Caution: May Contain Nuts

“Above all else: go out with a sense of humor. It is needed armor. Joy in one's heart and some laughter on one's lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life.”
~Hugh Sidey

I cried a lot when I was I kid. I cried so much I used to give myself a time limit and then simply decide to be cheerful after that……why did I cry…funny you should ask…I don’t much remember now- once I decided to be cheerful it didn’t much matter after that. Sunshine always seems to chase away the rain.
I was just a really emotional kid…quite, silent. I must have had a noisy silence about me because everyone seemed to notice me no matter how quiet I tried to be. You probably have seen these kids…
I really love to laugh. I suppose that is why I love being around children….
Perhaps that’s why humor works so well on people…
One little girl asked me, “Ms Barbra?”
“Yes?”
“You’re not THAT crazy, huh?”
“No. Not last time I checked.”

The Honorable Mention: Another Nation

"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday."
~ Don Marquis

It’s so easy to put things off when you’re working with kids. It’s even easier doing things yourself rather than having kids do it. I’m talking about ‘Clean Up Time’.
Even coming back from winter breaks or vacations….kids get ‘Clean Up Time Amnesia’. Comes with the territory, people- I stopped getting upset and frustrated long ago….I simply removed many of the materials in their environment that had lots of little parts…removed lots of 'clutter' they were normally good about cleaning up. Put in some new fresh play dough, moved around some furniture…you know, till we eased back into our routine.
I often think of an old Chinese Proverb when I feel like throwing in the proverbial towel, "He who stands still in life walks backwards". I got that out of a fortune cookie when I was ten...I remember it to this day.
As For Don Marquis, he has a good point. Any form of 'art' is in the eye of the beholder...some art is messy, confused and muddled. People that come from the nation of ‘Procrastination’(I suppose we all have at one time or another).....well, let's just say, we can choose to live someplace else.

*Thanks to my friend Andrea Wright for this quote.

The Honorable Mention: Get Growing

 "If a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it."
~Edgar Watson Howe

Ever notice how children move into action when someone is in trouble? Babies are some of the most empathetic 'little people' on earth…they will cry with you. Kids hug you; make you 'a present'-usually covered in glue or some other sticky substance-but the message always comes across.
A million hallmark cards couldn’t beat one handmade card from a child’s heart.
It’s true…what my mom told me.
“That from the heart reaches the heart.”
Okay…so we can’t all go back to physically being a kid….but I know we can get that heart back.
I believe the human soul can mature…but really, it has no age.
So I guess it’s my turn now….to implement what the kids have been teaching me.
To get growing and put love into action….

Even Stephens

 "I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.”
~ Lao-Tzu

It seems like the quote is a contradiction.
I suppose it depends on how you look at it….where you have been and where you perceive you are going.
I finished eating myself sideways with holiday leftovers sitting in a comfy chair with a family that loves me. I have no lack for anything….
As far as teaching goes I learned more than I was taught, I received more than I gave, and I was loved more than I loved…
I wonder how I could ever make up the difference for all the blessings I have received this year. I could never come close to even….but then I realized….no one ever asked me to make it even.
For that, I am thankful.
Thank you…and
I love you, too.

Going Green in the Art Area in Early Childhood Education

 “Good heavens, of what uncostly material is our earthly happiness composed... if we only knew it. What incomes have we not had from a flower, and how unfailing are the dividends of the seasons.”
~James Russell Lowell

Most teachers are “green” in their classrooms and don’t even know it. I always was…I taught many ideas I originally learned from my parents. My mom always found ways to keep me busy…I was a very artsy kid-I loved to draw color and do collages. We had no money to do any of it…but she always supplied the goods. If you want some excellent collage material that will last you the rest of the school year-now is the time to get it. Wrapping paper…yes, wrapping paper…
It’s better if it is all not too season oriented, but it really doesn’t matter. The brighter, bolder the colors the better-this time of year…while everyone is tearing through it with drunken abandon, simply select your samples and set them aside.
Here are some ideas of what you can do with it:

*Shred some for projects
*Uses some patterned pieces for cutting with the children
*Have some die cut into shapes for gluing
*Use some for the kids to do a tearing collage
*Colored cellophane is great, too-don’t forget to save that!
*Have a ‘Collage Box’ in the art area and steadily add to it as it gets low
Bows, ribbons and bits of card board from the boxes are also a great hit.
Remember-you heard it hear first!

