The Teacher's Child Like Heart

I have often wondered what it is that keeps teachers going through the tough times. The sacrifices we make for the greater good are so light compared to the hope of a child's enthusiasm and excitement toward learning.
I have never really asked anyone but I assumed its the child like qualities we have kept within  ourselves.
The ability to see through the eyes of children still comes from the heart.
Here are just a few attributes I have found teachers have toward the ability to keep giving with a smile.

Attributes of a Teachers Child Like Heart:

Child Like Gullibility: The ability to read a book for the twenty seventh time and still be able to express surprise at the ending.

Child Like Imagination: The ability to lose yourself in imagination with others while delighting in what could be possible.

Child Like Wonder: The ability to withhold all the answers you know and understand while encouraging wonder and conversation toward what seems magical.

Child Like Demeanor: Maintaining a child like heart without being childish. Always being inclined to see 'fun' in every opportunity.

Child Like in Friendship: Quick to forgive and slow to remember faults.

Child Like Thinking: Everything is possible and impossible is nothing! Especially after gram crackers, milk, and a nice long nap.

Share with us the attributes you know about....

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking, Teacher

When you thought I wasn’t looking, you displayed my first report, and I wanted to do another.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, you fed a stray cat, and I thought it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, you gave me a sticker, and I knew that little things were special things.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, you put your arm around me, and I felt loved.

When you thought I wasn’t looking I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things hurt--but that it’s all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, you smiled, and it made me want to look that pretty too.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, you cared, and I wanted to be everything I could be.

When you thought I wasn’t looking--I looked...and wanted to say thanks for all those things you did when you thought I wasn’t looking. 

By Mary Rita Schilke Korzan,"WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN’T LOOKING"

Inspirational Poetry for the Preschool Teacher

A Teacher for All Seasons 

 

A teacher is like Spring,
Who nurtures new green sprouts,
Encourages and leads them,
Whenever they have doubts.

A teacher is like Summer,
Whose sunny temperament
Makes studying a pleasure,
Preventing discontent. 

A teacher is like Fall,
With methods crisp and clear,
Lessons of bright colors
And a happy atmosphere. 

A teacher is like Winter,
While it’s snowing hard outside,
Keeping students comfortable,
As a warm and helpful guide.  

Teacher, you do all these things,
With a pleasant attitude;
You’re a teacher for all seasons,
And you have my gratitude! By Joanna Fuchs

Teachers Make a Difference

Yes.
Just in case you haven't been reminded lately, you do make a difference.
Thanks for being a teacher.



Kids and Rainy Days

Make no mistake.
Never simply ask your children what they would like to do on a rainy day.
We can almost guarantee that what they feel like doing,
you won't feel like managing.

Unless........
You really aren't in it for the money.

Teacher Burn Out

"Part of a teacher's job is to burn brightly without burning out."

I was once asked how I avoided teacher burn out all these years. The answer came quite quickly.
No.
It is nothing anyone taught me in college or I learned at a lecture.
It's something that happened over years of commitment....
But I believe the love that developed over time eventually had it's way with my heart.

A Preschool Teacher's Job

Part of our job is to help all our children be a product of their own inspiration.

Getting Messy in The Preschool Classroom

Is 'messy' okay in your classroom?

Is it okay to be messy in preschool? More and more preschools are eliminating sandboxes and creating policies that save on clothing, carpets, and the overall tidy look of a classroom.
Is what's good for classroom aesthetics really good for preschoolers?
Why or why not?

Quotes About Our Childhood

Childhood is the most beautiful of all life's seasons.

 There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in. 
~Graham Greene, The Power and the Glory

The greatest poem ever known
Is one all poets have outgrown:
The poetry, innate, untold,
Of being only four years old.
~Christopher Morley, To a Child

When you finally go back to your old hometown, you find it wasn't the old home you missed but your childhood.
~Sam Ewing

Old age lives minutes slowly, hours quickly; childhood chews hours and swallows minutes. 
~Malcolm de Chazal

In childhood, we press our nose to the pane, looking out.  In memories of childhood, we press our nose to the pane, looking in.
~Robert Brault

 If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older.
~Tom Stoppard

For more quotes we love, join the click!

About Children

About Education

Tips About School Clothes for Kids

Okay, so July is the biggest month for back to school clothing sales and then August is the next big sweep. Kids grow by leaps and bounds over the summer so school clothes are a must! Before you donate or toss out old clothing check with your child's school to see if their supply is low- you may even want to see it they have a used clothing swap!  Schools often have extra changes of clothing for all those mishaps and we really rely on donations from families. It may also be time to check those earthquake or disaster kit supplies for you home and school. This always need to be updated...I mean, hey, what good is your child's onesie now that he's five, right?
No better time than the present....

Just Do It

When I was a little girl I really wanted to be a ballerina. I was about 4 years old and I only had to see the Nut Cracker one time before I know that was it. My foundation was sent and I had wrapped re-bar around that notion.
My parents didn't have much money but made a way for me to go to ballet lessons. I was very small for my age and my sister joked that my tutu was more or less a one-one. I worked really hard but my teacher finally confided that I would be too small to ever really dance.
I was heartbroken.
My parents sat down with me and told me that whatever I had a mind to do. Just do it. Don't listen to what anyone has to say. That conversation really changed my life. I decided later that I wasn't going to pursue ballet about a year later. The Olympics came on and I saw the gymnasts. That was it again!
I am glad my family really supported me through my hundreds of career ideas. I never would have known what to do unless I gave it my all.

What dreams did you have as a kid?

