Welcome to My Play Based Classroom Blog

Hi there!

I'm Janelle - a play-based early years teacher who is super passionate about creating learning experiences that boost curiosity, creativity, and academic growth.

On this blog, I share practical tips for meeting curriculum benchmarks through a balance of explicit teaching and play, setting up the ideal learning environment and fostering social-emotional development.

So, let’s make play-based teaching work in your preschool, kindergarten, or first-grade classroom!

Explicit Teaching, Investigations Janelle McArdle Explicit Teaching, Investigations Janelle McArdle

22 Word Awareness Activities to Develop Phonological Awareness

Discover engaging word awareness activities, teaching tips and strategies for this basic phonological awareness skill. This blog post is a practical guide to developing word awareness through 22 playful, hands-on strategies and activities. Perfect for kindergarten, preschool, and first-grade teachers looking to teach the concept of a word.

Read More