Paint Brushes Recalled

I know when I was responsible for buying for my centers or family child care, Discount School Supply often saved the day with their low prices. And I loved the BioColor line of art supplies. Some of you out there are probably like me, and if so be aware that some of their paint brushes have been recalled because of high lead paint content.

Disinfecting your keyboards…

I know that when I was working in a center environment, all the teachers used the same computer in the office for things like finding contact information on families or finding forms to print.

Imagine how ookie that keyboard must have been. There's a report in the Boston Globe today about a study of keyboards used by nurses and how they were just loaded with bacteria and such. I can see how that would be and know that in a child care environment you come across similar germs and the like.

The study tested out some disinfecting wipes to see if they would get rid of the bad stuff and yet not harm the keyboard. What worked?

"Clorox wipes, CaviWipes and Sani-Cloths. All worked well, removing 95 to 100 percent of bacteria. So did three other products, plain old 70 percent isopropyl alcohol; Vesthene, a different germicide; and a chlorine product containing 80 parts of chlorine per million."

Not a bad habit to get into before the sick season hits in a couple of months...

Classroom Wishlist

Classroom Wishlist

What an awesome idea. I cannot begin to tell you how much money I've spent over the years on things for the classroom because it wasn't in the budget or because a director or whoever deemed it unnecessary. I should own stock in the contact paper company. Seriously. And how many times did I run out of boxes of tissues before the year was over? And really, I cannot name a single time that there was enough colored tissue paper for a single project I've done.

And I'm not a wasteful teacher, either. I save every little scrap of tissue and construction paper. I get newspapers to donate the ends of their rolls of paper for art projects. I use the backs of company letterheads that would be tossed out every time someone goes through "rebranding." I am the queen of wallpaper and carpet scraps. I melt crayons down into multi-colored sticks. I make my own paints, pastes and glues wherever possible. Every container for manipulatives and art supplies used to be a container for something else -- oatmeal, chocolate milk mix, baby wipes... I could go on forever here.

Now, you can sign up here, add items to your wishlist and send a brochure to your parents. If they want to donate items, they can do so and it's tax deductible.

Give it a try. If you're already using this system, feel free to leave a comment and let readers know how it's working for you.

Harcourt Releases System for Handheld Computers that Assesses Children in Kindergarten through Second Grades

Leading test developer and publisher Harcourt Assessment, Inc. has introduced the Early Childhood Observation System(TM) (ECHOS(TM)), which combines technology with ongoing observation in the classroom to help teachers easily monitor the progress of young learners and guide instruction in grades K - 2.

Designed to work on the Palm OS(R) handheld computer, ECHOS makes it easier for teachers to do what they already do -- observe their students in the classroom while they are naturally engaged in every-day activities and monitor what grade-level skills, knowledge or behaviors a student consistently demonstrates or needs to develop.

"The beauty of ECHOS is that it enables teachers to teach and assess at the same time," said Don Barfield, vice president of educational products for Harcourt Assessment. "Because children learn and grow in different ways and at different rates, it can be challenging to assess and monitor the progress of an entire classroom. We developed ECHOS to provide a simple, uniform method for observing and monitoring the progress of young learners and then provide teachers the feedback and information they need to develop effective classroom strategies to ensure that all students can demonstrate essential grade-level skills."

Teachers who have tried ECHOS have reacted favorably. "The teachers loved using the handheld computers for assessing the kids! They were simple and made recordkeeping very easy," said Annette Alberti, a reading specialist and Title I coordinator from Pleasant Grove, Calif.

ECHOS was developed with the guidance of a national panel of early childhood and subject matter experts to ensure that ECHOS evaluates the whole child across the following seven developmental areas: language and literacy; mathematics; social and personal skills; science; social studies; physical development and fitness; and creative arts.

Based on their observations of specific benchmark behaviors in these seven areas, teachers can assign one of four performance levels: not yet demonstrating, emerging, progressing or consistently demonstrates.

Teachers can download their observations to a personal computer and receive immediate feedback from Web-based classroom and student reports that help them plan and implement effective instruction. Home reports in English or Spanish also provide suggested activities that can help parents reinforce or develop their child's skills.

While ECHOS was designed to operate most efficiently on a handheld computer, the system is flexible, so teachers can record their observations on paper then enter them into a personal computer and still receive the same student, classroom and home reports.

Web-based interactive professional development is available to help teachers learn to use ECHOS effectively. It includes instruction on observational assessment, as well as video highlights of early elementary classrooms and teachers.

ECHOS is aligned to the guidelines and standards of the following organizations: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC); International Reading Association (IRA); National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE); National Research Council Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM); Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education (CSMEE); National Council for the Social Sciences (NCSS); Center for Social and Emotional Education (CSEE); National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE); National Arts and Education Information Network (ArtsEdge); National Association for Music Education (MENC); National Dance Association (NDA); Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).

