Learning from Our Mistakes

"You can never learn less; you can only learn more. The reason I know so much is because I have made so many mistakes."

— Buckminster Fuller

When I was in first grade I was so nervous around my teacher. Sometimes she would make a mistake and the class would giggle. She would get furious...I mean like frothing at the mouth, furious. Her whole head would get really red, and sometimes she would hop around and yell at us. It was really hard not to laugh, then. I mean, we were 5. I would pinch my arm so I wouldn't laugh...but I never understood what the big deal was. Everyone makes mistakes, right? If you say, "Opps, I made a mistake." There. It's over...but she was putting a whole lot of mustard on it.

When I became a preschool teacher and became familiar with my class I remembered my first grade teacher. If there is one thing toddlers and preschoolers like it's slap stick humor. You know, Laural and Hardy, The Three Stooges type humor...it gets them laughing every time. Sometimes when I made a mistake I would magnify it for them in that way...exaggerate it. We would all laugh and have a good time. I noticed at times when they made a mistake they began to laugh at themselves, too. Humor comes with development....I look for ways to bring humor into the preschool curriculum. Laughter is good medicine.

Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. ~Victor Borge