Awww, How Sweet!

So here I was yesterday, on my way to have lunch with one of my preschoolers from last year, and he asks me the sweetest question. He, his mom and gramma were to meet me at the girls house and then we were to drive my van to lunch. We had no idea where to go and then it was settled on Applebee's, I think I now have got them hooked. But first we had to find the place. I remembered it was a little ways toward the end of town, that there really wasnt anything around it much. We went down one street and I immediately recognized it as the way to the restaraunt. They weren't sure but drove a ways anyway, trusting my judgement...and sure enough I was right!
Once we were seated, Joseph wanted to sit by me. As we waited for our food, he would disappear under the table and interact with Alehe. I gave her a small bowlful of water with her collapsable bowl and Joseph insisted he give it to her. Coming in and going out, he even helped his mom push my chair, sometimes doing it himself.
I feel like I talked more to his mom and gramma than paid attention to him. But he didnt say much either. At one point in the conversation with mom and gramma, he pipes up and asks me if he could spend the night at my house. Awww, how sweet! His gramma mentioned to me that we ought to do this lunch thing at least once a month. We are talking about the four of us takign a day to go snowskiing at Discovery (its where they ski). I just have to find out where I can rent a ski and for how much. Not even five yet and he snowski's, WoW!

"This Is Ridiculous!"

A phrase uttered by a preschooler, frustrated at the fact that none of the other children he is playing with will listen to his instruction. The other teachers in the room were surprised at the fact he knew such a big word. Then there's me, trying so hard (and failing miserably) not to laugh. You have to hear it coming from this child in order to really appreciate it.

"Remember! Use Your Brain!"

This is what I was told by one of my preschoolers today. I cracked up laughing and told him "okay, I will". One of our learning centers today was making dinosaur rubbings. This little boy had made quite a few (they all thought it was great) and he had given one of them to me. I asked if he would put his name on it for me so that I would remember who it was from. He whined a bit and then told me to "Remember! Use your brain!" I had to share the comment with my supervisor and it got a laugh out of her too.

Kids say the darndest things.

On another note I was amazed at the creativity of one child at a learning center I had put together. Mine was a painting center, and children were to put drops of watercolor paint (it would flow the easiest) and then blow on the drops using a straw, watching how the paint would streak across their page in different directions. Every child tried it, and one child really took off with his art idea. He had a green watercolor paint and made trees. Then, with the brown watercolor paint, he made roots at the bottom of his trees.

I was singing worship songs all the way home, I was in such a good mood.

God Moment

If I make a difference in just one child's life. I will have succeeded.

I had a powerful moment just the other day, and I wasn't even in the Word. I am begginning to realize that teaching prechoolers is not all about knowing what-happens-when in a preschoolers life but about the interactions you have with them as well as the teachable moments. My biggest fear about teaching preschool is that one day a parent will ask me a question about how their child's development is going and I will not remember the answer from when I was in school. This past week, God has shown me just how he has prepared me for graduating in May. I have more faith that He already knows where I will be working too.

I was even worried about how I was spending a lot of time with one child (who is stuck to me like glue) and not so much time with the other six or so. I asked my supervisor about that one day and she told me not ot worry, that he needed it now. Okay, so I an trying really hard not to show favoritism in the class, but this one child is really making it difficult. He's just so darn cute!
It all started the first week of preschool. He pitched a royal coniption fit every time his mother tried to leave. It took her almost twenty minutes to get out the door! One day instead of sitting back and watching others try to handle it, I got the bright idea to do something about it. ( something I read on the internet just popped into my head). I went up to him and tried to get his mind off of his mom leaving by coaxing him into an activity with me. Anything to take his mind off mom leaving. But first I told him to think of all the fun stuff he can tell his mom he did while she ws gone. He bought it. So he and I went to the dramatic play area (our house) and just sat and talked about stuff. In fact, in the middle of our conversation he pipes up and says "Tweena, you know what? I'm not sad anymore!" A few minutes later and it's "Tweena, I think I wuv you." He said it to me again a few days ago.

