Set up a reading center to reinforce the learning of basic letters. Place posters around the center with sample words. Have a child arrange magnetic letters to match the posters on baking sheets and take pictures of her work with an instant camera. You can save the picture to show her parents or display it on a brag board in your classroom.
Alternatively, give a child a bucket of letters and group them, according to capitals vs. lower-case letters, vowels vs. consonants and even by the individual letter.
Set up a post office for your writing center. Place sample posters in this center with short phrases and possible recipients for the child to copy. Print out faux stamps to use as postage or use stickers. Parents can donate stickers, fun memo pads, stationary, washable pens and envelopes of varying sizes and colors. The student can copy his chosen phrase, sign his name, address the envelope and stamp it with a rubber stamp when done and place in a mailbox.
Children love to get messy and paint and glue offer them that opportunity. Set up a station where a child can make a collage from junk mail, magazines, newspapers and old teaching posters. Offer your student glue, paper and sample collages in the center so she can easily see what she is expected to do in the station.
Use sounds to inspire your children. Place a tape recorder with assorted fun sound effects in your station. Have the child listen to the sounds until he is inspired to create a picture. Provide him with washable markers, crayons, pencils, paper, glue and items to attach to his project, like feather, sequins, glitter, google eyes, and sand.
Other ideas for art centers include clay sculpting and finger-painting.
Your math lessons can be enriched with fun learning centers too. On a poster in the math learning center, have the student complete a math problem with beads. Provide several different colors of beads. Attach shoelaces at one end to a pegboard. Have her place three green beads on a shoelace, then add two more green beads. When she counts the number of beads, she'll have five beads. She can now empty the beads and go on to the next bead problem, using different color beads, on the poster. You can also do activities estimating the number of beans in a jar, stacking sugar cubes to teach addition and measuring lengths of string to practice measurement.
For a science station, offer the children sturdy children's microscopes and samples of different items on slides to see under magnification. Have your student guess what he is seeing, based on the posters you have provided around the science learning center.
The best learning centers may cause children to argue for first use, so plan to heavily manage a child's time in each center, using a badge system. Create a badge for each child. You can use an instant photo of a child with his name on it or simply have him write his name on a card stock shape and laminate it. Attach the loop side of a square of velcro to the back of the badge and the hook side of a square of velcro to the sign in each learning center. If a learning center can accommodate two children, have two squares of hook velcro on the sign in that center.
Hang the children's badges in a prominent area in the room. Hand them out at the time you've allotted for learning centers. She should place her badge on the learning center sign for the activity she wants to do first. Start an egg timer and when it dings, she should take her badge and move to the next activity. At the end of the allotted time for learning centers, have each child hang their badges in the badge area.