Hey teachers! 😊 Real talk for a second. The first six weeks of school are the hardest weeks of the whole year. Routines that fall apart, big feelings at drop-off, a schedule that exists only in your head. Every year we say we'll get ahead of it, and every year August eats us alive. So tell me: what's the ONE thing about the beginning of the year that stresses you out most? Drop it in the comments. Your answers are shaping what I build next. 👇🏽 And here's what's happening one level up, because I'd feel bad if you found out later. Inside the Pre-K Prep Club for Teachers ($7 a month), members get: 🎉 300+ done-for-you resources, ready to print and use + monthly drops 🎉 The Jumpstart Challenge for play-based learning 🎉 The Jumpstart Challenge for The Creative Curriculum 🎉 With done-for-you resources and video guides for both challenges 🎉 This August: a LIVE workshop, Your First Six Weeks Playbook, so you walk into the new year with a plan instead of a panic. This workshop is for you no matter what curriculum you use. You'll walk away knowing what developmentally appropriate practice looks like in those first weeks, so you can bring it into YOUR room no matter what your program hands you. We'll use the 2026 Creative Curriculum preschool guide as our example because it's one of the most well-rounded versions out there. Club members are voting on the workshop date right now. Join this month and you get a say in when it happens, a live seat with Q&A, and the replay forever. The resources will always be there. Being in the room while this gets built happens once. 🙌🏽 If August-you deserves a calmer start, come join us here. Already a Club member on our other platform? You're covered. Stay tuned for your invite, appreciate your patience! And even if the Club isn't for you right now, tell me your biggest beginning-of-year struggle below. This community is exactly where those conversations belong. 🤗 Thanks for being a part of it.

Welcome in, teachers! I'm so glad you're here and I want to make sure you get the most out of our community. 🫶🏼 This community is built to actually make your life in the classroom easier, not add one more thing to your plate. The more you show up, the more you unlock, and your title grows right alongside you. 🧭 Where everything lives Head to the CLASSROOM tab at the top of the page. That's where the lessons, free samples from the Pre-K Prep Club, and your level unlocks all live. 🎮 How points work Every little thing you do here earns you points: 👍 Like received +1 💬 Comment +1 🪄 Post that sparks conversation +3 to 5 🧱 The Levels Your title changes automatically and shows up next to your name so everyone can see how far you've come. 👇 Curious where you stand in the LEADERBOARD? 1️⃣ 👩‍🏫 Line Leader 2️⃣ ✨ Go-Getter 3️⃣ 🌟 Rising Star 4️⃣ 🎨 Play-Based Pro 5️⃣ 💪 Classroom Hero 6️⃣ 📋 Lead Teacher 7️⃣ 🤝 Pre-K Mentor 8️⃣ 🧠 Master Teacher 9️⃣ 👑 Pre-K Legend 🎁 What you unlock ✨ Level 2, Go-Getter: my video on the top 10 play-based ways to teach children their names. A real win for those first weeks of school. And I'm not stopping there! New unlocks will drop at more levels as you climb, so keep an eye on that Classroom tab. 👀 🚀 How to climb fast! - Like and comment on posts - Share what's working in your room Every every comment, every like moves you up. Let's grow this together. 🌱 - Cathy

Happy Monday, teacher hub! Share one thing you want to accomplish this week. Can be in or outside of the classroom. I'll share mine in the comments too. 🤩

Nobody tells the teacher what to do in that split second. When teachers ask me how to manage big feelings in a preschool classroom, what they usually describe is the children. The behaviors. The meltdowns. The child who will not come to the carpet. Almost never what it costs us to absorb it. I understand why. We are trained to look outward. So we have language for a child's hard moment and almost none for the thing happening in our own body at the same time. The shoulders. The voice we did not choose. The guilt at nap time that follows us all the way to the car. Here is what I have come to believe: You are not losing your patience. You are absorbing a room full of big feelings all day with nowhere to put your own. That is not a character flaw. That is a body doing what bodies do. Think of the last time a child swept the blocks off the shelf, or tore down your bulletin board. Your shoulders were probably up before you decided anything. That reaction was faster than thought. It was already underway before you had a chance to choose it. Which is exactly why "be more patient" has never once worked, for you or for anyone. You cannot decide your way out of something that already happened. There are a hundred resources out there for calming the children. There are almost none for the teacher standing in the middle of it. Jennifer said it better than I could: "I've been seeking this in so many places but it's always about regulating the kids. Everything says, the teacher will feel this way too. But they never tell the teacher what to do for yourself in that split second." So I made something that does. The Regulated Room is 90 minutes of audio, broken into five themes, built for the teacher and not the child. 90 minutes. That is one summer afternoon. Do it in a single sitting, or take one theme at a time over five mornings. Whatever way works for you. More than 117 teachers have already gone through it. I asked them for their honest feedback at the end, and I would rather they tell you than me.

What's the #1 thing making your days feel harder than they should right now? The planning? The prep work? Never feeling caught up? Drop your answer below 👇 You might help another teacher who's feeling the exact same way. Once you've commented below... 🆓 Grab my free teacher planner to make this week a little easier