The Honorable Mention: Black Junkie Stuff in the Corner

 “My skin is kind of sort of brownish pinkish yellowish white. My eyes are grayish bluish green, but I'm told they look orange in the night. My hair is reddish blondish brown, but its silver when it’s wet, and all the colors I am inside have not been invented yet.”
~Shel Silverstein

We were doing crayon picture portraits of the child directly in front of us as an art project. Liam was drawing me as I drew him. He proudly showed me his masterpiece after he finished.
“Look teacher, I really did your eyes…all four of them.” He boasted.

“Four?” (Goodness gravy-I thought, either Liam needs his eyes checked or we need to work on our numbers….or, those bags under my eyes are…)
“Ms Barbra? I’m talking to you...”
“Oh-yes, Liam…tell me about my eyes.” I giggled.
“Weeeeee-lll,” Liam began, “you have brown in them-so I put brown. You have little gold flakes in the middle, so I put that. When you laugh your eyes shine with silvery stars-so I put that in there…tee-hee”
“Liam, that is so creative….I..” I began.
“Oh, yeah!” Liam interrupted, “And you have this black junkie stuff in the corner of your eye. My mom gets it sometimes- but I put that in there, too.”
“Oh, my eyeliner…......so, that makes all four of my eyes, huh?”
“Yeppers.”
“Thanks, Liam.”
“Your welcome, Ms. Barbra.”
As Liam skipped away with my portrait I went in the bathroom and washed my face.

T-A-N-K-S!

“A loyal friend laughs at your jokes when they're not so good, and sympathizes with your problems when they're not so bad.”
~Arnold H. Glasgow

During class time I noticed Marko holding a book and walking around with it- making children laugh…..hmmm-m? Not so unusual. Since I was with another child- I would check on him in a minute. Before I could get to him a child entered to room crying with his mother. Off I went to assist and I saw Marko coming out of the corner of my eye- this time he had a whole group of children behind him.
“Tell him, Marko..tell him the joke!” The children coaxed.
Marko handed the book to the crying boy who stopped for a moment to look at it.
“Excuse me, my dear man…take this book.” Marko said in some kind of fake deep English accent.
Curious by now, he stopped crying and took the book.
“We’ll, what does it say, my dear man?”
“Um,” he sniffed; he read the bold word on the front cover. T-A-N-K-S, “it says, tanks.” He whispered.
“Say that a little louder, dear man.” Marko smiled, puffing his chest out.
“Tanks.” He said rubbing his eyes.
“Can’t heaaaar yoooou.” Marko giggled with the rest of the children.
“TANKS!” He shouted and laughed.
“Well, you’re welcome-but you don’t have to yell!”

A Beautiful Discovery

"The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart."
~Elisabeth Foley

How often do we encourage friendships in our kids? Sure, it's really easy to separate everyone during an argument or a fight...or go in different corners...that is, till the next round.
But what about talking it out...I mean, finding out what kids are really about?
Maybe, just maybe...if it starts with us.....it may occur to start with them.

The Crayola Bomb

"Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A beauty bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air - explode softly - and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth - boxes of Crayolas. And we wouldn't go cheap, either - not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination."
~Robert Fulghum

Anything but Small

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”

~M. Kathleen Casey

I had the honor of working with a little girl with Spinal Bifida. At the time I was a director of an after school program and she came in with the school aged kids after school.
Sometimes the kids would turn their noses up at the healthy snacks the teacher’s provided. I would hear ‘Winnie’ stand up for the teachers explanations while I was at my desk.
“Yeah, guys…come on, even the doctors tell me I have to eat right. If you ever have as many surgeries as I do-you will heal faster and feel better.”
All the kids liked her. Winnie walked with crutches and frequently had pins put in her hip. She was small in stature...petite. Her favorite shirt was pink and had pink rhinestones encrusted on the front saying, SMALL BUT MIGHTY. It’s difficult for me to write about it now…but all I really remember about her was her strength and courage. She was always smiling, laughing and quick to cheer someone up. She once told me that the surgeries she went though were hard on her parents…
“I ask them if they are going to be okay.”
Why are children like Winnie called, ‘special needs’? The ‘special’ part I understand….so selfless and courageous.
I stub my toe you would think I have squirrels juggling chainsaws in my head for those few seconds….did we get it wrong? I mean…who really are the ‘special needs’ people?

