Circle time your kids run toward, not away from.
Play-based, brain-based circle time activities built on the Engage, Move, Learnâ„¢ framework. A Virtual Music Class replay with the full lesson plan in your inbox every Friday. A growing vault of trainings.
Open it up Monday morning, press play, teach.
Join The Circle for $27/monthCancel anytime. Or pay for the year and get a month free.
From surviving circle time to loving it
Raise your hand if you…
- Spend your planning time scrolling Pinterest and YouTube for something that might work at circle time
- Have sung the same Hello Song since September 2014, and it’s making you a little crazy
- Bought a cute TPT bundle that looked great and fell apart the second real kids showed up
- Are stuck in the calendar, weather, shapes, repeat routine that everyone (including you) dreads
- Spend more of circle time saying “criss cross applesauce” than actually teaching
Now imagine…
- Circle time is the part of your day you look forward to, because you know they’ll love what’s coming
- Next week is planned by Friday afternoon, because the lesson plan and recordings showed up in your inbox
- You press play on a music class and watch your kids light up while you learn a new activity
- Transitions get easier and the “behavior” quiets down, because kids are too busy being engaged
- You’re part of a group of teachers who get it and trade what’s working
Most circle time “behavior problems” start as engagement problems.
Young children are built to move, sing, and play. When circle time asks them to sit still and listen for 20 minutes, behavior fills the gap. When circle time is built around how their brains actually learn, kids join in on their own and the learning sticks.
That’s the whole idea behind Engage, Move, Learnâ„¢. It’s the framework I use in my own classes, teach to school districts, and coach directors on. The Circle hands it straight to you.
Engage
Capture attention before behavior issues start. Every activity opens with a hook kids can’t resist: a song, a rhythm, a game.
Move
Teach through the body. Learning gets embedded in active, play-based experiences that also build self-regulation and smoother transitions.
Learn
Turn engagement into real learning. Early literacy, math, language, and kindergarten readiness, taught across the curriculum.
Play is the strategy. The learning comes along for free.
Everything you need for circle time, done for you.
Friday Funspiration
Next week’s circle time lands in your inbox every Friday.
You get that week’s Virtual Music Class replay, plus everything you need to teach it yourself: the lesson plan, the audio recordings, the lyric sheets, and the printables. Teach one activity next week or teach the whole class. Either way, Monday is planned before you leave on Friday.
replays, from All About Me to dinosaurs
The Virtual Music Class Replay Library
Press play for your kids, or press play for you.
Every week during the school year I teach a live 30-minute Virtual Music Class for classrooms. The replays live inside The Circle, and you can use them two ways:
- With your class: put it on the screen and let me lead circle time while you sit with the kids who need you most.
- On your own: watch to learn the activities and the moves behind them, then teach them yourself.
A new one lands every Friday all school year.
The Activity Vault
Activities that work at 9:42 on a Tuesday.
A growing library of circle time activities, each with a step-by-step guide, a video of me teaching it, an audio track, and printable visuals. Sorted by skill and by season so you can find what you need fast.
Hello songs, transitions, movement games, early literacy, math, calm-down, goodbye. All of it built on Engage, Move, Learnâ„¢.
Bite-Sized PD, Trainings, and the Community
Learn something new every month, without a Saturday workshop.
Quick monthly videos on what’s working in real classrooms, plus an in-depth training every quarter. Topics like transitions, group time behavior, early literacy through music, and rethinking the circle time routine.
And a community of teachers from all over who share what’s landing with their kids (and cheer you on when it’s a rough week). 💛
I had three activities and no idea what I was doing.
Twenty five years ago I got my first teaching job in Port Orchard, Washington. Small town girl from Montana, ocean out the front door, dream come true.
Day one, I found out nobody had taught me classroom management. My three planned activities lasted five minutes. I wanted to quit roughly every other day.
What saved me was learning to use two tools I already had: music and movement. Kids came to the circle faster and stayed longer, and suddenly I could teach everything from rhyming to reading. Even better, I realized I actually love this job.
I’ve spent the years since figuring out exactly why that works, and turning it into something teachers can use. That’s Engage, Move, Learnâ„¢. And that’s The Circle.
