Where do you buy your preschool supplies?

[5 Little Monkeys]

I have a group of 2 three year olds, a 19 month old and a 15 month old. Hard to believe but this is the oldest crew I've had so far lol. I am wanting to incorporate more structured preschool activities this Fall for the 2 three year olds. I am wondering where do you purchase your supplies? I have seen a few things online that have interested me but am wondering where others buy from....websites, stores and which ones?

I am specifically looking for a hanging wall daily planner. I found one on amazon but I'm wondering if anyone has had any luck with finding one in stores as I would like to look at them in detail. I have quite a few websites that have great ideas to make your own or print off worksheets but does anyone have an awesome place they buy anything from?

I have a few things that will be brought out for "preschool time" but I am wondering what kind of things you all use? I have things like the lacing beads, lacing cards, stencils, stamps, flashcards, letter/alphabet worksheets etc. Smaller toys like the lego and beads are for the older kids. I do a theme every month (except for July/August) and most of the things are for the whole group but I want some special things that are just for "preschool time".

[Daisy123]

It depends on how much you plan to spend. I've ordered several activities that the kids quite enjoy from a Montessori equipment warehouse. Not particularly cheap but they appeal to lots of different learning styles and I write them off at tax time. Some of my materials I've just replicated from what I've used in the classroom in the past ie counting rods using small dowels and alternating paint colours from the hardware store. Another staple is wooden boards with sandpaper letters and numbers attached for finger tracing. I don't mind sharing some of what I've done if you're interested. (I have a whole classroom set up apart from my playroom) Besides that, the dollar store and the toy store. I often just happen upon things when I least expect it! A few years ago I found a set of geometric solids in a craft store while on vacation in Martha's Vineyard that I just handpainted when I got home!

[mickyc]

I sent you a PM.

[kassiemom]

Scholar's choice is great for all that stuff and they do have deals all the time. dollar store is perfect, garage sales, Kijiji.

[5 Little Monkeys]

Thanks for the offer Daisy, definitely interested! :)

Will check out scholar's choice.

Yes, a lot of my stuff comes from garage sales and kijiji as well as my local classifieds. I have bought a few things from the dollar stores too but haven't seen anything too special lately.

[AmandaKDT]

I got my calendar set from Scholar's Choice - wait for their monthly 20% off sales to buy. I took the calendar set to Staples and got them to laminate all of it, then got those little zelcro circles (to attach the numbers, month, etc) from the dollar store so that everything is protected and reusable.

I don't buy anything really premade, I make it myself and do alot of hands on learning as opposed to worksheets - I don't really use them other than the occasional workbook that I get from Scholar's Choice or Chapters. I have made up some sets of flannel board stories, the kids love those and I use them at circle time. I got resource books from the library and just photocopied what I needed.

Most of my ideas I get from preschool themes website - picking activities that involve little prep and as much kid involvement as possible.

my kids like the dry erase books that have lots of different topics - math, letter tracing, etc. I use those in place of worksheets most of the time. I like that they're reusable, I got them at Chapters.

[5 Little Monkeys]

That sounds like a lot of work on the calendar Amanda lol. I want one that is already all done and ready to go. I might just have to order the one from Amazon.

I also have those dry erase work sheet books and they are great! I love them. I want worksheets to be able to send home though so parents can see their children's work as well though. I think I will probably make most of my own (I have some made already) but that's a good idea to photocopy the resource books!

[superfun]

I have a cool calendar that I got from Micheal's during one of their sales. One the daycare parents offered to laminate it for me, so that part was easy. I like the velcro idea a lot. I've been using sticky tack, and it's kind of annoying.

How do everyone attach things to their wall. I found a really neat ABC banner at the dollar store that I love. But I haven't hung it up yet, because I can't decide the best way. Every thing I think of makes me worry that paint will come off if the kids ever rip it off the wall.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I use green painters tape. Make sure it's the good stuff though as eventually the dollar store stuff does peel the paint as I found out lol. I have the foam ABC mats on my walls and the painters tape works awesome for that.

My fiancé also brought me 3 bulletin boards home from his school. They were going to garbage them so he asked if I could have them. I have 2 nailed in the daycare kitchen to hang up their artwork and I'm thinking of putting one in the playroom to use for preschool time and to hang seasonal things on.

[superfun]

Thanks! I don't think I would have thought about painters tape. That's what I'll do this evening.

That's awesome about the bulletin boards. I have a fake brick wall in my playroom that I painted so it's not ugly. It feels like a bulletin board, and now that it's covered in paint, the cork-ish material doesn't come off. So I've been using that for my calendar, weather, days of the week, etc.

[ECE53]

All About Kids is a preschool warehouse type store in Ottawa. Sells good quality toys and arts and crafts supplies. You can down load their catalogue online and order.

[5 Little Monkeys]

My fiancé used to work at Rona....I wouldn't have thought about the painters tape either lol.

Thanks ECE53! I'll check it out

[5 Little Monkeys]

This is the wall daily planner I'd like

http://www.amazon.com/Wall-Hanging-Daily-Planner-Kids/dp/B0064GWPBG/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt/178-9028995-8586350

[AmandaKDT]

That sounds like a lot of work on the calendar Amanda lol. I want one that is already all done and ready to go. I might just have to order the one from Amazon.

I also have those dry erase work sheet books and they are great! I love them. I want worksheets to be able to send home though so parents can see their children's work as well though. I think I will probably make most of my own (I have some made already) but that's a good idea to photocopy the resource books!

It may sound like a lot of work for the calendar but it really wasn't. Those calendar sets are all just made out of paper and if you don't laminate then it won't stay nice looking long. The Velcro stickers are in place of sticky tack, which IS super annoying. The Velcro makes it possible for the kids to be the one to do the calendar. I actually have one of kids be the calendar time leader (being the teacher) so I need everything to be as kid friendly as possible.