Promoting Friendships Through Modeling in Early Childhood Education

“What is a friend? A single soul 

dwelling in two bodies.”

~Aristotle

Teaching friendship to children has never been a 1,2,3, process for me. I have come to realize if I am not a good friend-how can I be a good example to anyone….anywhere. At first I thought friendship took too much sacrificing of my time and energy…then I realized what I thought was ‘sacrificing’ wasn’t sacrificing at all. I did it because I chose to. There was a deeper level of love there, I suppose.
In early childhood education we call this teaching 'modeling', kind of fancy talk for watching our own behavior because the kids are watching...But really we should all be in this mode.  
Something happens to the heart when you let those you love inside and can freely give back.
We do health checks each morning on the children. We make sure they are healthy…their eyes, nose, and ears are clear….they know the drill.
I like to take it a step further… while we're at it-I do heart checks. I ask them how their morning is, how they feel…It makes all the difference if they will be needing me as a ‘friend’ to talk to that morning or as a teacher.
I don’t always know what the kids are thinking…I don’t pretend to. But I know that if you don’t know how to be a friend in this life-you are off to a really tough start.

The Honorable Mention: The Early Childhood Education Blog

“Millions and millions of years would still not give me half enough time to describe that tiny instant of all eternity when you put your arms around me and I put my arms around you.”
~Jacques Prévert

“Ms Barbra?”
“Yes?”
“Alex coughed his amoeba’s on me and now’d I’m sick.”
“I’m sorry to here that, Lisa. What’s wrong?”
“I have H1MTV.”
“What was that, my friend?”
“I said- I have H1MTV.”
Alex walked over, “Can we give you a hug?”
“Hmmm…. would you like a hug?” I offered.
“Yes, please.” Lisa smiled.

I really love being in early childhood education....

The Honorable Mention:The Preschool Teachers Journal

“Childhood is that wonderful time of life when all you need to do to lose weight is take a bath.”

~ Anonymous

Both boys had just finished taking measurements at the growth chart when there mother’s came in. They had no idea what the boy were talking about when they came in on the conversation.
“My mom is bigger than your mom.”
“My Mommy is bigger than your mommy.”
“My mom is bigger.”
“My mommy is bigger.”
The moms had overheard the conversation coming to pick up the boys from down the hall. They had both been working out together at the gym and were still in they work out clothes.
“Oh goody, you’re here, mom! I think you big, but David says his mommy is bigger. Can we measure you?”
As the boys led them to the wall labeled, “GROWTH CHART”. The women looked at one another…
“Yes, yes of course, sweeties…I’ll go first!” they giggled.

You've Got a Friend in Me

“A friend comes in when the whole world has gone out.”

~Grace Pulpit

If you're alone, I'll hold your hand. If you want to cry, I'll be your shoulder. If you want a hug, I'll be your arms. If you need joy, I'll be your smile. But anytime you need a friend, I'll be there.

How Old Are You?

“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.”
~Mark Twain

“Ms. Barbra?”
“Yes?”
“When you were a little girl did a dinosaur ever chase you home?”
I laughed. I entertained the children’s curious questions about my age.
But, then I wondered…how old would I be if I didn’t know how old I was?
How old would you be?

Homing In

 "A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary."

~Thomas Carruthers

“That kid’s nose is runny. I went-ed and got-ed him a tissue”
“Why thank you, Lilly, that was very thoughtful of you.” I smiled.
“You don’t have to ask…”
“Ask what?” I questioned.
“What my mommy asks, Ms Barbra. Me. At home, you know, if I washed-ed my hands.”
“How did you know I was going to ask that next?”
“I smart like that.”