Jocelyn
Jocelyn Manzanarez, MMED. ECE Faculty at Green River College, WA State Certified STARS Trainer, author of Circle Time Success. Still in classrooms every week.
What happens when circle time clicks
My kids love to come to circle time now. Their behaviors are so much better as well. My class is full of children with IEPs for speech. I even have a blind student this year. The power of music is incredible. Thank you for giving me the tools to help my class!
Member of The CircleSleeping Turkeys saved my sanity today. Truly, that song was miraculous with my whole class and even my most difficult kiddos were engaged!
Jana HanniPreschool teacherI really didn’t know what I was doing, but once I found you, everything started coming together for me. I learned what circle time should look like and how to make it fun.
Darcie HammerFirst-year preschool teacherMy supervisor walked in when we were about to start the poem. She loved it! She saw how engaged the students were and appreciated incorporating music, rhythm, and rhyme into my circle times.
Karlien BrittionPreschool teacherThe Friday email has been such a treat. It keeps me tuned into circle time every week, even when it seems like too much work to go find something myself.
Wendy KerschnerPreschool teacherThe activities are engaging and fresh. It takes away the stress of planning.
Member of The CircleCircle Time Success has helped me help my students find their voice in a fun, engaging, and supportive way. Easy to access, modeled lessons, eye-catching visuals, and a community of others who share this passion.
Katie Halberg, M.S. CCC-SLPSpeech-language pathologistA month inside The Circle
Funspiration email with the week’s replay, lesson plan, recordings, and printables
A bite-sized PD video on what’s working in real classrooms
An in-depth training (5+ STARS hours a year for WA)
The full vault, all 50+ replays, and the community
Less than a couple of lattes a month ☕
Cancel anytime. Everything unlocks the moment you join.
Both plans include
- Full Activity Vault (guides, videos, audio, printables)
- Friday Funspiration every week
- The full Virtual Music Class replay library (50+ and growing)
- Monthly PD videos and quarterly trainings
- 5+ STARS hours a year (WA)
- Member community
- Everything new I add while you’re a member
Want your school to pay for it? Email jocelynmanzanarez@gmail.com and I’ll send you a letter for your director.
Is The Circle right for you?
This is for you if you…
- Teach 3 to 5 year olds (preschool, pre-K, childcare, TK, or a mixed-age room)
- Want circle time to feel playful and purposeful instead of like crowd control
- Like a done-for-you activity you can teach today, and want to understand why it works
- Are open to singing, moving, and being a little silly (no music background required)
Probably skip it if you…
- Want a scripted, sit-and-listen curriculum
- Aren’t willing to get up off the chair
Before you join
Do I need to be musical?
Nope. You don’t need to read music or sing on key. Every activity comes with a video of me teaching it and an audio track you can play. If you can press play and move, you’re qualified.
How is this different from the live Virtual Music Class?
The live Virtual Music Class is a $97 registration for classrooms that want me live every Tuesday. The Circle sends you the replay of that same class every Friday with the lesson plan and recordings, plus the whole vault of activities, trainings, Friday Funspiration, and the community. If your class can make the live time, do both. If you can’t, The Circle is the way to get the classes.
Is this the same as Engage, Move, Learnâ„¢ training for schools?
Same framework, different delivery. Schools and districts hire me for training and coaching. The Circle is the do-it-yourself version, built for individual teachers who want the tools now.
How much time does it take?
As little as you want. Most members open the Friday email, pick one or two activities from that week’s class, and teach them the following week. Some put the whole replay on for their kids. The trainings are there when you’re ready for them.
Do I get STARS hours?
Yes, if you’re in Washington State. Members get a guaranteed minimum of 5 STARS hours every year through the trainings inside The Circle.
Can my school or center pay for this?
Yes. Email me and I’ll send you a short letter you can hand to your director. If you’re a director wanting access for your whole staff, email me at jocelynmanzanarez@gmail.com for team pricing.
What happens when I join?
You’ll get a welcome email with directions to log in to the member resource site. Everything is unlocked right away: the vault, the replays, the trainings, all of it.
Can I cancel?
Anytime, from your account. You’ll keep access through the end of your billing period.
Circle time can be the best part of your day.
Bring the play. I’ll bring the plan. 🎶
Join The Circle$27/month, or $297/year with one month free. Cancel anytime.