Based in San Antonio, Harcourt Assessment is a leading provider of high-quality assessment instruments and testing programs used by educators, psychologists, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, human resource professionals, admissions and credentialing professionals, and businesses. Through the development of custom statewide educational testing programs, Harcourt is helping more than 20 states meet the accountability requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The company is a unit of Harcourt Education, which is the global education brand of Reed Elsevier Group plc (NYSE:RUK) (NYSE:ENL). Reed Elsevier is a world-leading publisher and information provider operating in the science and medical, legal, education and business-to-business industry sectors.

For more information about ECHOS, visit www.echosonline.com.

Visit Harcourt Assessment on the Web at www.HarcourtAssessment.com.

Bored with your Bulletin Boards?

If you're tired of the same-old, same-old, and you'd rather pull out your fingernails than rip off another piece of primary colored butcher paper to cover your bulletin boards -- try something different.

The holidays are upon us and it's a good time to start thinking about spicing up your bulletin board repertoire.

Here are some tips:

• Don't use butcher paper. One way to start breaking away from this is to first experiment with other papers. Wrapping paper, wallpaper, tissue paper, cellophane, tin foil and newspaper are all good choices. Or try to find papers that are different, for instance try something with a shiny or metallic finish.



• Don't lay it flat. Typically, teachers slap up the butcher paper and are careful to smooth it out before they staple it in place. Experiment with different textures. Before hanging it up, crinkle it, bend it, fold it... stuff newspaper under it. Tissue paper and cellophane are especially good for this.



• Use something other than paper. Fabrics, plastics, metal, wood, paint or wall texturing (spackle is cheap), beads, string, ribbon, leather... One of the cutest bulletin boards I ever made was around this time of year. I had a classroom of three-year-olds and we were learning about the color brown. As an open activity in the art area, I would let two at a time come and cut brown paper with me in whatever shapes they wished (or could manage. At the end of the day I was left with... what looked like a lot of potatoes. So I decided to expand on that theme and talk about Thanksgiving foods. We made mashed potatoes the next day and did some potato prints and I made a bulletin board that was covered with a thin layer of straw and I fashioned a burlap sack for each child and carefully affixed their "potatoes" to the sacks.



• Don't forget about your border. Couple a new type of border with your choice. For instance, if you find a wrapping paper with a subtle pattern that you want to use, pair it with a border of cloth ribbon. The easiest ribbons to work with are those with wire edging. It's bendable and stays in place without having to staple it to smithereens. You might also use feathers, beads, indian corn glued onto paper, bamboo, tiles for a mosaic effect, legos, old postage stamps (begin having parents save these from letters they've gotten), old fashioned pop bottle lids (like those that you need the opener for), old compact discs (like the AOL discs, glue new labels on them that have cute names of computer programs that reflect what you're learning or have your students' names on them. Let them decorate their own...)



• Get ideas anywhere you go. Spend a few hours walking around your favorite craft store with your bulletin boards in mind. Or go to a home improvement store. Do not think about anything else while you're there, just browse the aisles and think, "Could I use that on a board?" You'll be surprised what you might see.
  
  For example... this month, there are already lots of things out for the winter holidays. So I might see that I could make border out of silver, gold or holly garland.
  
  I might stroll into the dollhouse department and see all the miniatures and find an idea for a bulletin board that involves making a house of sorts, I could use wallpaper scraps for each room, and buy or make (or have the children make) tiny furniture for each room. I could use old shingles or pieces of wood to fashion a roof and use indoor/outdoor grass-looking carpet for the bottom... And I could theme it for Thanksgiving... make an activity of it by asking the children to come up with things that we are thankful for in our homes, like electricity, running water, toilets, comfortable beds, good food or pets. I could label each "room" of the bulletin board with those things. Or maybe I could focus the theme on safety and could show how to keep each room safe — no toys on the stairs, carbon monoxide and smoke detectors, candles in safe places, harmful chemicals locked away...
  
  I might head to the cake-making aisle and find lots of ideas for a birthday bulletin board. The big number candles might look great if I make an individual cupcake for each child. And the cupcakes would be really eye-catching if instead of just running off a copy of a cute pattern, I use a metallic looking paper and fold it (like you would a fan) to make cupcake liners.




• Don't buy it -- make it. Even if I don't buy those items, they can give me rich ideas. The tiny numbered candles might not be practical for my bulletin board, depending on size. And teachers are notoriously short on cash (I know I always am!) So I might make something that looks just like them instead with materials that I already have.




• Look to nature for ideas. It's all too easy to slap up that paper border with the fall leaves on it, but why not use real leaves for a fall border? Take the kids on a walk or out on the playground if you have good trees and have them collect the leaves for the border. You can use sticks, bark, dried flowers or straw. If you have that irritating kudzu covering trees and bushes, you would be amazed at how great this stuff is for making woven borders and backgrounds. You can make baskets out of the stuff, even.




• Involve the kids. The best bulletin boards are those that are interactive or are populated with work that came from the hands of your students. Like the above example of the potatoes, be open to expanding your daily activities into a display. It's good for parents to see what the children have been doing and it's fun for the kids to look at the board and remember the fun and learning they experienced with that activity.

