After learning alongside many incredible educators we’ve instructed we had many questions and conversations around what September may look like and how you “get started”.

As always, every school board, school, and classroom will have unique differences and challenges but there are definitely some things that we think about every September and remind ourselves of when setting up and planning for the first couple of weeks.

If we could give just one piece of advice it would be to SLOW DOWN. We all start the year with passion, excitement, and an eagerness to get started. Every September we think back to June where we left off and how incredible the children were. We always forget how slow we need to go in September and how exhausting the first few months are (even when we remind ourselves!)

There should be NO rush to get started with academics in the Fall. The year will provide plenty of time to figure out what children know and understand academically!

START by building your FOUNDATION:

Teach the children routines, get to know the children, focus heavily on building relationship with them and between them, provide children with new language and experiences (e.g., how to enter play, how to ask for help). Depending on the children in your room they will come in with various experiences and skill sets in terms of personal and social interactions.

What materials should you start with?

Less is MORE. We definitely can’t stress that enough. Sometimes we try to add “more” too soon and it reminds us why we limit the materials in the Fall.

We start the year by setting out very simple provocations and materials for the children to explore. Having less out allows the children to learn how to interact socially and how to follow the routines of the classroom (such as tidying up).

In the art area we will often start with pencils, crayons, and blank paper. In our dramatic play area we begin with a “home” providing the children with babies, cooking utensils and a few loose parts to create with (e.g., string and gems). Our building area always begins with our large wooden blocks (which are a staple in the room) and then our loose natural materials (tree cookies, pine cones, branches). The natural materials are stored and connected beside our Nature Area. In this space we may simply add Forest Animals to encourage imaginative play at the beginning of the year.

Tools in our Dramatic Play Centre.

Clipboards and Bug Catchers in Outdoor Environment.

Magnifying Glasses and Seashells on a Provocation Table.

Simple Building Materials and Large Wooden Blocks.

Nature Area: Connected to our Building Are with loose, natural materials

We do not have a specified math area, instead we provide a variety of math tools on the shelves that can be brought to table tops or added to any area of play (e.g., measuring tools, shapes, 5/10 frames, dice, dominoes). We do not have a large number of manipulatives out at any given time and in the Fall there is a lot of dumping and sorting of materials.

The other tables in our room we use as “provocation” tables which vary based on interests, needs, and inspiration. To begin the year we put out simple provocations that vary from year to year. One year we had magnifying glasses and seashells with paper/pencils out which encouraged children to slow down and look closely. Or something simple like mirrors and pattern blocks.

What does that look like?

At the beginning of our day and during our whole group instruction time, we will begin to focus on ONE learning centre at a time. For example, if we are focusing on the dramatic play space, we will talk about the materials and tools in the area and we may role play ways to interact. We spend 10-15 minutes discussing and role playing, which provides children with the opportunity to see what is available and to ask questions. We emphasize how to take care of and respect the materials and how to store or organize them when they are finished.

When outdoors, we spend time introducing materials and areas that we have set up for the children (e.g., sand materials, the mud kitchen, our playground). We will discuss safety, how to use materials, where they are stored, and what to do when finished with them.

After our discussions either inside or outdoors, the children are free to choose any area to explore and investigate. We will then spend time in the area we spoke about supporting the social interactions and routines. With consistent language and messages each year, we are able to have some of our second year students help model and support the other children who are new and learning. This makes it easier to reinforce important messages that you decide on with your partner (e.g., if you are finished playing somewhere, you need to tidy up the materials or ask the other children if there is something that you can tidy before you leave)

Things we “teach” in the fall:

If we don’t focus on academics in the Fall, then what do we teach? We support the children in many ways while they adjust to the new routines of school and try to figure out their place in it all. We find that we do a lot of prompting, modelling, and hand over hand instruction/support. Some things that we focus on in the Fall include:

• lunch routines and expectations (including what to do when finished eating, what you might have conversations about at lunch, how to open new packages/containers)
• how to take care of your belongings (where to hang your backpack, put your shoes, the routines of going from outside to inside)
• how to line up or walk through the hallways
• what to do if you need help
• focus on transitions (how can we transition children smoothly between activities)
• how to interact with other children (e.g., how to enter play or ask to join, how to negotiate, how to extend play, how to listen to each other)
• how to share materials (e.g., if someone is using something – what could you ask them? what if they say no? what could you say then?)
• how to solve problems

Daily Schedule:

We begin the year with our daily schedule in place, we may just slightly monitor our timing. We provide a bit longer for children to tidy and a bit less time as a whole group. During our Focused Learning we often begin the year by using books on tape/cd. This provides them with a quick and engaging experience as a whole group while allowing educators to focus on supporting the routines and expectations.

Small Group Instruction:

Simply put, our guided groups do not happen for us until middle or end of Octobe. Rushing this piece only results in back tracking throughout the year to reinforce routines and social skills that can be taught in the Fall. We do begin our Small Group structure at the beginning of the year, but both educators are floating to support students in understanding expectations and routines.

Assessment: 

Some educators begin the year with elaborate assessment scales. We have seen many variations and approaches. Of course every school board will have different expectations and assessments that need to be done. Aside from those, we challenge you to think about what you really need to know.

Do you need to know how many letters that brand new students know during week 2? Does it really matter if you know if a child knows their colours? We also challenge you to think about HOW you may collect the information. Will you invite that child to a table and “test” them by asking them the shapes on a sheet of paper? Or ask them to count for you to see how high they can go?

What if….you watched them in the building area and made short notes about the language they are using, the questions they are asking, the relationships they are building.

What if….you observed them at the paint table and notice the way that they add their name?

What if….you ask one child a day to help you count the number of students in the classroom as you go outdoors to play to ensure that you know how many children are outside?

We have strong opinions on slowing down in the Fall and collecting information as it comes in naturally. There are so many genuine ways to learn about the children that you have in your classroom that don’t require you to overwhelm yourself with in depth assessment templates.

Give yourself permission to slow down. We promise that in the process of slowing down you will capture more than you would if you sat down with each child one at a time. Also, what is important to know in the Fall?

We always wonder why we need to know how many letters a child can identify…how will that improve my practice? Instead, could you make note of whether a child knows “none”, “few”, “some” or “most” letters?