interactive teaching resources for use on the interactive whiteboard for the first three years of school

readilearn: What place do worksheets have in your early childhood classroom?

25 Replies

How do you feel about worksheets? Love them? Hate them? Use them sparingly?

I would say I’ve never been greatly in favour of worksheets. I’m not saying I never used them, but I used them sparingly. If I could do something as well or better without using a worksheet I would. There were a few reasons for this:

  • I valued children’s own work and didn’t feel the need to “pretty” up their books with the work of others.
  • I always looked for ways to progress children’s learning as opposed to keeping them busy.
  • I liked to reduce our paper usage.

Available on the internet and in bookstores are oodles of collections of worksheets; worksheets for anything you can imagine. You can spend hours trawling through websites looking for a sheet to support learning or practice a specific concept. Some of that time could be better spent considering other opportunities you could provide children for learning or practice, or even doing something pleasant for yourself for a change. Now there’s a thought.

When you think you may want a worksheet, or come across a worksheet that you may want to use, stop and evaluate its potential benefit:

Continue reading: readilearn: What place do worksheets have in your early childhood classroom?

25 thoughts on “readilearn: What place do worksheets have in your early childhood classroom?”

  2. Miriam Hurdle

    Norah, I agree with you that what teachers use the worksheet, use sparingly. I had seen a few teachers used the worksheet to keep students “busy” so that they could relax. That’s unfair to the students. A valuable post!

    Liked by 1 person

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  3. Christy B

    I’m with you on reducing paper usage. I like that many courses adult-wise are online now – not only can we stay home and study in our PJs but we can also reduce paper! Eco-friendly is the way to be 🙂 Great post idea, Norah.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Norah Post author

      Online courses are great, aren’t they? Though I must admit I’m not one for lounging in my PJs. 🙂 I haven’t seen an environmental study that considers the impact of using electronic gadgets and electricity compared to that of using paper, have you?

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    1. Norah Post author

      That’s interesting, Jacqui. I’m surprised. There are so many websites with pretty printables and worksheets for teachers to download. I know you are an advocate for the use of technology in classrooms at almost the other end of the continuum from worksheets, but I thought the scales would still be tipped strongly towards the worksheet end, which is disappointing. I’d like my interactive resources to be at the midpoint between primarily technology and primarily worksheet. I think interactive lessons provide an effective alternative between hands-on and worksheets.

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  5. Jennie

    Very, VERY sparingly. They often zap the thinking out of a child’s mind instead of filling it. Children who are learning scissor cutting, and also reluctant writers, will sometimes be encouraged to practice their skills with worksheets.

    Liked by 1 person

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