If you’ve started looking at the new 2026 Ontario Kindergarten curriculum, you might be wondering: 👉 What actually changed?👉 Is play-based learning still a thing?👉 Do I need to completely change how I teach? The short answer:No — but there are some important shifts that are important to understand. In this post, I’ll break it…
Hi there! I’ve always done a mini unit on community helpers since recognizing people and places in our community is right in our curriculum (Belonging & Contributing 28.1 and 28.2) and also because they are often very high interest for our little learners (police officers and firefighters are popular with so many kids!). If you…
Hi there! Remembrance Day is such an important day to teach about but it can also be a tricky one in Kindergarten. At this age, it’s important to gauge how much each group can handle when it comes to discussions about war and loss before going too deep. While it’s essential to honour and talk…
Need some fresh ideas for your October centres that doesn’t involve Halloween? Pumpkins are the perfect theme for October — hands-on, low-prep, and so easy to tie into your literacy, math, and fine motor goals. In this post, I’ve rounded up my favourite hands-on pumpkin activities for Kindergarten that your students will love! Scroll through…
I love Thanksgiving 🍂 Between the focus on gratitude, and all the cozy fall themes, it’s the perfect time to bring in fresh activities that feel festive and meaningful. So I finally made a Thanksgiving Centres Pack—a collection of literacy, math, and fine motor centres designed to be easy-prep for teachers and hands-on fun for…
🍂✨ Fall is here — and that means it’s the perfect time to add some seasonal fun to your centres! ✨🍂 As the seasons change, I love bringing a bit of seasonal magic into the classroom. These fine motor, literacy, and math centres are designed to be hands-on, engaging, and low-prep, so your students can…
Today I’m sharing some of my favourite apple activities for Kindergarten… because apples is one of my favourite themes to kick off the school year! 🍎 Not only are they perfect for September, but they also lend themselves to so many fun hands-on literacy, math, and fine motor activities that keep students engaged while building…
My blog post “What I Do: First Day & Week of FDK” is one of my most-read posts of all time — but it’s from 2017! Since then, I’ve taught a few more classes, had my own kids go through Kindergarten, and gathered lots of new ideas to share. This updated version includes fresh routines,…
Hi everyone! Every summer as teachers start thinking about going back to school, I get flooded with DMs and emails asking me the same questions: “How do you get ready for the first day of Kindergarten?” and “Can you share your Kindergarten start up list?”. After years of sharing bits and pieces in my newsletter,…
Hi there! It’s summer break! But when you have school aged kids (who refuse to go to camp🤪) you might be googling “tips for staying sane over summer break with kids at home” on Day 2😅 I’ve been sharing some things we’ve been doing to keep myself sane while having both of my boys (currently…
I love sharing lessons and activities that have worked well in my Kindergarten classroom to provide you with engaging ideas and to help you cut down your planning time!
Check out my story below to learn more about the why behind A Pinch of Kinder.
