Kindergarten Teacher Must-Haves

Korryna Sanchez
August 9, 2021
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So much prep goes into creating a great learning space.

There are countless things a teacher has to remember to make the school year flow smoothly.

As teachers start getting ready for school we decided to try and make these last few weeks of summer as seamless as possible.

We understand that prepping for school is difficult.

And, we know it is extra hard to prep a Kindergarten classroom.

We compiled a list of all kindergarten teacher must-haves you need to make prepping for school as easy as possible.

Kindergarten Must-Have Resources

These are some resources that we think will help make your school year run smoothly and save you some serious time. Things like the CORE Binder that you can use every day and resources to introduce letters and numbers to your students.

CORE Binder – This is a resource that covers daily activities from classroom routines, math, and ELA. These Classroom Organizers and Resources for Education also include social and emotional tools because we know teaching isn’t all 123s and ABCs.
1:1 Math – Easy prep centers that can be quickly adapted to virtual learning.
Emergency Sub Plans – Having to call a sub is stressful enough without having to worry about planning too. Editable Sub Plans has everything you need to leave for a sub. This includes a general information guide, outlined instruction for activities, and 5 days of plans for the beginning, middle, and end of the school year.
Sound Wall – The all-inclusive Sound Wall from ETTC gives you everything you need to build a reference tool to make learning sounds easy to teach and easy to learn.
Write the Room Kindergarten Edition – Beginning Sounds, Color Words, CVC Words, Digraphs, Ending Sounds, End Marks, Rhyming Words, and Short Vowels.
Editable Name Activities – Provide engaging name activities for your students with our Editable Names Activities for Kinder and 1st Grade!
Sight Word Printables for Kindergarten – This is a Sight Word Practice Packet for the First 100 Fry Sight Words (1-100).
September Social Studies Unit – Education to the Core has created an all-inclusive Social Studies Unit that can be used for any grade between K-3. This unit includes teaching slides, Student workbook activities, read-aloud suggestions, and so much more.

Must-Have Resources Continued

Kindergarten Morning Work – 180 days of morning work.
Alphabet Booklets – 72 booklets that are perfect for kinders of ALL LEVELS. They are packed with both COLOR and BLACK & WHITE pics.
Monthly Packets – Thematic teaching makes things so much more interesting for you and your students. With the year-long Monthly Packet Bundles, you can have an entire year of activities ranging from phonics, grammar, math, science, and social studies.
Kindergarten Literacy Centers – A comprehensive resource for Kindergarten Literacy Centers.
Kindergarten Data Tracking Bundle – A baseline and a way to progress monitor your kindergarten students.
I Spy Early Literacy – The I Spy phonics set is made especially with kindergarten students in mind. The multi-sensory beginning sounds set comes in two versions – with optional pronunciation mouth clipart, letter writing practice, and a section to spy words starting with that letter.
Listen and Color – The most engaging way to get your students to build listening comprehension and actually follow directions the first time. Repeating yourself will become a distant memory, while you’re working on building your students’ working memory!
ETTC Premium – If all of these must-haves sound like they will put a strain on your wallet, sign up for ETTC Premium for $10 a month and have unlimited access to these resources and thousands of others.

Kinder Classroom Supplies

Getting ready for the school year is hard. How in the world are you supposed to be able to predict all of the things you are going to need for the entire year? This is a list of things that you can use again and again throughout the year:

Kindergarten Must-Have T-Shirts

T-Shirts are always in fashion and knowing that you can wake up every morning and put on one of your many cute graphic T-Shirts and a pair of your comfiest jeans is the only way to make it through a long school year. Here’s a list of the cutest Kindergarten Teacher must-have T-Shirts you can get on Amazon:

Kindergarten Must-Have Books

Books are magic and sometimes using the beauty of storytelling is the best way to convey your message. This list of books may help you make your students feel a little bit better about this momentous moment in their lives:

Kindergarten Here I Come – A picture book that goes over all the milestone moments that Kindergarteners go through.
On the First Day of Kindergarten – A book to get kids (and parents) who are nervous about starting Kindergarten prepared for the things to come.
Clifford Goes to Kindergarten – Join Clifford as he spends the day with Emily Elizabeth in Kindergarten.
Adventure Annie Goes to Kindergarten – Adventure Annie looks for adventure in every moment of Kindergarten.
The Night Before Kindergarten

– Packing school supplies, posing for pictures, and saying goodbye to mom and dad prepares students for what the first day of school will be.

More Kindergarten Books for Your Library

The Day You Begin – A story about finding courage when you are doing something for the very first time.
First Day Farts – A book for kids with anxiety about starting school.
A Letter From Your Teacher – This book helps teachers welcome their students on their first day of school.
Kindergarten Rocks – Help reassure your students about their first days of school.
Goodbye Preschool, Hello Kindergarten – A reminder that things that are stressful can also be good.

*All of the t-shirt and read-aloud links are a part of the Amazon Affiliate program.

The school year is a marathon, not a race. And we know there are so many stress factors that come into play as the year progresses. ETTC is here for you and we are dedicated to making things as easy as we can for our teachers.

The Teaching Tiny Humans Course is a free course that helps primary teachers navigate those tricky situations at school. You can expect emails with tips, tricks, and ideas for your classroom along with freebies and support from the ETTC team of master teachers.

We also know that starting the school year can be fun — and stressful. More importantly, we are here to remind you that it is not something you have to do alone. There are places you can go (virtually) to chat with people who are doing what you are doing. Try Facebook groups like the ETTC Fearless Kinder Group or make time to collaborate with your fellow teachers. We would love to have you join our community today and grab these kindergarten teacher must-haves for a fantastic year!

Written By – Korryna Sanchez

At Education to the Core, we exist to help our teachers build a stronger classroom as they connect with our community to find trusted, state-of-the-art resources designed by teachers for teachers. We aspire to be the world’s leading & most trusted community for educational resources for teachers. As a result, we improve the lives of every teacher and learner with the most comprehensive, reliable, and inclusive educational resources.

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Welcome! I’m Emily, Founder of Education to the Core. We are all about helping K-2 teachers by providing unlimited access to affordable printables for every subject area.