Learning lorry? Check

Excited teachers? Check

Smiling children? Check

 Pegs, crayons, play doh, pegs and pegboards? Check, check, check and check

The Crayons Count Teacher Training School tour rolled out Tuesday, September, 17 at St. Boniface ECDC and Thursday, September, 19 at Joy Town Learning Academy. The learning lorry was front and centre and was the classroom for the two days with eighteen teachers on both days.  Teachers from St Boniface ECDC, Josephine Glasspole Basic, Campden Basic, Mt Olive Basic, Holy Family Infant, Rema Basic and many more in the Kingston area benefited from an intimate learning session where a group of three year olds children were observed in a Crayons Count tool learning lesson. The sessions were broken into two from 9:00-10:30 and 11:00-12:30 P.M  and was filled with fun, ideas, tools and laughter.

The Learning Lorry by the sea side, we’re on our way

The purpose of the Teacher Training School Tour was to engage the teachers and to help stimulate lesson ideas using the Crayons Count tools. The sessions featured a fun introduction by very own Early Childhood Consultant, Ms. Shaanii-Grace Robinson who was the leader in each session. Next was the lesson with the children reflecting on the Early Childhood theme: Celebrating Me. Students were engaged for twenty minutes in writing their names on paper. They randomly placed each letter in first name all over paper and then used crayon to connect each letter. The bright sparks then closed the remaining lines (end points) to create a shape. Using alternating crayons, the group coloured within the shape. They were asked what shape their name created and shouts of ‘triangle’ and ‘leaf’ and ‘box’ were  labelled by the students. They were then asked their favourite letter in their first name and were given pegs and pegboard to create that letter. Additionally, a brief discussion on geometric shapes and leaves was done. Students then used play doh to form their favourite letter.

Photo Opportunity!

Pencils were scribbling away as the teachers took note of the lesson and the students’ reactions. When the lesson was done, the students left and the practitioners were led through a PowerPoint presentation titled ‘A Bird’s Eye View of the Early Childhood Curriculum’. This included objectives for each age group which ranges from 3- 5 years from the six learning Objectives in Early Childhood Curriculum: Wellness, Valuing Culture, Intellectual Empowerment, Effective Communication, Resilience, Respect for self, others and the Environment.

There was a lively discussion where teachers helped to pair the objective on screen to reflect the activities they observed with students. The PowerPoint also showed pictures of students with use of Crayons Count tools in other early childhood themes and even an evaluative discussion was encouraged among the teachers. Teachers were invited to share any challenges experienced in the use of the tools in a lesson or any difficulty in applying early childhood themes to suit the need of a tool. The sessions were short, sweet and amazing. The teachers even had time to pose for a memorable photo.

At Bonifact ECDC for the first ever Crayons Count Teacher Training School tour

Crayons Count is very much committed to the early childhood cause. The Learning lorry will be out in full force with the tour and who knows, your school may be the next to host the amazing Crayons Count learning lorry.

Crayons Count and School Tours- A Perfect Match

To see more photos from the Crayons Count Teacher Training School Tour, visit our Facebook album here.

Crayons Do Count!