How to Make Homemade Ice Cream

Translation: Dear Mom and Dad, I am very very angry. I would really like to ask you both for help but I don't know how. I feel stuck. Do you think you could come talk to me tonight before you go to sleep? I think that would make me feel much better.

We suggest talking it over with a nice bowl of homemade ice cream!

How to Make Homemade Ice Cream With Kids:

•2 coffee cans with resealable lids, one large can and one small.
•5 cups ice
•1 cup rock salt
•1 pint half and half
•½ cup sugar
•2 tsp vanilla
•Instant pudding mix or frozen fruit (optional)
Kids can then stir the mixture until the sugar dissolves and close the can. You will probably want to seal the lid with duct tape for added security.

Now, kids can place the small can inside the larger can and surround it with ice and rock salt. Once adults seal the lid on the larger can, kids are ready to make some ice-cream.
Kids will need to keep that can moving, but with all their energy, this shouldn’t be a problem. They can sit roll the can back and forth to eachother, kick, or shake their ice-cream maker to keep the recipe swirling.
You can set a timer for 15-20 minutes. When the timer goes off, kids can open the cans to check the ice-cream’s texture.
Adults or kids will need to stir the coldest ice cream on the sides together with that in the middle. If the concoction needs a little more firming up, kids can add a new batch of ice and salt and try ten minutes more.

It's a great way to bring a smile to anyone's face!

Going Fast

I was thinking....
Being in early childhood education is a big responsibility. Children tend to learn what they live. In a world of fast food, instant mashed potatoes and canned curriculum...
For goodness, sake we have lemonade made from artificial lemons and furniture polish made from real lemons. Well, I said all that to say it is not only important for us grown folks to take time and smell the roses but our kids, too.
Going fast and getting everything instantly isn't always such a good thing.
My mom always said it's good for the soul when you sit and wait for something that's coming slow...

Changing a Child's Life

Children are one third of our population and all of our future. 
~Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health, 1981

Every so often we get to see what the majority of children go though in their own lives. Working in various environments and socioeconomic settings has really opened our eyes to the importance of paying attention to our families as well as young children. Getting the right support and skills needed for a family as well as a child is a forefront for success skills for later in life.

The Ounce of Prevention

"Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see."

~Neil Postman, The Disappearance of Childhood (introduction), 1982

 Senator Obama spoke in at the Ounce of Prevention Fund's Spring Luncheon. He acknowledged programs such as these among others for for their innovation and proving at risk children can achieve success. Years later we are seeing that people are truly listening and what we knew to be possible now is coming with a plan.

Creating an Environment for Kindness with Kids

"No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure."
~Emma Goldman

I had once began to get a bit overwhelmed with teaching when I first started. There was a lot to do with little or no time to do it. But as I began working with the kids I realized they we capable of much more than I was giving them credit for. As I began to show them how to do simple tasks and give them responsibilities as a group or as individuals I noticed the children began to take initiative on their own. They gained confidence in solving their own problems, cleaning up messes, and seeking out help from their peers. I encouraged it, commended them for it, and cheered them on. It almost was like I wasn't necessary at times until I realized that wasn't really it. Creating an environment for preschoolers to work in such ways was part of my job. I believe whenever kids are given the opportunity to work together they will rise to the task. The patience, encouragement, and good examples I give them are always up to me....well, perhaps up to all of us.

Early Learning Research on Executive Function

 "If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all." 

~Pearl S. Buck

 Nobel Prize winner Dr. James Heckman spoke at Washington State University about recent early learning research. He is passionate about proving the importance of non-cognitive skills such as soft skills. Trying to track and measure executive functions as well as cognitive functions have been quite a task. Why? Improvements in these in these social-emotional skills show kids do better academically.
In Early Childhood Education, this is something we are all passionate about!

Building Skills in Early Childhood Education

" It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men." 

~Frederick Douglass

Fostering a positive environment in the child's home proves to be a great foundation for success.
Nobel laureate, James Heckman, discusses how skills build upon skills, which makes it easier to acquire skills for success in future years.  Improving the workforce of next century starts with us building these soft skills up in our children. Starting at the earliest ages birth to age five has been the main course of study.

Soft Skills Show Hard Effects

 Soft skills and Executive Functioning are some terms that have been thrown around a bit in early childhood research. Really it is about getting kids to socialize and develop in ways where they can be their absolute best. I have always tried to stay on board with what is going on with the latest research and development regarding our children. There is more of an emphasis on this now because of the times we are living in.
Being a well rounded in my own education to me means I how what is going on outside the bubble of my own classroom. As are curriculum it means staying cutting edge and working on getting out kids and families in grounded in the skills they will need for success in life.

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Time Outs in Early Childhood Education

Okay, I don't understand this time out thing. Maybe because I'm not very good at it. You see, I have been guilty of sending a child to the time out chair forgetting what the child did all together. 
Sigh.....
Since then I have changed the way I do things. I'll never forget the conversation I had with a child the day I realized time outs simply weren't for me. Here's how it went....

"Do you know why you have been sitting here in a time out, Tony?" I asked Tony as he squirmed in his.
"No, I forget."
(Uh-oh, now what was it....what was it....oh yes, I remember!)
"You hit Shannon." I reminded myself.
"No I didn't."
"Tony, we all saw you."
"I didn't hit him, he hitted me back."
"I see, so now that you've been sitting here for five minutes, did you think of something you could have done?"
"Yes."
"Tell me, please."
"If I hitted him sooner I would be out of time out by now."
(Okay, I clearly left this child waa-a-aay too long-sigh)

So, What works for you-please let us know...