Helpful Hands / Hurting Hands
Today we talked about our hands. We read two books about hands. One book was called ” Hands are not for Hitting.” The other book was simply called ” My Hands.” We use the first book as a social interactions helper in our classroom. When a friend is having a hard time controlling impulses to push or hit in addition to conscious discipline we may sit and read through the book. The book called ” My Hands ” actually talked about the parts of the hand and named the fingers and the palm. We talked about how our hands have bones and the skin covers them to protect them. We looked at our hands and found out they are not all the same. Some hands are smaller and some are larger. Some hands are very white and some hands are dark . All our hands had five fingers and a thumb, pointer finger , middle finger, ring finger and a pinky. We made a book also called ” My Hands Can….” I traced each child’s hand and they told me what their hands can do and then decorated their hand print. We read that book also in circle time. The children always love the classroom books we make . We will bind the book and put in our library to read all year.
While we were at the table with writing I did another part of the Dial 3 assessment that included writing. We are chopping away at that assessment process day by day but still are not finished.
Another great moment today ! One of our friends was having a problem at lunch. He was upset and wanted more lunch but was not willing to try the things on his plate. As he got upset one of his friends got up and said , ” I can help him.” He went over and started doing the red balloon. The other children at the table joined in. BAM ! These kiddos are getting so good that Randy , Dallas and I wont even be needed at some point.
I had a parent / teacher epiphany today. Probably one of the main strengths of our classroom is our consistency. If we say no, we mean no. As the children settle in our preschool family one of the things we see is that when given direction they ” test ” us a little to see if we really mean it. Ex. The bell rang it is time to put toys away. If a child continues to play we remind them. ” Oh you forgot the bell means it is time to clean up. Put the blocks away. ” There is no excuse. They are given ten and five minute warnings that play time is almost over. Again, if we say no, we mean no. Our room is set up for success so we dont have to say no a lot. At home we know it is hard. We know that sometimes it isnt worth the fight. I want to challenge you to do something. When your child asks you something or you are about to tell them to do something ( or not to do something ) STOP and ask yourself if it is important. Are you saying yes or no for a reason and is it important enough to stick to your guns. If it is something that if they cry or kick and scream and you give in to their request then most likely your conviction wasnt as strong as you thought it was. Giving in sends mixed messages. Kids LOVE routine and knowing that to expect. Consistency is key in our routines. I challenge each of you to hop on our consistency band wagon and guard how many times you say no and give in. When you give in to temper tantrums they expect us to give in also.