It Hurts,Too

“An apology is a good way to have the last word.”
~Author Unknown

I was finishing up a conversation with a parent when I felt a gentle tug in my pant leg.
“Ms Barbra?”
“Yes?” I knelt down to meet Jared’s eyes…they were about to brim over with tears and he was winding his hands.
“Um…um…Mikey….Mikey said….well….he said he is not my friend any more and that he is going to buy himself a ‘new Jared’.”
The tears projected from his eyes and he clasped in my arms. I felt crushed. Crushed for him, for the fact that those words even existed in the world, for Mikey…that he knew those words…
I gathered myself together and spoke to him.
“That really hurts, huh?”
“Yeah…”
“Let’s go talk to Mikey about it.” Together we walked toward Mikey.
Once they came together they began talking…
“I don’t like it that you said you can buy another Jared,” sniffed Jared wiping away a tear.
“Oh..well stop taking my shovel then,” explained Mikey.
“Um, okay- sorry.”
“Okay then-sorry, too.”
And just like that….all the hurt was gone.

Good to Go

“Successful decision making is not a skill learned in standard school systems. It is a result of tailoring basic life skills with knowledge to become more personally aware of who you are and how life has shaped you.”
~Michael E. Parker

“To the person who does not know where he wants to go there is no favorable wind."
~ Seneca

When I plan curriculum in the preschool setting I look for ways to set up the children for success. I enjoy activities where the children have to problem solve with each other. Co-active activities need lots of supervision, so usually the rest of the environment is pretty low key.
Sure, I would love to be an amoeba with the ability to split in all directions…but I won’t hold my breath.
On really cold or rainy days we love making tents. I have the parents bring in old sheets and flashlights and tell the children we can make tents around the room. They have to figure the rest out (i.e. if they want my help, what tools are needed, where to build, etc.) I am supervising and making sure it’s safe.

There are only two rules when building;
1. The teacher is the building inspector-safety first!
2. We are all friends-Everyone gets to build and it belongs to everyone.

When the children are finally done setting up the tents and they are secure- we get flashlights and explore and our new environment we made. Tents fall down; we ask who can repair them- this starts another process of kids volunteering to be repairmen, electricians, etc.
It’s a busy day.
I believe we can teach good positive life skills to our kids in a home or classroom setting. Helping kids make good decisions, successful choices to work independently and as a team. By allowing kids to problem solve, brain storm, even make mistakes together-we give them room to understand how a community operates in a safe, happy environment…groundwork for how it’s supposed to be.
I made a decision about who I was to be as a teacher. I know the decisions I make will shape my students. It’s no small thing…
At one school I worked at years ago, the director gave me an option to allow the kids to watch movies during the rainy season.
Hmmmm…tempting some days, but-no.
I told her we were good to go.

Creative Sparks

“The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book.”

Books, cut outs, dittos, templates…well, I can’t say I have never used them. College professors flooded me with them. I had file folders of thousands of dittos until I tossed them all out in one great sweep. No, I didn’t get a revelation…I was going to change my major and thought I was going to be some be shot attorney and started studying law. When I changed my mind again…I panicked.
“Aaaagh! My papers! My books- my…um, stuff and thing- a-majiggers!”
My revelation came when it I went back to teaching…I didn’t need it. I all came back to me.
My desire from the beginning was to mature as a teacher and be the best that I could be. I could see I was starting to develop my own style and character within my career. I still use resources as a tool but they no longer encapsulate or define me. I could feel myself breaking out of a mental cocoon…
Creativity works in wonderful ways, it ascends, bends, spirals-but it’s the best when it sparks….
because then- and only then, it has a chance it catch on fire....

