ABC Books!

So, I am an organizing FREAK! I love organizing anything and everything into bins, jars, cups, baskets, boxes, trays, and on and on. I will label all these containers and with complete satisfaction take in my organizational masterpiece. This is how my brain functions and how I live and work best. It is extremely beneficial in my work with children. Everything has a place and every bin has a purpose. The labels provide an environment that is rich in print and literacy and children begin to have a sense of responsibility as they are expected to put things back where they go. I am like a HAWK. Trust me, as long as you teach how to pick up and put things away properly, they will do it :)

The reason why I am writing about organizing today is because I just spent days getting a bit settled into my new classroom. In addition to going through some of the old teacher's resources and sorting out what I wanted to keep or get rid of, I then had to find a spot for all my belongings. I cannot just throw all my things into a cabinet and figure I'll find things throughout the school year when I need them. I take exact inventory of what I have and place it in a purposeful place to make for easier days ahead. The biggest project was 3 huge bins of books from my teaching days in New Hampshire. When I taught overseas I was limited in what I could bring, so my massive storage of children's books sat for 5 years. It truly felt like Christmas for me, picking each title out of the container and putting it into its proper bin...mystery, fable, realistic fiction, beginning readers, historical, chapter books, science, social studies, math, informational, poetry, etc. Each book had a place, each book had a purpose. One of my favorite bins to fill was my ABC books container. ABC books are perfect for early readers to explore letters and sounds. Here are 5 of my favorites!

Books for Cents!

There is nothing like summertime! There is nothing like being a teacher in the summertime!! Swimming, biking, BBQ's, festivals...it's simply a FUN time of the year. Another thing I find just as exciting...YARD SALES! This bargain girl loves sifting through people's gently used items and finding a deal or a way to repurpose something. It's almost guaranteed that people will have a box of books to sell and for cheap! I bought 12 children's books yesterday at 25 cents a piece. They will make a wonderful addition to my classroom library. What I find even more adventurous than smart shopping is when some of the titles really take me back to my childhood. Here are 5 of my favorite books as I child that I read and reread countless times.

Check out your local yard sales to add to your home library!