The learning experiences of 21st century students are as complex as they are exciting. It all begins in preschool. Teachers in this great level must be as technologically savvy and willing to keep up with the times as their students are.
Even in Estonia, according to a Forbes magazine article, early elementary teachers undergo training for coding, just to catch up with their children. This shows that preschool is the grade where all basis for learning are set. Below is a compilation of the great websites for preschool teachers whether they are just getting started, or are already on the way to technology greatness. To see more great websites for preschool teachers, visit 5 More Great Websites for Preschool Teachers.
1. CLASS DOJO
Class Dojo is a one-stop resource website for preschool teachers that includes:
- classroom management
- progress monitoring
- collaborative sharing
- parent communication
- behavior management
Teachers can sign up for free and enter the student’s names onto a virtual classroom.
Each student is assigned a character, which will be visible on the Smartboard without exposing their names to the whole class.
Teachers can award points to each character depending on the goals with the student. This awarding of points gets monitored and goes into graphs and data that can be shared with parents.
Students can also do projects, take pictures of their projects, and upload them easily to their class dojo accounts using a tablet and the upload feature. Even preschool students can be taught to do this process, which makes them feel industrious and in charge of their learning.
2. Education.com
For a minimal monthly fee, this website for Preschool teachers gives them unlimited access to:
- lesson plans
- worksheets
- self-grading academic games
- online games
- online oral and independent reading
Education.com allows students to enter their name and become a character in a virtual classroom. This character will have a journey of games and activities online that are graded by the computer and kept on a data tracker for the teacher to share with parents. Preschool resources are easy to access, and parents get an access code to continue the progress activities at home.
3. ABCYA
ABCYA is a great free resource made for children of all ages. Preschool resources are divided into skills from math, to language arts, building skills, social studies and science. It even offers resources to teach kids how to type faster, so this is essential for their future grade levels. ABCYA is best for teachers who like to use the SMARTBoard to show these activities rather than leaving them to work independently. This is a free site that can be shared with parents for them to work with their children at home, but the teacher should always monitor and not just let the kids go entirely on their own without understanding what skill they are working on.
4. Cookie
Another free website, Cookie is a superb resource that offers everything from worksheets, to arts and crafts, activities for ELL learners, basic skills, and stories. Teachers can build lessons based out of the games on the site, and even use the worksheets provided there to support that. The stories can be printed out and read aloud, and teachers can even look into the games as a way to track progress. Again, it is best if teachers list the skills offered on the site as a way to show parents the way that it is used. Cookie’s activities are fluid, fun and fully interactive.
5. PreKinders
PreKinders is a professional trading post of resources, advice, teacher resources, worksheets, and lesson plan ideas. It is mainly geared toward teachers helping teachers, and it offers a myriad of alternatives to common activities. This is a great site for putting together all the things that potentially affect the classroom routine. This includes ELL, SPED, and similar situations.
Related Resource: 5 Great Books for Early Childhood Education Professionals
There has never been more fun to be an educator. Resources are fun, interactive and dynamic. 21st century learning gave education a whole new image, making learning and teaching more effective than ever before.