In case your mom never told you...life is not fair nor is it easy. We all have to do things that are difficult, time consuming, and often mind numbingly frustrating. Whether you are three years old and trying to learn to put your shoes on by yourself or you are a professional adult who is having trouble adjusting to a new routine at work, worthwhile things take patience, commitment, and a little bit of elbow grease; and whether you're three or 30, it's immature to get upset and throw a tantrum if you can't do it perfectly from the get go.
This lesson is as important for your child as it is for you. It is infinitely more convenient for you to put your child's shoes on his feet for him. It is infinitely more important that he learn to do it for himself. Will it frustrate him? Absolutely. Does that mean he can lay in the floor screaming that he can't get his shoes on? Absolutely not. Worthwhile things are frequently frustrating, yet we must learn to channel our frustrations into a positive outcome - reaching our goal or achieving success. The value, the joy in learning to care for oneself is definitely an end that justifies the means, even if that means is a little bit of aggravation - for you and your child.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
The First Days of School
The first days of class are very fun for me as an administrator. I get to look on as tot and primary teachers deal with new crying, screaming, kicking children as well as confused and anxious parents or as elementary teachers welcome back children they missed over the summer months. I luxuriously watch as the tot and primary teachers strive to bring peace to the chaos that descends on their classrooms and lay the foundation for a productive year of learning and growing and the elementary teachers establish an atmosphere replete with challenges and benchmarks of progressive academics. At times, it's like watching educated, professional women try to herd cats; other times it's like watching wizards perform magic.
The tot environment can sometimes seem like it is on the verge of imploding during the first days. From the wails of the ones who have just separated from their primary caregiver for the first time ever to the babble of the returning older children who spent the last three months perfecting their verbalization skills, I often wonder if we shouldn't soundproof that room. But the great din of noise speaks volumes (no pun intended) about the complexity of that age, the lessons they are learning, and the many, many different aspects of development that they are in a sensitive period for including movement, language development, awareness of order and time, good manners, and much more.
In the primary classroom, whether the students are 3, 4, or 5 years old, they come into the environment wide-eyed, either with excitement or fear, taking in everything from the tenor of the teacher's face and voice to all the works available on the shelves. Looking innocent and inexperienced, they then proceed to wreak havoc...standing when asked to sit, running when asked to walk, touching when asked to listen. Much of the first lessons for new primary students center around learning to following the routines and procedures of the classroom and rising to the expectations set for them.
Contrasted with the noise and bedlam of the younger classrooms, you won't know lower and upper elementary students are present unless you take time to peak into the classroom to make sure they haven't left the building. Speaking just above a whisper, the teachers guide students in a familiar fashion to familiar activities. The challenge no longer lies in simply learning to function appropriately in the environment; that skill has hopefully long been mastered. No, the new charge lies in sparking the imagination, learning to reason, developing moral awareness, and establishing rules for self and peers as well as synthesizing new and difficult academic skills.
If you happen to catch a glimpse of one of our environments in progress this week, don't judge. It's harder than it looks to turn the first days of school into a school year that has meaning and productivity. And if you think about it - take time to encourage a teacher this week. They need it!
The tot environment can sometimes seem like it is on the verge of imploding during the first days. From the wails of the ones who have just separated from their primary caregiver for the first time ever to the babble of the returning older children who spent the last three months perfecting their verbalization skills, I often wonder if we shouldn't soundproof that room. But the great din of noise speaks volumes (no pun intended) about the complexity of that age, the lessons they are learning, and the many, many different aspects of development that they are in a sensitive period for including movement, language development, awareness of order and time, good manners, and much more.
In the primary classroom, whether the students are 3, 4, or 5 years old, they come into the environment wide-eyed, either with excitement or fear, taking in everything from the tenor of the teacher's face and voice to all the works available on the shelves. Looking innocent and inexperienced, they then proceed to wreak havoc...standing when asked to sit, running when asked to walk, touching when asked to listen. Much of the first lessons for new primary students center around learning to following the routines and procedures of the classroom and rising to the expectations set for them.
Contrasted with the noise and bedlam of the younger classrooms, you won't know lower and upper elementary students are present unless you take time to peak into the classroom to make sure they haven't left the building. Speaking just above a whisper, the teachers guide students in a familiar fashion to familiar activities. The challenge no longer lies in simply learning to function appropriately in the environment; that skill has hopefully long been mastered. No, the new charge lies in sparking the imagination, learning to reason, developing moral awareness, and establishing rules for self and peers as well as synthesizing new and difficult academic skills.
If you happen to catch a glimpse of one of our environments in progress this week, don't judge. It's harder than it looks to turn the first days of school into a school year that has meaning and productivity. And if you think about it - take time to encourage a teacher this week. They need it!
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