Back to School Activity Packs/Resources for Kinder/Preschool/Homeschool

 If you are a preschool or kindergarten teacher, homeschooler, or person who works with littles in the 4-6 age range, this post is for you! I've been busy at work creating some new, inexpensive resources that are simply print and go for Back to School and the fall season! Check out some of the new products below!

Perfect for little ones learning their letters, this "I Have, Who Has" A-Z letter card game is perfect! If you don't have a classroom full of students to share the cards with, you can pass out multiple cards to each child! Find it HERE.

These ABC recognition coloring pages will carry you throughout all your letter introduction learning! This set has 31 pages (includes short and long vowels). Find it HERE.

Fall is my favorite! I love all things orange and brown and pumpkin! This 9 page pack includes cutting, adding, matching, size comparisons, and more! Find it HERE.

This A is for Apple activity pack is 8 pages of cutting, comparisons, tracing, letter recognition, and more! Find it HERE. 

If you love the back to school and autumn season as much as I do, I hope you enjoy these resources with your little people! 

Valentine's Day FULL Preschool or Kindergarten Curriculum Set

 

Valentine's has ALWAYS been my favorite my favorite holiday. When I was in the classroom teaching, I absolutely LOVED Valentine's week. I still love it! 

I finally took some time and compiled all of my Valentine's themed lesson plans into a full weekly thematic learning unit, and have it listed for sale on Teachers Pay Teachers. 

This resource contains 5 days worth of Valentine's activities, with 22 activities in total. Activities include:

-Math

-Science

-Creative Writing

-Art

-Gift Making

-Baking

-Fine Motor

-All needed printable worksheets, recipes, etc.

Activities are spread out throughout 5 days, but you can, of course, utilize them in any order you wish! Add in a Valentine's book each day and you are all set!

If you are a preschool or kindergarten teacher, or a homeschool teacher to these ages, this set will have everything you need for a really fun week of learning with your littles! Check it out in my store HERE.

New Products for Teachers and Homeschoolers!

 I've been adding some new products to my Teachers Pay Teachers store this week, and have quite a few more planned throughout the month of December. Most all are for preschool aged students, though some are for older students or for teachers and their classrooms, as well! Check out the new ones so far: 

ABC Recognition coloring pages/worksheets. Contains letters A-Z, as well as long vowel pages! Perfect for preschool, pre-k, and kinder students!

Nativity Bingo. I am SO excited about this product. Levi (my 7 year old) keeps asking to play, so this is on my agenda for today with ALL my kids (ages 7-13). I mean, who doesn't love Bingo?!? Contains 9 pages with beautiful nativity and winter pictures. 

What's Missing? This set contains 24 pages for preschool and kindergarten aged students. Various pages with missing beginning letters, missing vowels, or missing ending letters. 

Monkeys Classroom. This resource is for preschool teachers or preschool centers. Thematic posters, letters, signs, home notes, and more for teachers using a "Monkey" theme in their classroom. 34 pages. This set will soon be duplicated for many more of the common animal classroom themes used in preschools and childcare centers! If you have particular animal themes at your center that you would like me to produce, send me a note!

I've been having so much fun creating these resources, and I hope you enjoy them too!

"No" Is An Okay Option

"No" is an okay option. I work really hard to encourage confidence in my online classes, and regularly give my students a chance to "show off" their ninja skills to everyone in class. Before I give this opportunity (which happens once or twice per 30 minute class), I ALWAYS say, "when I come to your camera, if you don't want to share, you can shake your head 'no' or even try using your words to say, 'no thank you'. Either is a completely fine option." My hope is that WHEREVER a child is at in their development, that they will be able to grow in their own way...and that might look different from child to child. 

Today, a student was hesitant. He ran off camera and I hear mom tell him, "just say 'no thank you'". As the boy comes back on screen, I see another child sit closer to the camera and say to the first boy, "no is an okay option." The first boy says, "no thank you", I say "okay", and we move on.

"No" is an okay option. All children should know this. All adults should honor this. Confidence grows at different levels and rates. Encourage, yes, but always allow children to grow at their own pace and as they are ready.

The picture above is of a review from the parent of the child who used his words today to say, "no thank you" when he wasn't quite ready to show off his ninja moves to the class. It reminded me how the little things make the biggest differences. I want ALL children to be able to participate in my classes, whether they are outgoing, shy, nervous, or excited. They should all feel welcome and encouraged.

Today, I realized the importance of this little mantra I tell my students each week. I hope that you will also see its significance as you interact with and teach children, as well!

Update: Teaching on Outschool

 So it's been five months since I first started teaching on Outschool. Since then, I've answered tons of questions from people interested or curious about teaching on Outschool, too. I figured I'd throw up a super honest review and insight into exactly how it's gone for me.