For a few weeks he followe me aroudn like a lost puppy-dog. Then he started to drag me to the different centers with him. When he cried at circletime becuse his mom ws goign to leave, I told him I would sit behind him at circle. Now, he tells his mom she can go now. In fact, one day he got mad because she wasn't leaving fast enough. "Mo-o-o-m, you can g-o-o now!"
His mom and grandma love me to death. The first few weeks of school, his mom made a great comment about how I work with her son. My supervisor shared it with me later in the day. His mother even told me at one time he was asking her "Is today a Tryna day?" Just before Christmas break, Joseph's mom asked me for my address so that Joseph could sen dme something. A few weks later, when I returned home from break, I had a card from them waiting for me in the mail. He missed me. (the week of my birthday he even made me a card) I couldn't wait to let him know that I was arranging to come back into his class for Spring semester.

Working in preschools up to this point, I have tried to judge my successes by how well I am doing with the entire preschool class. These past few months God has shown me through this one child what a difference I can make even of it is one child at a time, and that makes me smile. I have learned more from this one child...

My heart breaks for this little boy. I learned Tuesday night at open house for practicum students that his father is not in his life but only on supervised visits. I was not told why for privacy purposes. I had been wondering since last semester why I never see his father and still why he has only mentioned him but maybe twice since I have known him. this child is only four years old! thankfully though, I have seen his uncle show up with his mom on occasion. At lest he does have some male influence. How good, I dont know. The way his grandma talks, I assume she or they are Christians. I find myself praying for them. I now understand why God placed me here, even if it is just for this one little boy.


I asked if I could take him home. His mom laughed.

I take that as a "no" :'(

Tweena, I Wuv You

Out of the mouths of babes I tell ya. The title of this entry is what a preschool boy had said to me whilst we were playing together in dramatic play, our "house". I try not to have favorites in the classroom, trying to give equal attention to all the children, but sometimes it is hard. Especailly with J. He latched on to me from day one. From there, it has become an amazing experience working with this particular child. I thought I would be learning from the preschool class as a whole, but this one child has managed to teach me so much. He probably doesn't even know it!
As I said before, he latched onto me from the very beginning. I showed up at Learning and Belonging preschool the second week of classes at the U. One of those days I was there, he bawled when it came time for his mother to leave. She stayed and played with him for fifteen, twenty minutes at one of the centers. When it came time for her to leave, she said goodbye and he clung to her and cried. I jumped in and tried to defuse the situation by inviting him to come play with me at one of the centers. "Just think of all the great things you will do that you can tell your mom about when she comes to pick you up"(Meanwhile, he's still wailing). His mother still standing by. I stayed near him the rest of the day. My supervisor even made sure she placed his set near where I would be sitting at our circle time. From that day on, I have been his favorite...and he mine. One day, my supervisor happened to mention a great comment this preschoolers mom made about the way I work with her son :)
Unfortunately, I am only in the preschool two days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. This young boy happens to come Monday thru Thursday (no school on Friday's). Every day when he is on his way to preschool, he asks his mom if it is a "Tryna Day", in other words, will I be there.
After out circle time we go to centers. Each center is a different activity that stresses the different developmental domains; cognitive, social/emotional,language, fine/gross motor, adaptive. He will often ask me to go with him to different centers. Even when it is time to go out for recess, he asks "Tweena, would you play with me?" (though most of his words start with the 'd' sound, typical for preschoolers)
He is slowly but surely relying less and less on my beign everywhere he is. I am starting to se him wander off and play with other children when we are playing together, occasionally he will ask me later to come play with him.

I have often told people that these internships are nothing but a tease. Only being in the preschool classroom for as short of a time as I am is starting to drive me crazy. I find myself longing to be in there full-time. Trouble is, wouldI be able to physically handle being around preschoolers thst much? Lord willing, I sure hope so.

I would rather be doing something I love and get paid very little for it than to be doing something that doesn't mean much but getting paid exhorbidant amounts of money for. I am doing what I love, and that is what matters most. I find myself thanking God often for this experience.

