Nothing helps the first of school more than a little pre-planning. The following are some ideas we use for a great  beginning.

I.  Preparing the Room

1. Selecting the Theme for the Year
   
   It helps to select a theme for which materials are readily available.  Suppose I choose my theme for the year to be Care Bears. On door, I will put a Care Bear (bought from Hallmark) and  have him holding a heart shaped balloon with each child's name on it.  Name tags will be Care Bears  in different colors for each class. Use larger Care Bears for students'  "I Cans" that go on the wall.   Make fabric "Care Bears" sewn from printed Care Bear material to hold color balloons  in the following colors: purple, blue, green yellow, orange, red, black, brown, and white.  Be sure to change the theme each year.  It makes it easier on you for finding "in characters" and makes it more exciting for the students to have a new theme each year as they advance.  Since you will be having multiple children from the same family, it is always fun for siblings to compare what they did with what next sibling did.
    

2. Preparing the Bulletin Boards
   
   Our first unit for the year is Nursery Rhymes.   We prepare one bulletin board with Nursery Rhyme theme.
   
   Birthday Board: Usually done in theme for year, in this case, Care Bears.
   
   Alphabet
    

3. Setting Up Learning Centers
   
   The learning centers used is influenced by the available classroom space and prioritized by need. More information on learning centers :
   
    

4. Color Coding
   
   We color code name tags, labels for coat hooks, labels for cubbies,  attendance sheets, Daily Check Sheet, "I Can's" for yearly activity and achievement.   All elements carry the Care Bear theme.  Due to copyright issues the items shown are from our butterfly theme.  We laminate the name tags and keep them all year for use by substitutes, music classes etc.  We also laminate cubbie and coat rack labels.  At the end of the year we laminate the "I Cans" and send them home with the students.
   
   

    

5. Engine and Caboose
   
   I make an Engine and Caboose for posting the Leader and Caboose for the Class each day.
   
    

6. Unit / Achievement Chart, aka the "I Cans"
   
   We put a themed item such as a Care Bear on the wall and have each Unit printed on it as well as other achievements.  Students received a sticker for completion of each unit and also for counting, writing name, knowing address, phone number, if they could tie, alphabet, etc.  We call this chart the "I Cans".  One of these charts in the butterfly theme is shown below.
   
   
   
   
   

II. Clerical Preparation

1. Attendance Rolls - Run one for each month.  These rolls were kept on a clip board and were color coded in the classes color.

   Preschool Attendance Sheet
   
   Teacher: _________________________     Class: _________________________
   
    

   
    

2. Prepare Folders for Each Student
   
   Label a file folder for each child enrolled in my class.  I either use colored file folders or colored name labels in the appropriate color for the class.
   
    

3. Daily Check Sheet

   
    

   Nursery Rhymes / Nursery Stories 4's	Jack and Jill Pail	Humpty Dumpty Cut Paste	Three Bears Easel Paint	Three Bears Sequence Paper	Jack in Bean Stalk Sequence Paper	Jack in Bean Stalk Plant Bean	Cut out Gingerbread Boy and Hunt for Him
   Mary Brown
   John Doe
   Jane Green
   Bill Smith

 

1. Letter to Parents  (August 1,  send supply list, parents letter, September newsletter, and yearly holidays)
    

2. Contact card
   
    

   Child's name

   Parent's name

   Address

   Phone

   Work phone

   In case of illness and parents can't be reached call:

   (1)

   (2)

   (3)

    

3. Supply list
    

   Great Beginnings Supply List 2 rolls Bounty Big Roll Paper Towels  2 pkgs. Peel-Off reinforcements (Avery Brand – ONLY!  White,   pastel, or foil:  other brands are  difficult for the children to use) 1-4 oz. No Run Elmer’s School Glue 1 large box Kleenex tissue Choose Either 1 more roll of paper towels                   or 2 pkgs. 6 oz. or 8 oz. drinking cups

    

4. Party Sign Up Sheet
   
   We want each parent to be able to help with a party.  If parent can not attend a party we encourage them to send something.
   
    

   Party Sign Up Sheet

   Halloween

   Christmas

   Valentine

   Easter

   
    

5. Sun Visor Name Tags for Student Pick Up
   
   Safety is a high priority.  Parents are instructed on drop off and pick up procedures.  One help is for parents to attach a pick up card on sun visor so loaders can see who is next in line in the pick up queue..
    

6. Run Extra Parent Handbooks
    

7. Color Check List - We color code checklist with class color.
   
   The check list is ultimately placed in child's file.
   
   
   

   Colors
   Pencil	Word	Color			Color Words
   		Introduced	In Progress	Mastered	Introduced	In Progress	Mastered
   	red
   	blue
   	yellow
   	green
   	black
   	brown
   	orange
   	purple
   	white





8. Shape Check List - We color code checklist with class color.
   
   The check list is ultimately placed in child's file.
    

   Shapes
   Shape	Word	Shape			Shape Words
   		Introduced	In Progress	Mastered	Introduced	In Progress	Mastered
   	circle
   	square
   	oval
   	rectangle
   	ttriangle
   	diamond

   
   

9. Number Check List

- We color code checklist with class color.

The check list is ultimately placed in child's file.

 

Numbers
Numeral	Word	Number			Number Words
		Introduced	In Progress	Mastered	Introduced	In Progress	Mastered
0	zero
1	one
2	two
3	three
4	four
5	five
6	six
7	seven
8	eight
9	nine
10	ten


 

10. Run off worksheets,  art activities, recipes, etc for first unit.  Since storage is a problem we do not run more.  Midway through first month we run materials needed for second month etc.