show episodes
 
Preschool Made Easy is the podcast for busy preschool teachers and parents. It’s a show that will help you get success and confidence in teaching your children by keeping it simple! Each week, Chantal Macias and her guests will share easy tips and actionable steps that you need to start preschool and be successful all year long. You’ll learn how to set up your classroom and the best resources to use while saving time, getting organized and ditching the overwhelm. Let’s make your preschool ex ...
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SUPER WHY, the new animated television series on PBS Kids and the interactive website on pbskids.org/superwhy, helps children ages 3-6 learn key reading skills, including alphabet, rhyming, spelling and reading comprehension, through interactive storybook adventures.
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Hey Mama! Welcome to Keys to Kindergarten Readiness I’m Shannon Ali. Daughter of the King, Wife, mom of 3 littles, teacher, speech-language pathologist, and kindergarten readiness expert! I remember what it felt like during the Covid lockdown in 2020, my husband was still working, and I was home by myself with our 3 year old, 1 year old, and a newborn baby girl all while still teaching school online. Needless to say, it was a crazy time, but I am thankful for God’s grace and lessons during t ...
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show series
 
We know that creating a consistent evening routine can help ease the transition from the busy day to bedtime and set a positive tone for the nighttime. In Episode 49, we’re talking about creating the best stress-free evening routine for your toddlers or preschoolers, some problems you might face along the way, and easy tips to help you get started …
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In this Parent Corner episode, I’m joined by my incredible friend, Erin from Littles Love Learning, and we are talking all about supporting your child’s learning at home. Erin is a former classroom teacher with her master's degree in early childhood education and the founder of Littles Love Learning. Her mission is to inspire parents to set their k…
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We know that creating a consistent morning routine can help ease the transition from home to school and set a positive tone for the day. In Episode 47, we’re talking about creating the best stress-free morning routine for your toddlers or preschoolers by giving you a sample routine for toddlers/preschoolers that are going to school and another samp…
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First-day jitters? Yeah, let’s leave those at home. It’s time to bring fun, confidence and peace into your new classroom this year. In Episode 46, we’re diving into a topic that's top of mind for many of you right now: preparing your classroom for the first day of school. I know this time of year can be incredibly hectic, balancing your personal li…
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Welcome back to our Preschool Themes Series. In these episodes, I’ll give you theme examples for a season and ideas for activities that are already done for you. It’ll help get your planning, set-up, and prep done in record time. In Episode 45, I’m giving you some super fun and easy fall themes to learn with and ideas of simple indoor and outdoor a…
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Ever feel like you need more time for your kids, to get things done in your home, or maybe just to sit in bed and read on your Kindle? In Episode 44, we’re diving into a topic that’s on every parent's mind as the school year kicks off: how to save time. Whether you're juggling work, school drop-offs, meal preps, or bedtime routines, I see you and I…
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My boys seem like they are obsessed with video games, and I absolutely cannot stand it. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that we all have something we can become addicted to if we are not careful. During VBS this summer, I had the opportunity to teach all the children about this very thing. This world is full of idols and one of our…
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In this Parent Corner episode, I’m joined by my amazing friend, Andriana, and we are talking all about teaching preschoolers about big feelings and how we can support teachers with social-emotional learning. Ana is a teacher, classroom and behavior management coach, and the Founder of The Active Educator. She created The Active Educator platform to…
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Are you confused about which letters to teach your child first? You are not alone, Momma. If you were to go into a room of teachers and ask this question, many of them would have a different answer. I have used various teaching orders such as ABC order, s,a,t,i,p,n, and more. Honestly, all of them have worked, BUT today I am going to give you the f…
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Getting back into the school routine can be tough, right? After a summer of fun and lots of flexibility, the beginning of the school year can feel overwhelming for both kids and parents. That’s where giving your child chores comes in. In Episode 42, we’re talking about a topic that’s hot right now as we gear up for the back-to-school season: ideas …