If you buy the workbooks then you can tear out the pages to send home if you want.

Painter's tape isn't meant for long term use, in my experience the more expensive tape takes paint off the wall too if you leave it on too long.

I just use the sticky tack to put things on the wall, and move things around every once and awhile to make sure it doesn't permanently stick.

[playfelt]

Question on calendar, days of the week, etc. - at what age do you do this with them actually learning the information or is it something that you just do out of habit. I know that doesn't sound right but what I mean is that abstract concepts is not something infants and toddlers grasp so if your group is mostly or all age 3 and under do you bother with calendar. I actually stopped doing it after reading that it was being pulled from many preschool/kindergarten classrooms too because of it's rote nature.

For those that want a felt version of a calendar I do sell one in two sizes and two styles through Story Time Felts. Here is the link to them on the US parent site. Prices in Canada are different but you can see what they look like here. I have a couple in stock but it would take about 3 weeks to get them from the US as they are printed as ordered. They are cheaper when not mounted on coroplast and ordered as just felt.

https://storytimefelts.com/index.php?route=prod uct/product&path=72_92&product_id=57

https://storytimefelts.com/index.php?route=prod uct/product&path=72_92&product_id=453

[AmandaKDT]

Question on calendar, days of the week, etc. - at what age do you do this with them actually learning the information or is it something that you just do out of habit. I know that doesn't sound right but what I mean is that abstract concepts is not something infants and toddlers grasp so if your group is mostly or all age 3 and under do you bother with calendar. I actually stopped doing it after reading that it was being pulled from many preschool/kindergarten classrooms too because of it's rote nature.

For those that want a felt version of a calendar I do sell one in two sizes and two styles through Story Time Felts. Here is the link to them on the US parent site. Prices in Canada are different but you can see what they look like here. I have a couple in stock but it would take about 3 weeks to get them from the US as they are printed as ordered. They are cheaper when not mounted on coroplast and ordered as just felt.

https://storytimefelts.com/index.php?route=prod uct/product&path=72_92&product_id=57

https://storytimefelts.com/index.php?route=prod uct/product&path=72_92&product_id=453

I do the calendar mostly for the older kids (3 years +), but my younger ones always take part. I think it depends how you approach the calendar subject - I would have to say I focus on using it to work on number recognition, getting a concept of the passage of time, counting forwards and backwards from different numbers, counting how many days until someone's birthday, letter recognition by practicing what letter the month starts with, etc. I also play games with it - like switching around some numbers and then having them take turns finding a number that is in the wrong place. So this all develop more than rote memorization of saying the numbers in order.

I also have the kids take turns being the calendar leader, where they led the activity and ask the questions that I would ask if I were doing it (after having done it myself for several months so they all know what the routine is). This develops leadership skills and promotes self esteem - and who doesn't love playing teacher!

I am going to look up about the discontinued use of calendar time with young kids, that is interesting. I never really thought about it when I included calendar time in my circle time, when I was teaching in schools I would use it everyday to teach concepts from the math curriculum.

[cate]

I found a Melissa & Doug calendar at Chapters last night, it's wooden with magnets.

[playfelt]

Here are a few articles to get you thinking:

http://blog.mathatplay.org/2012/01/01/%E2%80%9Ccalendar-time%E2%80%9D-in-preschool-are-we-missing-the-mark/

http://preschoolinspiration s.com/2014/01/03/making-calendar-time-meaningful/

http://teachingthelittlepeo ple.blogspot.ca/2012/09/using-calendars-in-preschool.html

[5 Little Monkeys]

Thanks for those links playfelt! I understand both sides of it....I can see why some of the learning components would be lost on little ones but I also think calendar time can teach them things like listening, being patient, turn taking etc. Any chance I can take to teach my little ones those things, I love! Lol.

I think because most of us work with a variety of ages, we likely do many things daily/weekly that are too advanced for some of the kids but we do because it's either something we like or part of our routine or even because we just don't realize it's not developmentally acceptable for all. (This also goes the other way for older kids having to do things that they are developmentally passed as well)

I liked the article that said calendar time may be too advanced for some but it won't harm them either. I also think there is something to be said for activities that kids just like doing...if I do calendar time and I can see that they enjoy it, i would continue with it even if they weren't getting the cookie cutter knowledge from it that some expect they should be. Kids learn so many other things that we don't intentionally set out for by doing things that we have planned.

If I do calendar time and see that it is more of a chore and that the kids really aren't getting ANYTHING from it, than I'd stop and leave it for awhile and try again at a later time.

[Secondtimearound]

I found a lot at the dollar tree , a lot of months of the year , clock , colors , so much !!! We do a morning song time about the days , special helper picks the weather for the day ect . Our monthly unit study includes a story each day and craft . I buy things at kids in harmony as well . Last night at walmart I stumbled upon a teachers decorative packages !!

[torontokids]

I was just in Target last week and they had some awesome classroom things in their back to school area. They had a fabric schedule that you insert with your cards and a 6 pocket hanging thing. I was going to buy the 6 pocket one to pick each kids artwork in their own pocket as it gets all handled/squished in their cubby. They were also 20% off last week.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I'm in a cleaning and organizing mood today so that interests me too torontokids! I will have to check it out :)

We are going to the States on Sunday for a day trip so I'm hoping they will have some back to school things on sale!

[FirstC]

I buy lots of my manipulatives and craft supplies from dealsorigin.net

They provide free shipping for orders above $100. All my orders were shipped free, and their toys were a hit mostly for Preschool age and Out of School.

Here's the trick to keep kids interested. put 2 or 3 different toy sets, and keep 2 others in storage. then rotate every week or 2.