At 28, Ed Latimore was stuck. At 33, Ed Latimore is on top of the world. How did he do it? By harnessing the power of momentum and pushing forward to change his life. Ed is an inspiration. In five years he joined the army, thrived as an amateur boxer, graduated with a Physics degree, wrote his first two books, and he has become one of the wisest and most influential accounts on Twitter. For his complete journey, listen to this episode of the Punk Rock Preschool Podcast. Ed combines his unique background of physics, chess, boxing, sobriety, and all … Read More
Three Game-Changing Ways to Use Music in Your Classroom
It’s all about the feeling. Great music makes you feel something. But when it comes to children’s music, there’s nothing there. These melodies are sanitized. There’s no energy. There’s no character. There’s nothing to feel except sleepiness and boredom. That’s not fair for our kids. So, what’s the solution? This would probably be a great set up to say “Punk Rock Preschool will solve ALL your problems!” And yeah, I think my music is pretty great for kids. It’s educational. It’s fast, fun, and oh boy (oh man) does it have some feeling. In fact, I guarantee it will get … Read More
This Halloween, It’s Time to Revive Your Dead, Decaying Curriculum
Pre-K and preschool are the formative developmental years. And we are absolutely WASTING them. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Our current system — one that doesn’t challenge kids to expand their minds, that lacks any type of excitement or edge, that falls short on every imaginable metric — is a total failure. It is waste of time. Kids may be better off trick-or-treating than memorizing and reciting the standard Pre-K curriculum like a bunch of docile robots. Seriously. What the hell are these curriculum writers thinking? They want us to spend all of our time uploading memorizable content into … Read More
Letter A Crafts for Preschoolers – The Complete List of the Top Letter “A” Activities
Attention Teachers: Are you making these common mistakes when teaching letters? Like anything in Pre-K, kids need interaction. They need movement. And with so much memorization in preschool, it’s easy to fall into habits of repetition, worksheets, and tracing. But this is BORING! And we all know that it isn’t how kids learn best. When teaching the alphabet, we need to make this activity artistic, creative, and memorable. And do you know the best way to do that? Letter crafts. Crafts give kids a chance to physically relate each letter back to its sound and shape. Then, you can display … Read More
Before You Start the School Year, Don’t Forget This Simple Rule
It’s tough. Your first week of school is a doozy. So many new faces, experiences, and feelings. Not to mention that never-ending to-do list. You know. The one that somehow keeps getting longer and longer as you check new items off. Where do you even begin? Do you start the year with fun and excitement by sending kids to centers? Do you start the year with a strict set of rules and then ease up when straight lines and quiet carpet time becomes the norm? Do you jump right into content? Do you spend time making cute crafts for parents? … Read More