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I cannot believe how quickly this summer has flown by. It feels like we just got out for the break. Here in Louisiana, my kids start school this upcoming Thursday. It’s crazy early! I know your kiddo might not start until after Labor Day, but this is the perfect time to get ready for back-to-school season. If you don’t want to be that hot mess expr…
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It’s time to bring back some excitement about getting your classroom ready for your little ones with some easy and quick actionable steps and ditch the anxiety that sometimes comes with setting up your classroom. In Episode 41, we're diving into a topic that can make or break your school year: organizing and simplifying your classroom setup and man…
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You’ve just received your letter with your child’s kindergarten test date, and you have no idea what to expect. What if she doesn’t know any of the answers? What if the teacher says he is not ready for kindergarten? If you listen to today’s show, you will have all the tools you need to help your child do well on kindergarten beginning of the year t…
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School is about to start and we are getting supplies in backpacks, groceries in our fridge, uniforms washed and ready to go, and the panic is starting to creep its way into our home. There is a silver lining in this whole process, though. That is, at least we have our routines in check. In Episode 40, we’re kicking off our Back to School Series wit…
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I had a grandmother reach out to me recently about how to help her granddaughter learn her tricky words for kindergarten. She said they had practiced the tricky words using several different fun activities such as magnetic letters, writing the words with different marker colors, bingo, but her granddaughter was still struggling with several of the …
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When we’re thinking about setting up our preschool classroom for back to school, sometimes we get so caught up in a theme or buying a ton of things for our classes that we may not actually need. In Episode 39, we’re breaking down the essentials of your preschool classroom decor AKA what you need, some budget-friendly options for you because we’re a…
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Do you constantly say to yourself, ”I wish I had more time to help my child learn how to read?” My children learned to read at age 3, but our daughter didn’t have as strong of reading skills as her older brothers. During that time, I was so overwhelmed with work and life that I rarely read her any bedtime stories. It wasn’t until I audited my time …
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It’s my birthday and to celebrate my 35 years of living this amazing life, I thought maybe we should do something fun on today’s episode. So, we’re going to do a deep dive and celebrate some of our 35 milestones and wins together! In Episode 38, we’re shaking things up today by talking about motherhood, teaching, and business. These Parent Corner e…
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BOOK YOUR 1:1 KINDERGARTEN READINESS COACHING CALL TODAY: Save $75 off for July ONLY! https://calendly.com/keystokindergartenreadiness/kreadinesscoachingcall Setting goals is a fundamental aspect of teaching your child to read. However, simply having goals is not enough; they must be structured in a way that makes them achievable and meaningful. I …
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I’ve decided to create an episode for you each month all about preschool themes. We’re all about keeping it simple here, so let’s name this the Preschool Themes Series. I’ll give you theme examples for that month and ideas for activities that are already done for you. It’ll help get your planning, set-up, and prep done in record time. In Episode 37…
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BOOK YOUR 1:1 KINDERGARTEN READINESS COACHING CALL TODAY: Save $75 off for July ONLY! https://calendly.com/keystokindergartenreadiness/kreadinesscoachingcall I am BACK! On today's episode of Keys to Kindergarten Readiness, I give you all the details you need to know to help your child with the 4 subtests on the DIBELS. This is the reading test that…
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In this Parent Corner episode, I’m joined by my incredible friend, Kelsey Sorenson, and we are talking all about how to create an intentional schedule and actually stick to it. We’re getting into how to manage urgent vs important tasks and the urgency matrix, creating an ideal week and planning out your weekly schedule. Episode Highlights: What an …
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The kids are out of school, we get to make memories with them doing things we usually don’t have time to do throughout the school year, and we get to stay up late! So, what can we do this summer to help get our kiddos ready for school? In Episode 35, we’re talking about the exact areas you should focus on when getting your child ready for Kindergar…
