Tools for Your Morning Routine in the Early Childhood Classroom

Kids thrive with routine and, in truth, most teachers enjoy the sense of normalcy and order that schedules provide. If you're wondering how to set up a great morning routine for your preschoolers and early childhood students, here are some great tips from various early education teachers!

Calendar

It's great to review the day, date, and year at the beginning of the day. Provide a large, interactive classroom calendar where:

• Students can strengthen letter recognition and spelling as they review the relevant month of the year.
• Students will sharpen numeracy and counting skills as they review the date (e.g. if it's the 10th of the month students count to ten).
• Students can learn the days of the week and the month of the year through fun songs repeated each day.

"Morning Board"

Not only will a morning board help your students settle into the flow of a new day, it will strengthen valuable skills.

• Day review. While the calendar provides a great help, extend the activity by having student volunteers choose from pre-crafted labels (or write with dry erase markers on laminated sheets) to fill in the following items: "Today is...", "Yesterday was...", and "Tomorrow will be..." so that your students begin to make connections and understand the relationships between days.
• Days in school review. Have a chart to keep track of the number of days your class has been in school, then use the status to practice place value (e.g. at 93 days a student volunteer would place a 9 in the tens place and a 3 in the ones place). Carissa of 1+1+1=1 blog has a great printout for this section of the morning board!
• Weather review. Have your students check a classroom thermometer to record the temperature and look outside to describe the day's forecast (e.g. cloudy, sunny, rainy, stormy, snowy, etc.). Find a fun weather song to go along with it. It could also be fun to have a "weather bear" that student's "dress" for the conditions outside (e.g. rain boots, umbrella, parka for rain, winter coat, gloves, and hat for snow, etc.).

Check out some of these great posts for more ideas, printables, and more!

1+1+1=1...Calendar
Homeschool Calendar & Morning Board
Calender and Morning Board {Routine!}