Just Hanging Out With the Gorilla
Just Hanging Out With the Gorilla
As I watched the kids play outside around noon today I had a blog rolling through my head. There are toys and loose parts all over our play ground. Yesterday as I cleaned the last remnants of Christmas off the porch ( don’t judge ) I found a string of pretty gold beads that were a garland. I handed them to the children closest to me and they quickly became their ” treasure.” Today the ” treasure ” was the coveted toy for the day. One of the little boys had it first and he ran. The others made of game of chasing the treasure. He would stop to rest and they would pile near where he was and rest as well and then when he decided to take off, they would all run behind screaming and shouting wildly. This game went on for quite a long time. It surprised me that none of the other child had tried to take the treasure . It was like some reality TV show . As I watched the game continue , eventually the little boy fell as he ran through the arbor. The golden treasure flew from his hands and you can only imagine the chaos that ensued. Seven children scampering to get the golden garland that captured everyones attention and one little boy crying in the middle. He wasnt hurt. Well.. not his knee or head or any other body part. He was scared and angry that the golden treasure was no longer in his possession. Two or three children came to me to tell me their friend was crying. I had a crucial decision to make. Do I go over and interfere or since everyone is safe do I wait and see what happens ? I waited… no, not because I am lazy or dont care. I waited because these very moments are the moments that preschool is made for. Learning to get along in a group environment with peers in good times AND bad is so very important. As I watched surprisingly no one grabbed the gold and ran. There was no yelling. Seven little friends huddled around wanting the gold so very bad but no one taking it and running . I WAS SHOCKED ! There are days I am pretty sure some of these kiddos would snatch a gummy sucker from a babies mouth if they wanted it . So, to see all this compassion and patience overwhelmed me. I was standing about 8 feet away watching it all and listening, though there really werent a lot of words. One little girl kept running to me expecting me to take over… to solve it. I assured her he would be ok. After it was all said and done, they all walked away and left the gold beads laying in the lap of the original boy. 🙂 Happy Dance. Yes, I could have roared in there and controlled that whole situation but the kids learned so much more by me not being a helicopter teacher and hovering over them and making decisions for them. I honestly felt like walking over and giving those children a cap and gown and saying ” you are done. You have arrived. You are ready for kindergarten. ” They could teach the world so much.. about relationships and how to get along and care for others. Sigh…. If only everyone remembered preschool.
Cutting practice is simple. Just throw some old magazine on the table with some scissors.
Ms Dallas hates waste. Remember we mixed black and white paint yesterday on a long sheet of paper to create gray. Today Ms Dallas made elephant ears with it.
We were asked to help with a new supplemental curriculum that a college and some associates are putting together. It is basically a farm to table type curriculum. It will let children explore different fresh foods found on a farm and includes a LOT of cooking experiences. We will be videoing some of our experiences that will be shared with other facilities that will use this curriculum. Thankfully, this WISE curriculum is a good fit for us. We already have made a commitment to serve fresh foods as often as possible so this will complement what we already do. The first step is with each food introduction a letter arrives for the children from the farm where it was grown. Our fist letter today was from Magnolia , Arkansas. We looked at a map of the United States and one of Arkansas. For kids, distance and words like country and state are a hard concept. Basically I told them a map is a ” picture ” of where we live. We decided that we could drive to Magnolia , Arkansas from Siloam Springs but it would be a long drive. Tomorrow our sweet potatoes will arrive !
Our unit this week is jungle animals. Our story today was ” Good Night Gorilla.” After reading the story Ms Dallas explained to the kids that Ms Debbie was dressing up as a gorilla for fun and that she will come in the room to visit and they can ask questions. When the fire dog visited there was a little fear so we prepared them big time for this . As I walked into the room ( and yes.. his teeth are a little scary.) only one little girl was frightened. Ms Dallas talked her through it and using our calm down techniques. She quickly calmed down and ended up taking a picture with me which never happened with the dog. The gorilla ( me ) answered questions like ” what kind of music do you listen to? ” ( 5 little monkeys of course and What does the fox say… ) to ” what do you eat?” ( Grains and fruits. We are not meat eaters. )
My job is the best.
( WordPress is not uploading my pics today I will throw them on FB . )