What’s the Weather?

What’s the Weather?

I woke up to a beautiful snowy carpet outside my window this morning. This is our first winter in Vermont, so we are excited about the winter weather. My husband and I grew up in Maryland. We had real winters to look forward to each year. After spending the past ten years in North Carolina, we are excited to enjoy the winters of our childhood.

Yesterday, I spoke at our local VTAEYC conference. I shared how to become more intentional in our teaching practices, especially in circle time/morning meetings. During this discussion, the topic of weather came up. This is a standard topic during our group meeting times.

I remember my first experiences as a toddler teacher early in my teaching career. Each morning, I would make all of my toddlers sit in the “circle area” of the classroom. We would talk about the weather and dress our weather bear. I remember being so annoyed that the toddlers only wanted to put the rainy weather clothing on the bear regardless of the weather outside the classroom walls.

It took me longer than I like to admit to realize that young children don’t connect these indoor discussions on weather to the actual weather. How would they understand the temperature outdoors while we are sitting in our temperature-controlled classroom? If we look out the window at the gorgeous sunshine and our room is 70 degrees, they will think it is warm outside.

If we really want children to understand what the weather is like today, then we should make that part of our routine during our outside time. Create a portable weather chart to take outside with you. Each day, as you leave the comfort of the temperature-controlled classroom, the children can predict what they think the weather will be like. Once you are outside, the children can see if their predictions are correct.

Being an intentional teacher means that you let the children guide your teaching. You ensure that the decisions you make are deliberate and purposeful. Being intentional means altering how you have always done things because you know there is a better way.