Materials to Collect for the Art Center

• aluminum foil
  
• ball bearings
  
• barrel hoops
  
• beads
  
• belts
  
• bottles
  
• bracelets
  
• braiding
  
• brass
  
• buckles
  
• burlap
  
• buttons
  
• candles
  
• cartons
  
• canvas
  
• cellophane
  
• chains
  
• chalk
  
• chamois
  
• clay
  
• cloth
  
• confetti
  
• containers
  
• copper foil
  
• cord
  
• corn husks
  
• corn stalks
  
• costume jewelry
  
• crayon pieces
  
• crystals
  
• emery cloth
  
• eyelets
  
• fabrics
  
• felt
  
• felt hats
  
• flannel
  
• floor covering
  
• glass
  
• gourds
  
• hat boxes
  
• hooks
  
• inner tubes
  
• jars
  
• jugs
  
• lacing
  
• lampshades
  
• leather remnants
  
• linoleum
  
• macaroni
  
• magazines
  
• marbles
  
• masonite
  
• metal foil
  
• mirrors
  
• muslin
  
• nails
  
• necklaces
  
• neckties
  
• noodles
  
• oilcloth
  
• ornaments
  
• pans
  
• paper bags
  
• paper boxes
  
• paper cardboard
  
• paper corregated
  
• paper dishes
  
• paper doilies
  
• paper napkins
  
• paper newspaper
  
• paper tissue
  
• paper towels
  
• paper tubes
  
• paper wrapping
  
• phonograph records
  
• photographs
  
• picture frames
  
• pine cones
  
• pins
  
• pipe cleaners
  
• plastic bags
  
• plastic paint
  
• plastic board
  
• pocket books
  
• reeds
  
• ribbon
  
• rings
  
• rope
  
• rubber bands
  
• rug yarn
  
• safety pins
  
• sand
  
• sandpaper
  
• seashells
  
• seeds
  
• sheepskin
  
• shoelaces
  
• shoe polish
  
• snaps
  
• sponges
  
• soaps
  
• spools
  
• stockings
  
• tacks
  
• tape
  
• thread
  
• tiles
  
• tin cans
  
• tin foil
  
• tongue depressors
  
• towels
  
• tubes
  
• twine
  
• wallpaper
  
• wax
  
• wire
  
• wire eyelets
  
• wire hairpins
  
• wire mesh
  
• wire hooks
  
• wire paper clips
  
• wire screen
  
• wire staples
  
• wooden beads
  
• wooden blocks
  
• wood scraps
  
• toothpicks
  
• wool
  
• yarn
  
• zippers

Sand and Water Table Activities

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Materials to use in your sand or water table

* water
* water w/ food coloring
* water with bars of soap
* water with bubbles
* water with bubbles and food coloring
* sand
* sand that is wet, but not drippy
* rice
* dried red beans
* bird seed
* styrofoam packing (try to find the kind made of cornstarch)
* cornmeal
* dirt
* potting soil
* gravel
* flour
* aquarium gravel
* cornstarch
* popcorn
* dried peas
* oatmeal
* sawdust
* cedar shavings
* easter grass
* dried leaves
* acorns, nuts
* straw/hay
* dried corn
* coffee grounds
* egg shells (thoroughly wash first)
* shaving cream
* peanuts in the shell
* spaghetti
* wheat
* snow
* ice cubes
* mud
* ice cream
* instant mashed potatoes
* feathers
* pine cones
* pine needles
* macaroni
* pumpkins and/or gourds
* rubber fishing worms
* carrot/turnip peelings

Things to use with the materials in your sand or water table:

* spoons of assorted sizes
* cups of assorted sizes
* funnels
* measuring cups
* liquid laundry detergent lids
* cork and other things that float and sink
* plastic cola bottles or milk jugs cut in half to make funnels
* cardboard juice cans
* pitchers of assorted sizes
* bowls
* egg beaters
* straws and bubble wands (to blow bubbles)
* bottles with pumps (like liquid soap bottles)
* strainers, collanders and seives
* turkey basters
* flour sifter
* pie pans (with or without holes punched in bottom)
* plastic spray bottles
* hand rakes
* keys
* potato mashers
* sea shells
* tongs
* plastic dishes and drainboard
* plastic boats
* plastic animals (dinosaurs, fish, etc.)
* marbles
* plastic artificial flowers
* plastic eye droppers
* whisks
* sponges
* spools
* cookie cutters
* washable dolls
* fishing tackle bobbers
* ping pong balls
* muffin tins
* shovels
* tongue depressors
* soup ladle

Activities:

* use the gravel with the dinosaurs
* dig for items like coins (ie: gold coins for St. Patrick's, pennies for Lincoln's Birthday...)
* insert paper clips onto plastic or laminated fish, tie string to sticks, put a magnet on the end of the string and children can "go fishing"
* wash dishes or baby dolls
* use straw with pumpkins and gourds in the fall
* use potting soil and plastic flowers with gardening tools and gloves and allow children to plant gardens
* use fishing worms and dirt, bury the worms and let the children dig for them
* wash and hang doll clothes
* have tea parties
* clean tables or easles
* build roads, mountains and hills and drive small cars and trucks
* build sand castles in wet sand