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Since I became a mom, one of the most startling things I’ve learned is HOW much I learn from my kids – from the very beginning.

 When my oldest, now fifteen, was about five, and I’d get irritated at her, she’d be SO sorry she’d often say: “Mom, can we just have a ‘do-over?’”

By which she meant not so much forget the “crime,” but rather (in her young, unsophisticated, yet unexpectedly wise way)…

“Hey, Mom? Can we just shake off the BS, please, and start fresh? I understand I messed up, and you got your point across, obviously, so is it okay now if YOU stop feeling irritated, and I stop feeling badly, and we move on, feeling more positive?”

GENIUS.

It was tough the first few times. For some reason, we all want to hang on to negativity.

But it was a terrific lesson. We use it to this day, when we can. Especially now she’s a teen: best of all? She thought of it herself, so whenever she goes to pout, I can kind of hoist her on her own petard to pull her out of a slump. 

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Got another idea? LET US KNOW! 

• An iPhone4
• A bag of groceries
• A hot air balloon
• A jellyfish
• A mailbox
• A rabbit in a hat
• A window box of flowers

iPhone4:

 You’ll need:

• 1 sheet of black foamcore board, plus:
• 1 sheet any color foamcore board (for the back)
• large sheets of heavy card stock in various colors (or use thick, Sharpie® – style markers to color in white card stock.)
• white card stock (to print the icons provided) and a color printer,  or colored markers (for you or your child to draw your own icons)
• double-stick tape, glue stick, Glue-Dots® (my new fave), or glue
• wide ribbon and glue (or staples) to join the “sandwich board” phone together for wearing.

You can download a booklet of instructions here, which includes standard iPhone icons, as well as blank icons you can get creative with. If you don’t already have Adobe’s FREE Acrobat READER program to view PDFs (Portable Document Files), then click the “Get Adobe Reader” icon above, and it will take you – in a separate window – to the Adobe web site, where you can easily download the latest version and install it on any system you have.

iPhone 4

Print out this image of the iPhone as a guide. (Click or right-click and choose “save as“)

Avoid copyright infringement; Google your own iPhone image at your own risk – honestly? You can be really creative with your own ideas. Encourage your kids to avoid copyright infringement, which is illegal, and wrong – and encourage them instead to be inventive.

Use a large coffee can to round off the edges of each corner of both pieces of foamcore board.

Decorate the back of the back piece of foamcoare board. This is the “phone cover,” so go nuts.

Follow the instructions in the PDF you can download here for placement of the printable pieces for the front, black piece of foamcore board.

You can each punch holes in the tops and sides of the foamcore boards when you’re done, as shown, to keep the boards on your child, or you can fasten the ribbon with tape. (Holes and knots are FAR more secure.)

DONE!

A Bag of Groceries

• Cereal boxes, oatmeal cylinders: anything packaged in light cardboard will work.

 

• At the grocery store, when they ask: paper or plastic? Ask for paper, and fold it carefully and tuck it away until it’s time for you to make your BIG bag.
•  You might want to consider a trip to the dollar store for some cheap fruit, too.
•  Depending on the size of your child, you may need one to three bags to fit.
•  If you need more than one bag, you will simply cut on the seams and layer the bags together to create one larger bag – duct tape on the INSIDE, for security, but use transparent cellophane tape on the outside to keep things neat.
•  Since you’ll be cutting out the BOTTOM of the bag, to allow your child to walk, use that nice, thick bottom to make secure straps for the shoulders: THAT will be the grocery bag straps.
• Before you make the final duct tape seam? Along the inside, duct tape your (now) lightweight items you’ve bought (and used) from the store. Add tissue-paper lettuces, dollar-store fruits, etc.

…and so on… plastic fruit, tissue paper lettuces.. they’ll be empty, so they won’t weigh down the bag.

• You can even add an old grocery-store receipt dangling from the bag – but not too long. Make sure your child doesn’t trip.

Jellyfish

You’ll need:

• A smallish, on-the-thin-side, round pillow
• Silk, or silk-like, shiny fabric
• Shiny pajamas (to match)
• Shiny ribbon (wide) from the dollar store, or any craft store
• Safety pins

::-::-::

• If your child is into the ocean blue? Then a trip to the thrift store for a round pillow and some silky stuff is the trick here.
• Bag up the pillow and bunch it into a silk pillowcase. (Or, more accurately, if you’re budget-conscious: “silk-like.”) Rubber-band or use a ponytail holder to tie it together, and you’ve got the beginnings of the headpiece.
• Safety pins, judiciously located on either side of the “hat,” will allow you to tack on a below-the-chin ribbon to keep it fastened onto the head. (Make sure the pillow isn’t too heavy.) Use more safety pins to add “tentacles” to the jellyfish, which will dangle down from the pillow.
• Add pajamas to match, and you’re good to go.

