Preschool Room Reflections 2023

 Room Reflections January 2023

21st December 2022

So I'm writing these reflections before I even start teaching. This way you can see my to-do list and my ideas for the classroom. When I'm able to fine tune the floor plan and the shelving and resourcing, I'll add in photos. I am so freaking excited about this up and coming year I can't even. 

To Do List:

• Set up Planning Diary 2023 + Bound
• Set up Planning Calendar 2023 + Bound 
• Created Preschool Plan Template in StoryPark for 2023 
• Completed Room Set Up Reflections Book for 2023

Room Arrangement:

Assistant and I worked to create our initial room space. I’d already identified that it made sense to keep the painting next to the bathroom door so we don’t have paint covered children walking through the room to wash their hands. 

I’d also like to have sensory play as part of the classroom and that could be at the playdough table or possibly the jellybean table. There are opportunities across the space. 

I am also considering putting my nature and science table and discoveries where two shelves meet and can create a nice wide surface. Or it could also be a small world play space. 

We have pot plants, and we will continue to have them moving forwards. We are planning on adding more to the classroom. 

Our Indoor Preschool Play Spaces:

We’ve created our learning spaces using the resourcing and shelving, tables and chairs we have. We’ve also considered pathways and traffic flow across the room. 

We have things in the way that I would very much like to move out of the way such as a large 2nd hand photocopier (that is being retired at some point) and the fridges. If we move the fridge down a little we can back to back them and gain back some wall space once the photocopier is gone We can then use the sides of the fridges as notice boards or information boards AND place a shelf in the middle and use that for displays or for books or compliance folders. 

Our Preschool Indoor Play Spaces for January/February:

• Painting with mini easels (2) 

• Water colour trays 
• Acrylic paints in small pots that can mixed to create new colours 

• Playdough table with collage trolley in the middle for dough tools (4) 

• Rollers, cutters, small containers and cups 
• Wooden stampers, clay hammers, dough tools
• Thick sticks, twigs, pebbles, river stones. 
• Playdough in muted tones. 
• Playdough in two colours for children to mix 
• Playdough inspo pictures/Playdough mats?

• Drawing table at door with turn table in middle (4) 

• Paper in various sizes - A4, A5 and A6. 
• Frames of patterns 
• Frames with Aboriginal patterns/language 

• Writing Table against wall near painting table (2) 

• A5 size paper with mini clip boards
• Tin with pencils in graphite
• Tin with coloured pencils 
• Alphabets in frames
• Word/Vocab cards on rings 

• Small world play table (2)

• Dinosaur small world play set: mini felt volcano, volcanic stones, river stones, pebbles, vinyl river and pond,  Wooden and felt trees + cardboard tube and paper tree tops 

• Puzzles + small manipulatives (4) 

• Magnetic blocks (small set)
• Wooden geometric blocks 
• Peg puzzles 
• Life cycle puzzles 
• ABC + 123 + shape puzzles
• Magnetic tiles (large set)

• Block area in the group area next to computer (4) 

• Wooden unit blocks 
• Baskets of people figurines, large animals, loose parts, small wooden blocks, natural blocks, branches, sticks, planks etc.
• Recycled boxes turned inside out with buildings drawn on them. 
• Wooden and felt trees + Homemade trees
• Tree stumps with planks?
• Low bench/shelf with baskets of loose parts

• Home corner with lounge at middle of room (4) 

• Recycled and repurposed boxes and containers stuffed with shredded paper. 
• Jars with lids for dried goods: lentils, beans, chickpeas, pastas, rice etc. with words written on jars. 

• Book area TBD (2) interim next to lounge 

• Books in baskets, books on shelf

• Science + Discovery Shelf/Display/Table

• Cycline bottle 
• Discovery bottles - make with the children so they feel ownership and connection 
• Magnets 
• Eye -spy bottles with small mini things in rice 
• Life cycle sets 
• Scientific posters, displays of life cycles, dissections of plants, cross sections of insects, aquarium with water plants and water snails or a fish?

We have a total of 28 positions in the classroom for a class of 20 children. This gives children plenty of play spaces and opportunity to play and learn in smaller groups or a larger group. 

Preschool Curriculum Plan 2023:

Once our rooms are organized we will sit down on our first joint planning session and tackle the plan for 2023. We have our initial plan from 2021 that I helped create way back when. 

Our previous plan is our starting point and we can then add in any new additions to our spaces such as the new climbing equipment.  We can then also share this with our extended team. Everyone needs to know 

We will source an A3 sized display folder so we can place the plans in there and also include some printed images of our vision board for 2023. 

Goals for Term 1 2023

I chatted with my co-teacher about next year’s goals for the children and we thought that it would be best to make our first term all about belonging and forming relationships with educators and peers. We will write these starting in 2023 and then have them set up online for the families and other educators. 

We will update our preschool goals for our classes next year and feed that information into Storypark so it is easier to tag them on the children’s observations. We will also create our own written versions of the learning outcomes so that we don’t have to spend time matching the learning outcomes. Streamlining! 

Preschool Veranda Play Space:

• Table 1: Drawing table - paper on clip boards plus pencils in tins in basket. 
• Space 2: Duplo on mat or low table (wooden coffee tables via op-shop or marketplace). 
• Space 3: Small world play set up on low table 
• Space 4: Lounge chairs with baskets of books
• Easel with acrylic paints + drying string (also possibly placed in garden?

Preschool Outdoor Play Space

• Climbing equipment 1 
• Climbing equipment 2 
• Hoops + Balls 
• Bikes with bike path + chairs for queuing children
• Mud Kitchen (move to sandpit) 
• Sandpit with recycled containers and kitchen items
• Construction zone play + natural elements, dirt, stones, concrete clumps?, 

Gardening with Preschoolers

• Set up potting station to use with children for setting up growing station 
• Plank of wood + crates for growing tables for seeds to germinate 
• 2 vegetable beds 
• Grow vines + low vegetables along fence line. Grow the 3 Sisters along the fence line?: Corn/Squash/Beans? 
• Grow nasturniums 
• Add more grasses to the sensory garden.
• Replant plants that are too high + add mulch 
• Reposition stepping stones 
• Create flower patch along pathway at entrance to preschool next to grevillea. Plant more grevilleas + add in flowering for bees and butterflies 
• Add in small trays of water for insects and lizards with stones + sticks.

Preschool Routines 

• Start summer routine and include an indoor outdoor program to assist children in settling into the classroom 
• Crunch and sip at 10am
• Meals at tables in small groups 
• Including elements of belonging + name recognition in routines.
• Move hats outside for easy access. 
• Create circles of childrens names + photo to place above their number hook for bags. 
• Arrive at service, greetings, parent sign in, child to hang bag, place name card on hook, fruit and water bottle on trolley, lunch into tubs, confirm/apply sunscreen, wash hands, play
• More later …