5 Successful Preschool/Kindergarten Classroom Management Techniques

As preschoolers and kindergartners are introduced to a classroom setting and encouraged to develop socially, teachers can expect to come across temper tantrums, verbally and physically aggressive or violent behavior or disinterest to stay back in school among their students. While some behavioral issues in your preschool classroom can be resolved with a simple reminder of classroom expectations, love, care and understanding, others can require a much broader approach.

Preschool/kindergarten teachers know that when you’re faced with a room full of three- and four-year-old, clear expectations and routines are vital if teaching and learning are going to happen. As a teacher, it may be your job to introduce the students to concepts such as working in groups, being respectful while others are talking, and cleaning up after themselves. In order to make the children's introduction to school a positive one, you will need some basic classroom management skills and the ability to be flexible. What is important to understand is that, what works for one teacher will not always work for another.

Here are a few classroom management techniques that may work well, encouraging students to come back the next day and engage in interesting activities.

Class Attendance:

The best way to begin your students’ day is with an engaging activity as soon as they walk through the classroom door. Implementing a sign-in activity each day will help you take stock of the children as they are dropped off each morning. It will give you the chance to personally greet each child as well.

This idea may also encourage them to come in early and put up their name on the board before anyone else does. This encourages them to be on time and also make sure they come to school each day so that their name needn’t be on the ‘Absent’ list.

Classroom Helper Charts:

Allowing young children to feel like they are ‘in-charge’ gives them a great sense of empowerment. Having classroom helper each day takes the burden off the teacher and places responsibility on the child. Children who feel empowered are more likely to enjoy school and take more academic risks.

One of the goals of any good early childhood program is to teach independence, by allowing the students to be in control for the entire day they feel incredibly empowered and independent. Having a chart with the various responsibilities and the child’s picture next to it encourages them. Some of the jobs of the leader include calendar helper, pushing in chairs, turning on and off the lights, leading the line, monitoring the class and a lot more.

Pictorial Classroom Schedule:

Children learn best when they are comfortable in their surroundings and they know what to expect next. Creating a visual schedule can help children understand time management. Students will also learn to anticipate what comes next. Making a visual schedule may even put an end to the question, "What’s next?"

It can be the same schedule for a week or a different one for each day. Having each activity represented by a picture and the word on a chart will give your students a visual reminder of what is happening or is going to happen in class.

Classroom Rules Chart:

It is important to have visuals in an early childhood classroom as a reminder of the rules.  Post the rules chart on the wall in several locations throughout the classroom at the children’s eye level so they can refer to it when necessary. The more they look at it, the more it reminds them of the rules. At the beginning of the year, on the very first day, review the rules carefully as a group. Also it is extremely important to keep all classroom rules positive, make sure you have not included the word ‘don’t’ in any of the rules.

Take Home Book Program:

Research has proven that reading aloud daily is one of the most effective ways parents can help their children become successful readers. Unfortunately, many parents do not know how to effectively engage their children in a read aloud. This program can encourage parents to be a part of their student’s education which will in turn encourage and motivate the child to learn better.

•           Provide the parents of your students with step-by-step directions to make reading aloud to their children a positive and productive experience.

•           Communicate exactly what you want parents to do when reading aloud so they will be more likely to read to their children on a consistent basis.

Written by Fathima Khaja