Mailbox

 You’ll need:

•  A rectangular box, longer than wide, and big enough to fit your child’s head, but still sit on their shoulders. You should be able to get this by asking around at your local grocery stores, which dump boxes of varying sizes away every week.
•  White poster board
• Red construction paper
• Glue or staples. (If you go with staples, pick up some masking tape to cover the staples for safety.)
• Optional: gold-colored paper fasteners, to use to secure the red flag and make it also moveable.

•  Cut any flaps off the box, so there aren’t any hanging off.
•  Get the box, and cut out a hole in the front, so you can slide the box from the back onto the child’s shoulders.
•  Take the semi-circle you cut out, and save it aside.

•  Pick up the large white poster board, and cut it the length of the box.

•  Secure one edge of the poster board to the bottom of the box; glue or staple to the side. Flip the poster board over the empty top. It will form a curve, like the top of a mailbox. Do the same to the other side, securing it, finally, at the other bottom edge. (Do not forget, if using staples, to cover the staples with a thick tape – like masking tape.)
• Once you’ve cut the red flag out of construction paper, you can either glue it on, or you can use the gold paper fastener to affix it – if you use the fastener, your flag will be able to go up and down.

::-::-::

Rabbit in a Hat

You’ll need:

• Hair band (hard, not stretchy)
• Bunny ears, downloadable here.
• Fluffy cottontail, made from cottonballs.
• 2-3 sheets Black posterboard.
• Black duct tape.
• Black ribbons or large-size, soft black yarn
• Shiny, black, blue, or other bold color ribbon – enough to fit around the perimeter of the giant hat.
• Two mismatched socks
• White school glue
• Bag of cotton balls and old or disposable bowl
• Newspapers to pick up glue drips

NOTE: For a quick and easy rabbit?

Download this ear pattern, which can be easily attached to any hard (as opposed to the stretch kind) hairband. (BONUS: Cat ears, too.)

Make up the face like so:

You need a headband. NOT the stretchy kind. The hard kind.

Attach the downloadable ears to the headband.

Add a pink circle to the nose with lipstick or lip gloss.

With brown or black eyeliner, or eyebrow pencil, draw the muzzle and whiskers.

For a quick and easy rabbit’s tail?

(Here’s a good use for some mismatched socks, too.)

• Take the smaller sock, ball it up, and place it in the toe of the other.
• Tie off the toe of the first sock.
• Dip or cover the toe of the sock in glue. (Make sure you’ve laid down the newspapers to catch the glue drips.)
• Now: after all the drips have stopped, dunk the sticky (roundish) sock end in the bag of cotton balls. You should have a nice, fluffy tail. With a convenient “tail end” to attach to your child’s costume.

::-::-::

To make the hat?

• Make a cylinder out of 1-2 sheets of posterboard – make sure it’s wide enough and short enough for your child to take a step and they won’t trip.
• As long as the perimeter of the cylinder, create a 4-inch (approximately) “brim” for the hat: basically, a long, long strip. You’ll probably need to tape together several strips. For the sake of planning, though, keep in mind: if you want a 3-inch brim, cut a 4-inch strip. A 4-inch brim? Cut a 5-inch strip.
• At one end of the strip? Cut one inch into the brim, every couple of inches or so, until your strip looks a little bit like a fringe.

• This will allow you to bend the brim – and then glue it onto the cylinder part of the hat.
• The brightly colored ribbon will hide the fringy mess.
• Like the other costumes? Punch discreet holes, and use ribbon or yard to make sort of suspenders to hold the hat up on your child’s shoulders.

Window Box of Flowers

 Again: hit your local grocery store for the perfect sized box for this.

You’ll need:

• Colored tissues in all colors – and green, for the leaves.
• You COULD invest in wire? Or you could just save bread ties.
• Acrylic paint, to paint the box a nice white floral box color… OR?
• White card stock, to cut out a cute little fence to glue onto the box.
•  Optional? Floral tape.
• Also optional: floral foam.