As far as flexibility, this "job" is the best. It is an independent contractor position, so you can schedule your own classes whenever you want. Need a break? Don't schedule any classes. Simple as that.  As I've gotten deeper into it, I am refining when I like to work and for how long. I'm finding what my limit is (read: at what point do I feel like dying?), and am learning to schedule myself for the perfect amount of time.

While many older students started to head back to school in August/September, I found (along with other teachers) that classes geared for older students came to an almost stand-still. My typically full coffee shop classes for older kids were hearing crickets. Fortunately, the younger groups, and in particular, my "ninja" niche, are alive and thriving. So, I back-burnered the older kid classes until later, and upped my ninja classes. These classes have continued to be in high demand, and I'm unable to keep up with the demand that I'm currently seeing. I'm already getting booked into January 2021 for classes. So, that being said, Outschool can flow up and down with age groups and needs. Be prepared to not have all your eggs in one basket, and plan to have things that do well at different times during the year. 

Ok, so the thing everyone always really wants to know...can you actually make money on Outschool? The answer is YES, you definitely can, and especially if you find the age groups and classes that are successful for you (understand, this may take some tinkering and you may not find your niche right away). I am averaging about 20 classes/week, which works out to about 10 live hours of teaching/week. I have minimal prep work as I primarily teach the same, already planned sessions over and over and over. My best month (also the month where I thought I would die of exhaustion...remember, I teach physical/movement classes), I made $5100 working 10ish hours/week. This is after Outschool's portion (they take 30% for the platform, advertising, teacher support, etc.), but before taxes (which I have to pay on my own since it's a 1099 position). This week, almost exactly five months in, I hit the $20,000 mark. My teacher stats page says I've taught 176.3 hours, making this work out to $113/hour (pre-tax). That's some dang good money. Plus, I've taught 1,315 different students from all over the world, which I absolutely LOVE. 

If you have something you are passionate about, and if you love teaching, I definitely recommend teaching on Outschool. It's fun, flexible, and is a great way to supplement your income while staying at home with your kiddos! If you have questions, ask me! I'd love to help you out and answer any questions you might have!

Working From Home: Teaching on Outschool

A year and a half ago, I shared with you all about my new favorite homeschool resource, Outschool. At the time, it was primarily for homeschoolers. As a teacher, I've always wanted to explore teaching on that platform. Buuuuut, it always came back to that magic word: time. I just didn't have any extra time to explore an entirely new platform and method of teaching. In rolled the quarantine. Which, despite all the obvious negatives, had some major blessings. More family time. Knocking out house projects. Finishing up an ebook I wrote but never published. Trying my hand at Outschool.

So a couple weeks ago, I decided to apply to Outschool. I was accepted and got right to work. It is an independent contractor job, so once you are accepted and your classes are approved, you are entirely in control of what you teach, when you teach, and how much you charge. My only regret is not jumping in sooner.

Outschool has experienced a MAJOR influx of students due to schools across the world shutting down (it's an international platform), and although they hired tons of teachers, the demand is still causing classes to fill well, especially the fun ones!

I initially scheduled a handful of little ninjas classes-playful martial arts classes for young kids, and figured I'd just see what happened. My first week, I fully booked all 5 classes. My second and third week were the same. I've now taught 17 classes, all of which were full or almost full (I offer more than just the ninjas classes). I am in love! I love teaching anyway, but this is just so fun! And, I can do it from my own home while my kids are playing downstairs.

Along with ninjas classes, I've been teaching some entrepreneurial classes, kitchen classes, and even some on budgeting. There are endless possibilities. I've had a few classes that were "flops", but overall, I'm finding good success.

If you are someone who loves teaching or has a passion for sharing what you love, I highly recommend Outschool! I'm doing something I love, making great money, AND I get to be at home with my kids nearby.

New to Homeschooling? Check out this eBook!

As a new homeschooler 8 years ago, I often struggled with feeling like I had no idea what our homeschool day could look like, apart from the standard 9-3 day. I wish someone had told me I could be flexible, that our day could look different at different seasons of life, or even given me a few examples of what our day could look like. Through trial and error, I think we all figure it out eventually.

I wrote this ebook out of a desire to help brand new homeschoolers feel a little less pressure and freedom to allow their day to look however they want it to...and I give eight ideas to try out for structuring the day.

The ebook is available anywhere you can buy ebooks-Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords (can download to any e-reader format from this site), etc. If you are a new homeschooler, I hope you find this quick read encouraging and helpful. 

Note: Amazon is $1 more than everywhere else but “lending” is enabled. Feel free to lend it to a friend. 

2nd note: if you need/feel this ebook will be helpful to you, and sincerely can’t afford it right now, please email me privately (motheringwithcreativity@gmail.com). I will happily get you the ebook for free. No questions asked.

You can find it on Amazon for just $2.99 HERE.

I hope you find encouragement in this ebook!