Welcome to Kindergarten Cafe!

I’m Zeba, and I’m here to help you find the *kindergarten magic* in your classroom. I create resources and share strategies to make your teaching easier, more engaging, and focused on those magical moments of growth with your students. Whether you teach kindergarten, preschool, or first grade, you’ll find ideas and activities to bring that *kindergarten magic* to life. Feel free to reach out—let’s make teaching kindergarten magical again!

recent

A Developmental Approach to Teaching Writing with Melissa from Teaching to Transform ~ Ep. 114

Managing Math Expectations and Math Materials ~ Ep. 113

A Kindergarten Social Studies Year-Long Plan ~ Ep. 112

A Kindergarten Social Studies Unit: Families ~ Ep. 111

Honest Talk on Handling Teacher Burnout and Difficult Students ~ Ep. 110

Math

Managing Math Expectations and Math Materials ~ Ep. 113

Math

Apple Spotify Amazon Music Counting collections are an awesome way to give kids lots of extra accounting practice. And as they get going through the year, they can really work on showcasing how they are counting, how they're organizing their counters. It's a great way to get them to...

Best Storage Solutions for Centers in Kindergarten ~ Ep. 103

Classroom Design

Apple Spotify Amazon Music I have tried many different ways to organize materials. I feel like I finally found a way that works for me.~ Zeba from Episode 103 of The Kindergarten Cafe Podcast Episode Summary Wondering how to manage all those center materials without creating chaos or drowning in bins...

How to Effectively Manage Kindergarten Math Centers ~ Ep. 71

Math

Apple Spotify Amazon Music Centers are the perfect way to help students practice the math skills that you are teaching them. They are developmentally appropriate. They are hands on engaging when you have choice to them, whether the kids are choosing, how long they're staying, which center they're going...

Building Math Fluency Beyond Memorizing Facts ~ Ep. 70

Math

Apple Spotify Amazon Music When we talk about number decomposition, we mean that children are able to break apart numbers into different numbers into different parts. So knowing that the number five can be split into three and two, or that three and two can be combined to make...

Building Strong Number Relationships in Kindergarten ~ Ep. 69

Math

Apple Spotify Amazon Music Whenever you're counting forwards, always count backwards because you know that if they struggle with number relationships, number order. It's really important to have that flexibility of forward and backwards of more and less.~ Zeba from Episode 69 of The Kindergarten Cafe Podcast Episode Summary In this...

Supporting Missing Skills in Kindergarten Math ~ Ep. 68

Math

Apple Spotify Amazon Music I'm noticing it's starting to become a pattern where I'm like, oh, are they missing something from a previous unit or lesson that might be now rearing its head?~ Kindergarten Teacher from Ep. 68 of The Kindergarten Cafe Podcast Episode Summary Finding support in Kindergarten is always...

Engaging Families in Supporting Struggling Learners ~ Ep. 67

Literacy

Apple Spotify Amazon Music Parents are our partners.- Zeba McGibbon from The Kindergarten Cafe Podcast ~ Ep. 67 Episode Summary In this episode, I discuss strategies for supporting struggling students at home, explaining the importance of early communication with families to build a collaborative support system. I share practical tips for...

Essential Math Skills Every Kindergartener Needs ~ Ep. 66

Math

Apple Spotify Amazon Music You can get so much information just from watching kids count.- Zeba McGibbon from The Kindergarten Cafe Podcast ~ Ep. 66 Episode Summary Teaching math in Kindergarten is no easy feat. You are beginning the foundation of all other math skills yet to come. In this episode,...

Helping Students Thrive as Learning Partners ~ Ep. 53

Classroom Activities and Lessons

Apple Spotify Amazon Music Episode Summary Teaching students to be effective learning partners is very important. Looking back on my experiences with a new math curriculum that focused on collaboration, I have some strategies that will help you when it comes to having your students work with partners. Things like...

Inside My Lesson Planning Process ~ Ep. 49

Classroom Activities and Lessons

Apple Spotify Amazon Music Episode Summary In this episode I discuss my approach to lesson planning as a kindergarten teacher. I highlight the significance of structured curriculum from the district, emphasizing the creation of a social-emotional curriculum to support fellow teachers. I share insights on balancing prescribed curriculum with personalized...