::-::-::

• If you’re going to cut out the fence? Fold the cardstock in half, if necessary, and cut the cardstock along the folded half.
• Fold your cardstock into as many even pieces as you like.
• Cut along the folds, and that will give you a nice easy way to get even fence slats.
• Save one or two long pieces to “connect” the fence posts.
• Glue onto the box.

For the flowers:

• Layer two shades of tissue on top of each other, and bunch up, or accordion fold.
• Secure in the center with tape or wire.
• Fluff out again, into flower shapes.
• Repeat until box is full with as colorful a set as you like.

Fill box first with artfully crumpled shades of green tissue. (If box is semi deep? Fill first with something you can’t see, like an old towel or something on the light side… you don’t want to weigh your child down too much.)

Another possibility? If the box has room? Use a cardboard separator: flowers in front, and in back? The candy stash!

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My favorite thing about Easter?

Home. Easter is all about home and family.

This spring holiday season, I am thousands of miles from my family – surrounded by new and dear friends, to be sure – but far from tradition, far from the ways my children and I have celebrated for their lifetimes. Since you’re asking? My favorite thing about Easter is tradition, and home.

I could say it was the chocolate bunnies. Because, of course, you know: the RIGHT chocolate bunny MUST be solid, of a decent size and weight, and – if you shop at the right time — you can even do some good in the world, by finding one that benefits charity.

I could say it was the challenge of making certain the Easter Bunny fills the basket he delivers with the right balance of goodies that please the palate, and goodies that please the creative side of the children: like sidewalk chalk, bubbles, art supplies, and other delights that do NOT delight dentists.

I could tell you my LEAST favorite thing about Easter: plastic grass, strewn about the house. That is a slam-dunk pick.

But my favorite thing about Easter is really a combination of things, which reflect the same thing.

Being home together with family.

The Easter Egg hunt their dad and I used to carefully prepare, filling plastic eggs with non-candy – but still fun – items, like cool erasers and other doo-dads – the out-and-out fun of choosing hiding spots, some in outright plain sight – and the morning fun of watching the two girls seek, reminding them that once they found their share, they had to stop.

That camaraderie? I miss.

The Easter services, which churchgoers rarely miss – where you see people from your town crowd the halls in their best clothes, toddlers and babies squirming… most of us sheepishly grinning at each other at our too-long absences…

That camaraderie? I miss.

The gathering of family from far-flung places, where cousins who have not seen each other since the last holiday play together as if no time at all has passed, once more instant friends, and in-laws go about the business of preparing a holiday feast, as it has been for centuries…

That familiarity only your longtime family give you? I miss.

Funny. I didn’t even know it was my favorite part of Easter until someone asked me.

Interesting, though: our family celebrates both Easter and Passover; thankfully, I have one of my best friends to celebrate the Seder dinner with nearby.

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hop blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”

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If I were abducted by aliens, I’m not quite sure if I’d be panicked, or if I’d be excited at the idea of a vacation from the responsibilities of motherhood.

I know my kids would not be so thrilled. They’re not even happy when I decide to go to the convenient store by myself.

Below is a list of at least ten things my kids would miss about me, were I to take that Great Vacation in the Sky, where no mom has (boldly) gone before.

1. When they called out: “Mo-ooom,” there would be an echoing silence. Either that, or someone WAY less patient would respond.
2. There would be no one on Planet Earth who knew how they REALLY liked their chicken.
3. Even though they’ve memorized the Burger King menu, there would be no one to remind them what they really want is chicken strips, as they agonize over the choices.
4. Their rooms would become so crowded with dirty glasses, cups, plates and utensils it would look like they were living inside a dishwasher.
5. My teenager would be lost without someone to blame for: her angst, the weather, her lack of the very coolest clothes, <insert problem here.>
6. My youngest would have no one to talk to for hours about Legendary Pokémon.
7. They might not ever change their sheets; I wonder how many crumbs a set of twin sheets can actually hold
8. They would have no one to sing the “How Much Do I Love You ” song to them.
9. Every family has SO many of what we call “location” jokes (you had to be there.) They’d miss those terribly.
10. They might not miss this, but I would: dragging out their baby pictures for all to see how cute they were.

While this is a funny premise There are a too many kids out there who don’t have moms. For anyone looking for a deeper understanding of what it’s like to grow up without one, I heartily recommend Hope Edelman’s wonderful book: Motherless Daughters.