Assisting Children Impliment Conflict Resolution Techniques in Early Childhood Education

 “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.
I knew what this was, another conflict that needed resolving with his young friend, Mikey. Isn't this what comes with early childhood education? There was no them to recall any acronyms...I had to be present.
“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.

The Honorable Mention: Maturing As a PreschoolTeacher

 “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

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 Dance of the “NO”

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’? 
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.” Her mom said flatly.
“..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.

A Fragile Piece of Blu

“No matter how old a mother is, she watches her middle-aged children for signs of improvement.”
~Florida Scott-Maxwell

I had met some of the parents during pick up time after school. I make sure to give them charming anecdotes about their kids…then…I noticed something strange about ‘Stacy’s’ dad, Corbin. He would reach into his wallet at times…sniff something…and go about his merry way. E-GADS! Drugs? Goodness-gravy…how could I be sure? I mean the man was always neat as a pin and never showed any sign of anything. I went to my director and asked her how to go about the situation.
My director was on good terms with the family…the dad actually went to the school when he was a boy. The next day I was summoned in the director’s office with the dad, my director, and Nana…Corbin’s mother. Everyone was smiling and laughing.
I sat down beside Corbin.
“Oh! So glad you’re here Ms. Barbra, Corbin has something to show you-hee-hee” Giggled my director.
“Yes, what’s left of it…” Nana laughed, slapping her knee.
Out of his wallet, Corbin pulled out a small square of robin’s egg blue fabric. It was badly tattered around the edges…it looked like a portion of a child’s blanket.
I looked…squinted at it, and looked at everyone….(was this a joke?)
Nana socked Corbin in the arm. “Well, tell her its name…you’re a grown man, and this is a fine mess you’ve gotten us in-You’re lucky she didn’t call the cops on ya!”
Corbin blushed, “Uh…yeah…Ms Barbra, this is, ‘BLU’.”
“Excuse me?”
“Blu…what’s left of my old blanket I had as a kid…”
Nana interrupted, “He never could let go of the darn thing-had it since he was three! Didn’t even want me to wash it way back then …AND this is where it has led us. He likes to give it a sniff every now and then…”
“Ma!” Corbin said putting his hand to his forehead.
I bit my lip……..HARD.
“Nana taught here at this school, you know.” My director whispered to me as their conversation continued.
“…Oh anyway, love you, Corbie… I’m glad you don’t take the drugs.”
“I love you, too, Ma…and it’s, ‘DO’ drugs, Ma.”
“…Huh? Well how would a nice boy like you know that?!”

Bawl on a String

“When someone asked Abe Lincoln, after he had been elected president, what he was going to do about all his enemies, he replied,
“I am going to destroy them. I am going to make them my friends.”

There was a ‘pincher’ in a class near mine. He targeted a ‘screamer’. It got to the point where the ‘pincher’ merely laid a finger on the ‘screamer’ and fabulous ballet of nurses and faculty would come running from everywhere to see what “hatchet murder” was taking place. Well, the powers that be decided that these two children move up together in my class. I worked closely with the parents, faculty, and spoke regularly to both the children. There would be no added attention to the situation till I got to the bottom of what was REALLY going on.
It turns out…if you hadn’t guessed already, these two had socialization issues. They were naturally drawn to each other but, didn’t know how to engage socially other than…well, pinching and screaming…and yes, they were annoying each other…and everyone else in their, “getting-to-know-you-phase”. Thankfully, we had a floater I could use that would shadowed the boys through their friendship process. They cried regularly, were offended on a whim, and need lots of teacher guidance when problem solving.
It all took time… but the boys eventually understood how to be friends with each other and with others.
I don’t believe I have ever seen a child look at another as ‘an enemy’. Little kids will argue or even fight…but ten seconds later they are playing together….happily. As a parent or teacher we can use that-there are teachable moments for children when they are receptive….teachable moments for us ‘big people’,too…if we are REALLY paying attention.