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Let me paint a scene for you: it looks like Christmas threw up all over your house with toys everywhere, mismatched and loose socks in the drawers, half-eaten snacks in an open lunchbox, and why is that light always turned on!? Sound familiar? Yeah, this was my reality too! That is, of course, until my daughter (and my client’s son) learned some se…
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What if I told you we could create the perfect routine for your family right now and you would still have time to get all your household responsibilities done, have time for yourself, and you would be setting your child up for success WAY before they start Kindergarten? How awesome would that be? In Episode 31, we’re talking about creating your ide…
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We all know our kiddos do so much more on their own than we expect at school, so why don’t they do the same at home? What if you could get your kids ready for Kindergarten but focus on building their independence, more specifically, before they start Kinder? In Episode 32, we’re talking about what Kindergarten Readiness actually means, why independ…
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What if I told you we could create the perfect routine for your family right now and you would still have time to get all your household responsibilities done, have time for yourself, and you would be setting your child up for success WAY before they start Kindergarten? How awesome would that be? In Episode 31, we’re talking about creating your ide…
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Is organization your jam or do you have all the right intentions every year with getting organized and somewhere along the road, it just doesn’t go as planned? I’m here to show you a few quick and easy steps to get organized and stay organized all year long. In Episode 30, we’re getting our spring cleaning on by organizing ourselves, our classrooms…
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On today's episode of Keys to Kindergarten Readiness I give you my top tips to having a low-key, yet fun spring break with your kiddos. Let's Dig In! Purchase my online Kindergarten Readiness course: https://bit.ly/KMagnetPrepOnline GET TO KNOW ME Connect: keystokindergartenreadiness@gmail.com Community: KTKR Community Facebook Page: Keys to Kinder…
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On today's episode of Keys to Kindergarten Readiness I give you my top tips to preparing your child for the full preschool gifted test. Let's Dig In! Purchase my online Kindergarten Readiness course: https://bit.ly/KMagnetPrepOnline GET TO KNOW ME Connect: keystokindergartenreadiness@gmail.com Community: KTKR Community Facebook Page: Keys to Kinder…
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This preschool journey is truly all about turning everyday moments into math adventures. So, let's embark on this math adventure together and find out how we can make math an exciting part of our preschoolers' day! In Episode 29, we’re talking about some real concerns parents have about teaching their children, how to use manipulatives and everyday…
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So you wanna teach your child some math at home? As parents, we’re always on a mission to help our kiddos grow and we want them to learn as much as possible. So why not help them build a love of math, too? In Episode 28, we’re talking about setting preschool math goals and some simple activities you can do, what a typical kindergarten math curricul…
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On today's episode of Keys to Kindergarten Readiness I give you my top tips to preparing your child for the preschool gifted screening test. Let's Dig In! Purchase my online Kindergarten Readiness course: https://bit.ly/KMagnetPrepOnline GET TO KNOW ME Connect: keystokindergartenreadiness@gmail.com Community: KTKR Community Facebook Page: Keys to K…
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Purchase my online Kindergarten Readiness course: https://bit.ly/KMagnetPrepOnline On today's episode of Keys to Kindergarten Readiness I give you a brief update of where I have been the last 5 months as well as 3 ways you can teach your child about Black History Month this year. Let's Dig In! Resource Mentioned: Imagodei Academy (iogacademy.com) &…
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So you wanna build a reading space at home? As parents, we’re always on a mission to help our kiddos grow and we want them to learn as much as possible. So why not help them build a love of reading, too? In Episode 20, we’re talking about creating the BEST and simple reading space at home. I’ll give you 3 easy tips for building this space in no tim…
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If the activities you’re trying to do with your students have a never-ending supply list, then you might not want to do it BUT if it’s short and sweet like the ideal faculty meeting, then it’s a winner! In Episode 26, we’re talking about what we can really teach our students with simple, everyday items, my favorite supplies I use to teach preschool…
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Want instant relief, parents? Let’s simplify your little one’s toys and organize their play space. In Episode 25, we’re talking about what toys you really need and which ones you don’t, the research is backing it up: how many is too many, and 3 steps to simplify the toys in your home. These Parent Corner episodes are where I share my experiences an…