I also recommend the terrific organizations Big Brothers and Big Sisters. They can help fill a void in a child’s life made by an absent parent.

DISCLAIMER:

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

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Any way you slice it, homework is a drag. For your kid, for the teacher who grades it, and for YOU, the parent who has to stand over a resentful kid and be the incredibly NOT-cool person you never imagined yourself being, parroting back words you never imagined yourself saying – words which, when your OWN parents said them, made you sort of want to throw up a little in your mouth.

“Do your homework.”

It IS work, though. We tend to forget, once we don’t have to do it anymore. After all, they don’t call it homePLAY.

In fact, you can talk, talk, talk about putting things off till the last minute, you can TALK all you want about “wouldn’t you rather just get it DONE so you can go out and PLAY ” and you can TALK all you want in general, but unless you offer a real, tangible SOLUTION to your kid, all you’re doing is TALKING, and it sounds like THIS to your kid:

“Talk, talk, talk, talkedy talk talk, <insert kid’s name here>, talk ”

Exactly like YOUR parent’s voice sounded to YOU when YOU sat at the kitchen table, eyes glazing over a worksheet full of multiplication facts while the sun shone temptingly outside.

Remember NOW

Do you also remember that horrid feeling, as if your homework would stretch until now until forever

THAT is what you have to help your kid get over to help them get their homework done.

Here’s how.

The Fifteen-Minute Method works like this – and, by the way, this is a great way to increase your productivity at work, because I’ve thrown it to adults, too, who’ve found it really useful:

Set a timer for fifteen minutes. For that fifteen minutes – JUST FIFTEEN – you’ll work FULL-OUT.

Then stop. Or don’t stop. Maybe you’ll want to keep going. In that case, set the timer again, but ONLY for fifteen minutes.

When you DO stop, take FIVE minutes.

Do whatever you want. Jump around, walk, yell YAHOO!, or slump on the desk.

Then back to short, sweet, high-energy fifteen minute bursts.

Before you know it You’re done.

Works nearly every time.

From Twittermoms: Here’s another article on the topic:
http://livingpower.blogspot.com.

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Tweet for Literacy

Tweet a scrambled message to your followers so they know what it’s like to be illiterate. They can click on the link to decipher it.

Visit this link to learn more.

Tweet

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Looking for a great reading theme this year that’s flexible, empowers your readers, is creative, fun, and speaks to kids on a hands-on, visual, and – if you want to, and have the ability to add it – multimedia level, too

I’ve been inspired by a friend of mine, Tina Miller Dobson, who posted the question on my Facebook page.

“Journey Into The World of Learning” as a theme can be handled in a variety of ways, and can – and SHOULD – be customized for each classroom.

The very best themes accomplish two goals: they give you a guiding principle for tying the unit together, but they allow enough leeway for readers to choose the books they WANT to read – because if you limit readers’ choices too much, you lose their enthusiasm. So you need a theme that will inspire enthusiasm and encourage participation. The best way to do that is look for something that requires the active participation of the readers.

Here are some concrete suggestions, for teachers to use as jumping-off points for their own creativity. Don’t stop here, though – you’ll find these will spark entirely new ideas of your own. When they do, send them here, for other teachers to benefit!

For younger students: K-2

For these students, teachers may or may not be reading books WITH their students, in class. In THIS case, the books may be read in sequential order, but they work simultaneously, too.

AROUND THE WORLD

Consider a “cross-discipline” approach. Try hanging a map, either of the state, the country, or even the world. If you REALLY want to go hardcore, see if the art teacher will help you build a simple airplane or boat out of a large coffee can.

If a child reads a book set in Michigan, for instance, set a sticker on the map. (Think Dollar Store stickers – and Dollar Store maps, too – I’m finding more educational stuff there all the time.) Each day your readers can give a short talk about what he or she read, and other classmates take turns pulling out and reading fun facts you’ve dropped in the airplane/boat about Michigan.

Here are some links for easy geography fact collection for students K-6

http://www.unc.edu/~jmaxim/web_geography_for_kids.htm
http://www.kidzone.ws/
http://geography.about.com/od/studygeography/a/geographykids.htm
http://www.kidzworld.com/article/1751-world-geography-facts-water
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/games/geographygames/quizyournoodle-geography-facts/
http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/world.htm
http://www.super-kids.com/geography.html

STEPPING STONES GAME

Have each kid in your class take a sheet of construction paper – any color – and cut out a stepping stone for your bulletin board or wall. The kids can decorate the edges of the stones, but leave the inside blank. (No need to be super-perfect about this.)

