As I take pictures all day I dont always have in mind what I am taking them for. Sometimes it is for an assessment piece. Other times it is to showcase new activities or to highlight a special part of our day. Today , as I uploaded all the pictures all that kept coming to mind is ” family.” I love how our little group has bonded into a family to take care of each other and treat each other with respect. Ty sometimes needs help accomplishing tasks and so many times his friends jump right in there to help him. ( Mastering the IPAD is NOT a task he needs help on. He is a PRO at anything tech related !) It warms my heart to see the kids gather around Ty to give him a hug. Our year started off a little rocky as we all learned new routines and new ways to interact with others. One day when Ty was having a rough day Kat looked at me and said ” I think he just needs a hug.” Dont we all at some point ? I love how the kids love Ty.
Look at the interactions in this photo. Dinner time at these houses must be VERY busy. One HUGE family !
Ever once in a while Leo ( Alinas dad ) comes in and just hangs out for a couple hours. I looked today and he was UNDER the art center which was built for kiddos three foot high. He looked like a little ( big ) elf hanging out but he pretty much plays whatever the kids want to play. We love Leo and are so happy he is part of our preschool family.
Lilly broke her arm over the weekend. She has a temporary cast on right now and will get a hard cast on Friday. We have had to help her wash her hands today. I looked at one point and saw she was struggling with eating . She broke her right wrist and that is the hand she writes with … and eats with . One of her sweet friends went over to her and helped her eat by filling her spoon for her. Family….
Building community in a classroom is important.
From Suite 101 –
According to Adler, when children feel useful to a group, they have fewer reasons to misbehave in the group setting. Social interest improves behavior and teaches children how to work with others. On the other hand, pampering children creates more reasons for children to misbehave. When adults pamper children, adults create an environment where children learn mostly how to receive and not how to give to others.
Building strong feelings of community isn’t something teachers can tell children. Instead children best learn about social interest through experiences that allow children to contribute to others in the classroom. When children are allowed to contribute to others in a classroom, then children will have more opportunities to experience and learn the skills of helping, sharing, cooperation, compromise, and encouragement.
I think we all want our kids to grow up feeling the need to contribute to society in a good way.
Your kiddos are off to a great start !
Read more at Suite101: Community Feeling in the Preschool Classroom | Suite101 http://suite101.com/article/community-feeling-in-the-preschool-classroom-a121568#ixzz2ElwAoEsd
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