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About the Book

During her eighteen years as a kindergarten teacher, she developed a method of teaching that provides an excellent classroom atmosphere in which young children can excel in learning. She believes the first two weeks of school are very important because that is when the teacher sets the stage for an exciting, adventurous, and memorable academic school year. During that time, her students learned what acceptable behavior was in the classroom and while moving across campus as a group. Once they learned what was acceptable, the rest of the school year fell into place, and the children were excited to learn. This drastically reduces discipline problems for the rest of the school year. She has mentored two teachers at the request of her principal, using these methods and both continue to use them. These methods are simple, effective, and straightforward. This book is the third of a four-book series that describes her methods of instruction and classroom management. The book is full of cute illustrations provided by her sister-in-law, Carolyn Smith. There are also numerous photographs of holiday art and special projects for the kids to do that can be both instructional and fun. Patty has reviewed the book with principals, school superintendents, and an instructor at Northern Arizona University. All believed that it is an excellent and practical book for beginning teachers.

About the Author

Patty Nelson is a retired teacher and, for the last eighteen years of her career, taught kindergarten in Sedona, Arizona. She graduated from Kansas State University in 1962 and began her teaching career in Ogden, Kansas, while her husband finished his degree in architecture. Upon his graduation, they moved to Santa Ana, California, where she taught in the fifth grade until they started their family. When their two children started school, she resumed her teaching career in Irvine, California, as a first-grade teacher. In 1981, they moved to Sedona, Arizona, where she taught in a Christian school for one year before beginning her eighteen years as a kindergarten teacher. Her reputation grew, and parents continually requested that their child be put in her class. When a new school was started in Sedona, her principal requested that she accompany him as the kindergarten teacher. Patty truly enjoyed her teaching career and loved setting the stage for her students. Many of them who have graduated from high school and college still write to her.