(The size of the stones can depend on the space you have available; if space is at a premium, consider getting a sheet of foam core board, and divvying up the construction paper into fourths. Then glue-stick or double-sticky tape the stones onto the foam core board, and bring the stiff sheet out at reading time. It will store neatly behind the desk until needed.)

On each stone, as the books are completed, and reports (oral or written) are completed, print out book jackets (you can get these online, or from Amazon.com) and paste them onto the stones. In between each stone, place a cutout arrow or draw one.

(Download a PDF arrow template here. You may need the FREE Adobe Reader, which you can get – also free – HERE.)

The entire class wins when the whole path is completed.

Download PDF “winner” ribbons here, in both black and white and color. Alternately, you can print these bookmarks. Suggestions: (a) print on cardstock if you can, and (b) if you want to save some money, printing laser black and white on colored paper gives you the impact of color without the expense of inkjet color.

OLDER READERS:

Grades 3-5 are more independent readers, and more can be expected from them. THESE readers can submit written reports (see here for sample guided report sheets you can use), and you can consider more guided themes.

Ideas:

Again, consider cross-discipline approaches like combining reading with geography, as above, or do a “journey back in time” with non-fiction history or historical fiction.

Consider teaching about reading genres: “journey forward in time” – science fiction; “journey to other worlds” – fantasy.

Consider journeys into the world of science, with non-fiction books about animals, plants, the solar system, etc.

Encourage students to develop reports that suit their journeys. If, say, a student journeys back in time, and reads a book about native Americans, their report might consist of recreating a native American corn husk doll, then talking about its significance with the class. If the student “journeys” into space, they might want to consider a model – not necessarily the standard solar system – but perhaps just Jupiter and its moons, or of a spaceship THAT reader might create someday.

For multimedia PowerPoint presentations are fun for kids to create, and often allow them to express themselves more easily in an oral presentation.

As we’re all too familiar with, kids seem to have a knack for handling themselves with programs like PowerPoint fairly well, too, even with minimal instruction.

For handy templates for book reports in PowerPoint, you and your students can visit this area of InklessTales.com.

Questions, comments, or suggestions PLEASE DO.

Sample book report forms available on the web for you:

http://www.abcteach.com/directory/basics/reading/book_report_forms/

Better Book Reports: 25 Ideas
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson109.shtml

More Book Report Ideas (LOTS)
http://www.teachnet.com/lesson/langarts/reading/bookrepts1.html

Elementary Reading: Breaking Down the Components of a Plot
http://math-and-reading-help-for-kids.org/articles/Elementary_reading:_Breaking_down_the_components_of_a_plot.html

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We all turn to the Web for information. Here are some sites you can head straight for when your kid needs information, fast.

InklessTales.com/ask
I’ll answer any kid’s question. As a former journalist, I’ll go to straight to the top – no matter who they are – to get an answer for any kid who asks.

Discovery Education

Homework Spot

From Math.com: Homework Help – Includes “Everyday Calculators”

VERY comprehensive from AOL: covers all subjects.

MATH

On this site, the “Algebrator” solves the equation – AND “shows all work” as you go.

Purple Math: turns out, neatness actually counts.

HotMath.com – who knew Geometry!

More from math.com

SOCIAL STUDIES

Just when they hate it most, here’s help: middle school social studies help

Time4Kids from Time Magazine offers “Rapid Research.” Nice.

KidInfo is a directory – social studies and MORE.

HISTORY

Indian Child – resources and more resources

AOL again – this time, history from A-Z

Five tips on how to write better papers for younger students at the History Place.

Kidipede: History for Kids. Real history. Real fun to read.

SCIENCE

Kids’ Turn Central – Science and More

Schoolwork.org is funny – their banner reads Schoolwork.ugh!

The Science Page. It’s not pretty, but that’s kind of a good sign.

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There are many resources, all over the web, for parents and kids to turn to for help on nearly every imaginable topic – and those resources will be collected here in another post, soon – but the greatest homework help, any parent or teacher will know, is a parent themselves.

Teachers universally will tell you: a child whose family provides a support system does much better in school than a child with less.

Support includes: a quiet, well-lighted, cleared-away desk or table upon which to work, with no television or radio to distract them. Healthy snacks for energy are a good idea, since today’s school lunches often come as early as 10:30 a.m., meaning your child hasn’t eaten a thing since then.

