Yoga has many benefits for children. It can help children develop their physical, emotional, and mental health, as well as promote self-awareness, concentration, and relaxation. Classroom yoga will benefit your children. Check out this blog post to discover 11 amazing yoga benefits for children.

Investigations, Explicit Teaching, Social and EmotionalJanelle McArdle18 April 2023kids yoga, yoga benefits for children, classroom yoga, mindful kids, mindful classroom, behaviour management, early childhood, early years, social and emotionalComment

The Rotation Schema

Are your students spinning, twirling, and turning objects or even themselves? They are exploring the rotation schema. This blog post explores the rotation play schema in detail and gives you 46 engaging activities you can use to support the rotation play schema in your classroom.

InvestigationsJanelle McArdle23 February 2023play schema, play based learning, schemas, rotation schema, schema play, early childhood, early years, child development, developmental play, hands-on learning, kindergarten, prepComment

The Orientation Schema

In this blog post, you will learn all about the orientation schema and why it needs to be supported in your classroom. You’ll also discover several hands-on playful activities that will help you to support this interesting play schema.

InvestigationsJanelle McArdle16 November 2022play schema, orientation schema, kindergarten, prep, preschool, first grade, grade 1, early years, early childhood, child development, play based learning, play based classroom, play based Comment

Teaching Geometry in Kindergarten

Discover why it is so important to teach kindergarten and preschool children geometry and find out all about the Australian Curriculum Geometry strand so you can be confident teaching this complex maths subject.

Explicit Teaching, InvestigationsJanelle McArdle25 August 2022maths, kindergarten, preschool, shapes, geometry, play based, play based learning, hands-on, hands-on learning, 2D shapes, 3D shapes, early childhood math, early years, math activities, math provocationsComment

A Guide to Play Schemas in Early Childhood Education

If you would like to create an engaging and effective learning environment and confidently plan learning experiences that perfectly match the cognitive development of each child in your class, this blog post on play schemas is for you. Understanding play schemas and being able to pinpoint the ones your students are developing is critical to the success of your early childhood classroom.

Teaching the F-2 ACARA Math Learning Intentions Through Play

The best way to teach math is through play. This blog post explains the F-2 ACARA Math Curriculum and how you can create opportunities for your early childhood students to enjoy their math learning by using hands-on play based strategies and materials.

How to Write Learning Intentions for Kindergarten and Preschool

Are you wondering how to write effective and age-appropriate learning intentions for your preschool or kindergarten classroom? In this blog post you will discover some practical strategies to help you write curriculum aligned learning intentions your kindergarten and preschool children can relate to and use.

Explicit Teaching, InvestigationsJanelle McArdle16 May 2022learning intentions, kindergarten, preschool, prep, foundation stage, play based learning, planning, teaching, integrated curriculum, investigations, early childhood, early years, curriculum planning, Australian curriculumComment

Do You Need Learning Intentions and Success Criteria in an Early Years Classroom?

Do you really need to display your learning intentions in a kindergarten or preschool classroom? In this blog post you will discover exactly what learning intentions are and learn some practical teacher tips and ideas for you to have success using or displaying classroom learning intentions in the early years learning environment.

Explicit Teaching, Classroom Environment, InvestigationsJanelle McArdle4 April 2022learning intentions, kindergarten, preschool, prep, WALT goals, foundation stage, ACARA, Australian curriculum, learning objectives, curriculum planning, early years, early childhoodComment

Easter Writing Prompts

Grab yourself some fun Easter writing prompts and a heap of Easter writing activities and ideas in this blog post. You will be able to keep your students engaged and writing all the way up until the Easter break.

Explicit Teaching, InvestigationsJanelle McArdle22 March 2022writing, easter, kindergarten, grade 1, first grade, literacy, investigations, early years, primary school, elementary, writing promptsComment

Counting the Days of School

If you are not already counting the days of school, I encourage you to do it!!. This fun math activity is popular in kindergarten and grade 1 because it is such an engaging way to teach and consolidate early number concepts. Your students will love this predictable daily counting practice and you will be surprised at how many early numeracy skills and concepts can be taught when you count and celebrate 100 days of school.

Explicit TeachingJanelle McArdle17 January 2022100 days, counting, numbers, early years, kindergarten, grade 1, grade one, maths, counting the days, math activities, early numeracyComment

Piaget and Play Based Learning

Piaget’s theories of cognitive development have influenced our modern play pedagogies. See how Piaget and play based learning go hand-in-hand and how his theories reinforce the idea that children learn through play. Discover some practical play-based learning ideas for your classroom.

Investigations, Explicit TeachingJanelle McArdle11 October 2021play based, play based learning, play based classroom, piaget, early childhood, early years, hands-on learning Comments

Stages of Development - Piaget

Piaget’s theories on cognitive development were groundbreaking for the world of education. To this day, Piagetian theories continue to influence curriculum design and implementation. This blog post will take a close look at Jean Piaget’s Stages of development in children.

Explicit Teaching, InvestigationsJanelle McArdle31 May 2021investigations, playbased, planning, cognitive development, hands-on, teaching, early years, early childhood Comment

Teaching Science in Early Childhood

Find out how to effectively teach the early childhood science curriculum in just 40min a week. The children in my class reach curriculum benchmarks easily. In fact, they learn so much more than the mandated curriculum.

Explicit Teaching, InvestigationsJanelle McArdle22 April 2021inquiry, investigations, planning, playbased, provocations, science, play based, early years, early childhood, teaching science, reggio, walker learning, integrated curriculum, investigative play, developmental playComment

Affirmations & Growth Mindsets for Children

Social and EmotionalJanelle McArdle4 March 2020early years, early childhood, growth mindset, social skills, social and emotionalComment

Blog - Life in a Play Based Classroom

I’m Janelle and I’m here to help you implement an engaging, play based curriculum

that STILL has your children meeting academic standards and benchmarks!