I work at a 'progressive' school, where we are revamping our K-3 program. My principal has opened up a wish list for teachers to add to next year's program and school schedule. (We are a small private school that can make changes like this at the last minute.) I'm bubbling with ideas but want to use this opportunity to its maximum to try something new. Some ideas floating around are adding time blocks dedicated to building number sense, social/emotional skills, and guided playtime for kindergarten. What else have you got? If you could add anything to your core schedule, what would it be?
STEM would be #1 on my list but #2 would be something to do with social/emotion well-being. My 5th grade this year could have really benefited from private counseling but since we use our counselor as a special, they're never available.
STEM! A great idea indeed! This year the K-3 program began using a social/emotional program called Talkabout during Circle Time. It's great but requires a lot of prep. Luckily, we have an amazing class assistant who loves that kind of thing.