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Do you know which lessons are the best? The ones that AREN’T planned. I’m talking about the ones where you let your preschoolers play with some materials and let their creativity and imagination run wild and free. I promise you, they learn SO much more than whatever we can possibly teach them in a detailed, planned activity. In Episode 24, we’re ta…
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Winter break is in full swing and if you’re like us, you might be experiencing a mix of excitement and… well, chaos. In Episode 24, we’re diving headfirst into the whirlwind of emotions and adventures that come with having your preschooler at home during the winter break. We’ve got your back with some real talk about your preschooler’s emotions thi…
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Have you been feeling the seasonal inner screaming and stress that can come with teaching in general this time of year? How exactly can we manage holiday chaos and restore routines that spread joy? In Episode 22, we’re talking about what happens when preschool children's routines unravel, real talk about teacher life during the holiday months, and …
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Every holiday season, the preschool routines unravel. There’s a never ending list of events and people to see, added stress with classroom happenings. It can definitely feel like way too much, especially for our preschoolers and teachers. In Episode 21, we’re breaking down why preschool children have trouble regulating their emotions, 3 tips for he…
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So you wanna build a reading space at home? As parents, we’re always on a mission to help our kiddos grow and we want them to learn as much as possible. So why not help them build a love of reading, too? In Episode 20, we’re talking about creating the BEST and simple reading space at home. I’ll give you 3 easy tips for building this space in no tim…
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In this Parent Corner episode, I’m joined by my amazing friend, Kristina, and we are talking all about building a foundation of literacy and reading with your kiddos. Kristina is a former kindergarten teacher turned stay at home mom to 3 little ones. As a mom with an early childhood development and literacy background, she is very passionate about …
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Tech or no tech in the classroom? There are many teachers who love using technology with their preschoolers and many who say “absolutely not!” After having used technology for years with my preschoolers and Kinder babies, I say, why not? In Episode 18, we’re diving into how technology can benefit your students’ learning experience, how it can save …
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Creating toddler and preschool reading routines can seem overwhelming but I promise, it’s not. With just a handful of simple and easy routines, our littles will be reading in no time, and loving it! This month, we’re talking about all things literacy and how you can help your littles thrive in the classroom or at home! In Episode 17, we’re getting …
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One of the things I get asked about the most is independence. “How do I get my kid to be more independent?” Today, let's take a breather and have a real check-in about how our kiddos' independence journey is actually going. In Episode 16, we’re talking about maintaining your little ones’ independence in their morning routines, tackling small tasks,…
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If you've ever been curious about how to build responsibility and initiative in your littles, you're in for a treat. This month, we’re exploring different classroom management topics to help make your (and your kiddos’) preschool experience the best one ever! In Episode 15, we’re diving into some practical strategies that can turn your preschool cl…
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If you've ever felt like you're drowning in a sea of colorful crayons, glue sticks, and construction paper, you're not alone! This month, we’re exploring different classroom management topics to help make your (and your kiddos’) preschool experience the best one ever! In Episode 14, managing materials and supplies in a preschool classroom won’t be …
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Does the thought of managing a group of 12-18 little ones make you wanna pull your hair out or does it make you feel like a champ who’s just taken on an olympic challenge? I know you’re the champ because you’re listening to this episode right now! This month, we’re exploring different classroom management topics to help make your (and your kiddos’)…
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When you think of classroom management, what comes to mind? Is it those magical tricks that turn chaos into organized cuteness? Preschool classroom management is a combination of methods and strategies that allow you to create a safe space that promotes learning and your students’ development. In Episode 12, we’re talking about how to create a clea…
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