Fine Needlework

“We don't accomplish anything in this world alone ... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.”
~Sandra Day O'Connor

“When you teach your son, you teach your son's son.”
~The Talmud

I first taught small children to sew on pieces of cut screen and with plastic needles and yarn. They were successful at it and learned the necessary hand eye skills to move in the using and managing of ‘real materials’. It was a successful prerequisite. I don’t know if the idea was mine or if someone taught me…I’m sure it has been done before, so I won’t take credit that bit of preschool curriculum.
I had great teachers as a child…my parents, my grandparents, friends-even my enemies. I was able to see what was woven in my spirit a teacher, friend and sister. I look at it with great appreciation for who I am now.
Sewing is an activity I love to have in my classroom.
At the end of the year the children have usually made a classroom tapestry…one gorgeous collage of individual threads all meeting together in a color splash community of art. At the end of the year the families all step back and marvel at its beauty.
I marvel through the process, though-How we all work together, agree on the colors, decide which way the thread goes….It’s a VERY big deal to kids…
And I agree whole heartedly with them, I must say.
But looking at their hard work pinned up on the all with four feeble thumb tacks…..well, it got me thinking….
The fine needlework of all of us….
It is-
A VERY
Big
Deal.

The Thank You Song

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”
~G.K. Chesterton

“If a fellow isn't thankful for what he's got, he isn't likely to be thankful for what he's going to get.”
~Frank A. Clark

Children are so precious…words just can’t tell you how my heart goes out to them and their families. I know the choices I have made within the classroom setting will impact the future generations. I am not one to cut corners, take the easy route…I take education seriously, in the sense that I am about focus. Am I perfect?…PPPPht, no…but I sure try.
What good is learning and creativity without depth?
Depth=Volume /(length x width).
A child can develop creatively “long”, and not be wide enough.
A child can be very “wide” in their learning but, still- not be long enough…something is lacking.
I added an ingredient to my preschool curriculum long ago that I found can only work through constant repetition. It must be put in the forefront of their mind, and mine…sometimes; I suppose…it’s easy to forget. Something so very needful-is so easy to forget…what is it?
Thankfulness.
That missing piece gives us volume...and gratitude mixed with joy gives us depth.
Here is a song we sing before snacks and lunch-
It’s to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

The Thank You Song

Thanks for the snack (Lunch) I like it fine,
Thanks for the drink it’s a favorite of mine.
Thanks for the things we share today,
Thanks for the wonderful chance to play.

“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.”
~Eric Hoffer,

The Dance of the “NO”

“Parents are not interested in justice; they're interested in peace and quiet.”
~Bill Cosby

Lisa arrived a bit late with Jessica and the baby brother Jack-Jack in tow. It was such a peaceful morning that day. The children were water coloring, building with foam blocks and play quietly with flannel numbers. Just than a slamming door broke the silence.
“So sorry we’re late Ms. Barbra. You wouldn’t believe the morning we have had…”
“Waaaaa-HHHH! Mama!”
“Oh good heavens what is it now!”
“Mommy, I will tell you!” Jessica takes the corner around the sand table like an ambulance on four bald tires. “Jack-Jack wants the car but it says, NOT-FOR-CHILDREN-UNDER-THREE”
In the meantime Jack-Jack was hollering….I mean- HOLLERING. Holy Toledo! He was also running in place…..yeah….ever see ‘Flash Dance’? If we had a bucket of water and the theme song, She’s a Maniac, we could sell tickets.
I have seen that dance before actually- I call it, ‘The Dance of the “NO”. It’s a tantrum…a nasty one, too.
Jennifer Beals made it look cool…when kids do it, it’s...well, not so cool... (must be the leg warmers?).
“Give it to him, Jessica.”
“..But I had it first.”
“Give it, give it, give it to him- he is screaming!”
Jessica obediently handed the car to her brother and immediately the screaming ceased.
“Aaaaaah…What’s that?” Lisa said taking in a deep breath looking at me.
“What’s wha…” I began.
“Shhhhhhhh!” She hushed me.
“That’s silence…..isn’t it? Yes…..yes….I think it is…”

Thought for the Day- What do you wish to inspire today?

"One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested."
~ E. M. Forster

I had a color mixing given to me to do with the children. It called for lots of teacher direction...not my style...ahem. I revised it. The children did it on their own- mixing fabulous colors in ice cube trays with eyes droppers,small brushes and cups. They loved it...
"Let's do it again!"
I asked them how we could continue it. They decided to continue it outside, in the water table in the ice cube trays.
They learned so much more on their own and from one another.
The sense of community it created, the friendships....not to mention the 'colors' that came out in their own personalities.