Having Fun with Preschoolers

While it normally takes me ten minutes for me to wheel from the LAB Preschool to my house, this past Tuesday it took me twenty-five! At the preschoolers recess, two boys raced me aroun the preschool track in the playground. You would think three laps around a tiny track wouldn't wear one out, but I was pooped!
I can tell when the weekend is drawing near as the children are a bit on the wild side. Yelling, screaming, running around. "But" you ask, "isn’t that a typical preschooler?" A day before the weekend… it’s ten times worse!
What had only been five days since being in the preschool felt like two weeks to me. My back was sore from sitting in my wheelchair all day the day before, but I wasn’t going to let it stop me from getting my fix of three, four and five-year-olds. One man’s work is another man’s play.
Started the day off by reminding children that we don’t pet Ally until the designated opportunities; when we first arrive at preschool, at recess, and again when children are getting ready to leave. Children even instruct their parents as they are dropped off at or picked up from preschool, telling them when it is okay or not okay to pet her. I love it! There are weak moments on occasion, mostly coming from the teachers!
My first duty during centers was playing with a child at the trough, asking him about the play lizards and snakes that were in the dirt, if he plays with dirt at home, what kinds of activities he does at home. He didn't have a sandbox at home. He could correctly identify the colors on the toy snakes and lizard (figured out later his favorite color is “geen” (green). He seemed to skip the letter R in words. Everything else he said to me I had a terrible time understanding. He faced away from me when he talked and mumbled. Maybe I’ll work with him on that next time.
I have never had so much fun playing with preschoolers on the playground as I did today. I spent the whole time racing a few boys around the track , and and came home in dire need of a nap! But it was all worth it. Of course they beat me every time, and had fun doing it too.
I was chewed out for a situation in which I knew nothing about nor had any control over. The teacher from another program got on my case for children being on the playground without a teacher. I was on my way up the ramp on the other side of the playground and her class was in my way so I waited for them to go by. I didn't see that there was no teacher watching our children. I tried not to let the situation get to me, but I just couldnt help thinking about it the rest of the day.
At the end of the day, I received a hug goodbye from a little girl. Two other children cried and I had to try hard to keep my composure, or I would start crying too! The girl didn’t want to go home yet, though she had the same play dough at home. I helped a little boy make a snowman out of play dough complete with googley-eyes, and toothpicks for arms (he insisted on two arms for one side and one for the other). He wanted to show his dad when he came to pick him up. I set it aside and assured him it would be safe. No sooner did I turn my back and it was gone! Another student teacher came by and cleaned everything up. I figured"oh well, he'll probably forget all about it (hopefully) when his dad shows up". NOPE! I felt horrible when his dad showed up and the boy started to cry! Hearing him cry made me want to cry too! (I learned in a class last year that this is called emotional contagion. Funny, I have been wondering about that for years!).

1st Day of Preschool

5 PM last night and I was ready for bed. I am wiped still, and we only had six children! I am used to twice that many. I arrived a few minutes early as to get a breifing on what as going to happen that day. I was familiar with a lot of things already as I was an intern at the LAB preschool once before.
12:45 and the children started to arrive.
The children took to seeing Alehe and I very well. We were both a hit. One little boy talked my ear off the moment he arrived. Every time I turned around, Ally was being petted by the same girl. She had some disability that I know I have seen before in another preschooler from a few years ago, so she didn't quite understand when you told her what to do, you had to guide her to each activity or guide her away from something she wanted to do but it wasn't time for. She did not speak at all, but squealed at the top of her lungs to show different emotions. How much she understood of what you said to her I do not know, but what a cutie! I can't wait to start working with more children who have disabilities.
I showed up at the preschool at 12:30pm, stoked at the idea that I was going to "play" with preschoolers. I don't consider it work really, I am having way too much fun for it to be work. I was all over the room, trying to keep my eye on children, trying to interact with them as much as possible; constantly trying to think of questions to ask them about what they are doing, what they like ot do, what they like to do at home, what their favorites were...so on and so forth.
One child begged me to push him on the swings and continued to do so two or three times. I kept having to refuse as I told him that my chair would not roll very well on the bark. I had to stay on the cement or the pavement. Oh how it disappointed me. I played catch with yet another boy. He had one of those paddles that had velcro, so the ball would stick. (Oh how pleases and thankyou's just melt your heart coming from a three-year-old!)
At the beginning of our circle-time I introduced Alehe and I and told the children when the proper time was to pet her. Of course I had children petting her all day long (even the teacher couldnt resist!)
The little squealer was fascinated by my wheelchair. She pushed my chair around the classroom a bit. I had to control how fast she pushed me 'cause I'm sure she would have gone ninety miles an hour or rammed me into tables and such.
I return yet again tomorrow, but I will be in the morning class for a few weeks, just until the children settle down a bit. My supervisor thought it was best that way. Why only a few weeks is because they really need the help in the afternoon. I was the only student teacher in the afternoon class. All other students didnt want afternoons.
Alehe did a great job at the preschool. She didn't seem annoyed at all that children were constantly in her face wanting to give her atttention. At one point she rolled onto her back for the infamous bellyrub.