Sometimes, depending on your child, it’s a good idea to allow them a few minutes to a half-hour to “decompress” and play, chill out, rack up some scores on the Wii as they transition between school and home. Other kids It’s best to swiftly scoot them into that seat and get the work done and over with.

Either way you choose Routine is key for kids. If kids know homework time is always from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., free time is from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., and dinner is always at 6 p.m., then not only will they be mentally and emotionally prepared to power down the Wii (keeping a visible clock near the console doesn’t hurt, and neither does a five-minute warning), but they’ll become more efficient at homework – no one wants to lose free time – and they’ll become less resistant to starting it, since it’s “just part of the schedule.”

As kids get older – middle school and high school – they develop a tendency to want to take their homework into their bedroom, amp up the stereo or the TV if they’ve got one, or pop the iPod earbuds in, and sequester themselves in their room. Your call, but this does NOT work for MY teen.

In the past, this has turned into a lot of “I got a good start on it. I’ve only got one page left. Can I come with you to the mall ”

Only to find her at nearly midnight – still with earbuds in – crying over a report that’s 12 pages long still to do.

My younger one, now in seventh grade, has ALWAYS resented the intrusion of homework, feeling like the drills and practice, for instance, of math problems she already understands are a waste of her time.

Nevertheless, we ALL face, in life, chores that feel waste our time, but are necessary to do. So, despite her deep understanding of addition Yep. Still gotta do those twenty problems.

Rather than go at loggerheads with her, I came up with what I call “Homework in Five Minutes.”

She and I made an agreement, since what was happening was this: her reluctance was resulting in her homework taking HOURS, instead of “just getting it done and over with.” (How many times has THIS happened in YOUR house )

We agreed to set a kitchen timer. She would do five solid minutes of homework – full-out, all-energy, do her best homework – and when the bell went off, we’d reset it for another five.

The NEXT five minutes were hers, and hers alone. She could dance, draw, contemplate her navel if she wanted.

NEXT five All homework.

We agreed to try this for twenty minutes. Just twenty, to see if it would work.

I even trusted her to work the timer herself, although I periodically checked, secretly.

Within two days, she came down to my office. “I got so much done in the first five minutes I reset the timer for ten and got done,” she said.

The theory behind this particular system is most kids are used to the quick, grab-your-attention-quickly world of television and other media. It’s difficult for them to concentrate in long spurts in this information age, when everything is coming at you, and you hardly know where to look.

I give them a lot of credit: they have a sort of super-peripheral vision their older counterparts don’t have, because they DO know where to look.

But they ALSO need to develop long-term concentration skills. With the five-minute homework method, it helps them to build it up a bit at a time – and most of all – just like any adult would want – it makes THEM feel in control of their own lives.

While still feeling supported the whole time.

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With summer half over, it’s time to think about lesson plans. Here’s a start for kindergarten and preschool teachers. Hope these links are helpful.

A to Z Teacher Stuff

http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Lesson_Plans/lessonplans-kindergarten.shtml

Explore, Discover, Learn: Kindergarten-Lesson Plans.
http://www.kindergarten-lessons.com/

Back to School Means Back to Classroom Resources
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/

Local School Directory.com
http://www.localschooldirectory.com/lesson-plans/level/Kindergarten

Kinderplans.com
http://www.kinderplans.com/

HotChalk Lesson Plans Page
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/

LessonPlanz.com
http://www.lessonplanz.com/

Fun Lesson Plans.com
http://www.funlessonplans.com/

About.com: Kindergarten Mathematics
http://math.about.com/od/kindergartenmath/Kindergarten_Math_Lesson_Plans.htm

Teachnology
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/math/k2/

Teachers.net
http://teachers.net/cgi-bin/lessons/sort.cgi searchterm=Kindergarten

Elementary Education Resources: Kindergarten
http://www.pitt.edu/~poole/kindergarten.html

Free Kindergarten Math Worksheets
http://www.kidzone.ws/math/kindergarten.htm

Math Lesson Plans and Resources
http://www.cloudnet.com/~edrbsass/edmath.htm

Pre-Kindergarten Teachers’ Place: Individual Lesson Plans
http://mathforum.org/teachers/pre-k/lessons-individual.html

The Teachers’ Guide
http://www.theteachersguide.com/socialstudies.html

Social Studies Lesson Plans
http://www.col-ed.org/cur/social.html