Tips to Keep Your Sanity in a Preschool Classroom

You cannot pay preschool teachers enough for wiping the noses of five four year-olds and entertaining the other eleven in the class at the same time. Keeping your cool in a classroom full of three or four year-olds is a feat only the toughest can handle. As you play with your preschoolers, help them discover the worlds around them, teach them about themselves and society, use these ideas to remain calm and keep some sort of order in your classroom.

Plan Ahead

Your preschool may require you to have a lesson plan every week. This is a great way to guide your daily activities with your class. Consider how detailed it is, though. Do you write down everything you will need for a particular activity or precisely how long it will take to do (give or take a few minutes)?

Instead of just writing down a few words to help jog your memory of what activity you are going to do with your class, write more details. Include any resources you will need, step-by-step instructions and materials necessary to do the activity.

Make copies of any instructions or patterns you will need. Gather all of the materials for each activity for the week. Put them in your room where you can get to them easily when it is time to do the activity. Do this on Fridays or Monday morning for the upcoming week. The transition between activities will go more smoothly when all of your materials are within reach and they are already prepared.

Plan Backups

The water table experiment for learning about objects that sink versus objects that float is out today. Your preschool does not allow water tables inside, and it is raining today. What now? You have a half hour or so to fill. Avoid putting your kids in front of a television. Have a few rainy day activities ready in your room such as games that only come out of the closet when it is raining. If your kids are just not cooperating in a certain activity you have planned, be ready to whip another one out of thin air and engage your children quickly. Reading books time or a quick circle time flashcard or movement game could be the answer in this type of situation.

Plan for Help

Ask for parent volunteers to assist during a particular activity during which you think you will need help. If your activity can be done easily with a larger group of students, think about combining your class with another one to get extra help from that class' teacher. If your school employs floaters, ask your director to send a floater to your class during a particularly busy activity where you could use extra eyes in the classroom.

The key is to plan. Know the limitations and tendencies of your class. Plan alternative activities in case the kids' interest in the one you planned originally wanes quickly or is non-existent from the start. Do not be afraid to ask for help if you need it. Get tips from other teachers about how to handle sticky situations where every kid in the class wants to stir the bowl of cookie dough at the same time.