience
* CDA built into certificate and Associates program
* Bachelors in Early Childhood Education- Child Development and Leadership
For more information contact