Blowin' in the Wind

One of the topics I cover each year with my class is Wind and Air. This is fun, because this is a relatively abstract topic, especially to a 3 year old.

I start out the unit with the question, "What is wind?"

Some of the responses....

"It is outside"

"It makes it cold"

"You can break it" (this one made me chuckle....)

We then headed outside to see what clues we could seeto figure out whether or not there was wind. At first, there was no movement at all; typical on the day I want to observe wind there isn't a leaf stirring. I asked the class. "Can you see wind?" After the resounding "NO!" that was shouted, I asked, "Well, how will we know if it's windy if we can't see wind?"

This is when their minds started to to click. It is wonderful to watch them puzzle out the answers to things that we as adults take for granted. As a slight breeze started to move the leaves on the trees, the students began shouting their observations and ideas...

"Wind moves the leaves!"

"You can feel the wind on your face!"

"The wind moves my skirt!"

"The wind is moving my hair!"

"The wind makes the trees wave!"


From that moment on, my class became very aware of wind. Extremely windy days were awesome; we experimented with what things could stay put in wind, and what things could not (rocks never move, no matter how windy; feathers, however, move EVERYWHERE, which, by the way, is how birds fly). We talked about how wind could be cold and hot, how wind could make you cold if you were hot, or make you hot if you were cold (we do live in the desert...). We made kites from plastic shopping bags (re-use! A favorite term from my recycle unite) and wondered at how they filled with the wind and flew in the air.

One particularly windy day, we were walking back to the classroom from the restroom as a group, talking about how the wind was moving the dead leaves on the ground and blowing our hair into our eyes. Suddenly, Paul, with a brand new summer crew cut, pipes up...

"Mrs. Velarde, my hair must be super strong. Look! The wind isn't moving it at all!"

Paul was quite the toast of his friends that day, with his super strong hair.






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When Did I Get Wise?

The school year has ended. And it was a wonderful year. Every couple of years I have a class that is simply perfect. This was one of those years.

Why was it perfect? Maybe it was because I went back to school this year, and it was fun and exciting to test out my new theories and practices. Maybe it was because I knew the majority of my students since they were in utero, and therefore felt really connected to them. Maybe it was because we tried a new class format and it was an unqualified success. Who knows, but it was a great year.

This year, more so than in years past, the parents of my students looked to me more as a mentor as opposed to a peer. I am confused...when did that happen? I look at myself in the mirror, trying to figure out which wrinkle put me into the "Older and Wiser" and right out of the "Right There With You". I think it was this one on my forehead.

Parents start telling me about issues they are having with their kids at home, and expect me, the old and wise teacher, to have magical advice to make it all better. Yikes! That's a lot of pressure!

I look back to when my own children were in preschool. Their teachers were older than me, had older kids and had been teaching for years. I respected what they had to say and often sought
their advice. There advice and counseling was always along the lines of...enjoy your children...go with your gut...you know your child the best, do what you think is right...and, my favorite...they are three (or four, or five...).

I found these talks to be comforting and empowering. And I always took what these wise women said to heart, and found myself to be a better parent for having heeded what they said.

It is unnerving to find myself in that position of the older and wiser teacher; especially when I valued the input of the older and wiser teachers when my children were young. It is also unnerving to realize that my kids' preschool teachers were my age, in the same position I am now, and were simply offering advice they had learned from being parents themselves.

When my parents come to me, I offer the same nuggets that meant so much to me. And not because I don't have anything of my own to add, but because this advice is so true and right on target.

Enjoy your kids. Revel in this moment, right now. Because good or bad, your child will NEVER be this age again. Soak it all in, as much as you can, because even if they are driving you crazy, this issue too will be something you look back on fondly.

Always find the humor. Kids are funny and wonderful. Laugh at everything, because it is all great. And take lots of pictures. Because even though you are furious that your daughter colored with Sharpie all over the wall, and then all over herself, you will want to remember how darn cute she looked posing with her masterpiece.

This too shall pass. I remember when my son would not give up his diapers for anything. He was perfectly happy to sit in a disgusting diaper all day. I was about ready to start buying Depends, because he was getting too big for regular diapers. I was complaining about this to my daughter's preschool teacher, and she said, "Don't worry about it. He will get potty trained when he is ready. I have yet to meet a high schooler who wasn't potty trained." What great advice! The minute I quit stressing about it, my son started wearing underwear. And I was free to stress about the next issue - how to soothe my son's hurt feelings when he is told "You are not my friend."

Go with your gut. This is the best advice ever. You know your child better than anyone else. You know what is best, and you should always listen to what your gut is telling you - over what anyone else is saying.

Role of mentor? Still not comfortable with it. But when asked, I will give out advice designed to help you realize how totally awesome your little one is.

...going to apply my wrinkle cream....





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Meteorology in Preschool

This week we studied the sun. I always start out the week by asking a question pertaining to whatever we are studying. This week my question was, "What does the sun do?". Here are the the responses I got...

It gets into your eyes.

It burns your eyeballs so you have to wear sunglasses.

It follows you.

It makes our mouths hot.

Makes you stay inside.

It stays in the sky.

If you stay in the sun too long it could make you die.

It gets you sweaty.

It makes our eyes hot.

It stays yellow.

It makes the house shady.

It can dry us up.

It goes up and down.


During this week, we had a very rare cloudy day, so on a whim, I asked the kids, "What is a cloud?". And here are those responses...

They are made of fish.

They are white.

They are in the sky and fluffy.

I think if I could touch one, it would be hard.

If you look real hard, they sometimes can have a face.

They go under planes.

They are sometimes like stripes.

They are made of water, and when they get full they turn gray and then rain comes out. (This child obviously has studied the water cycle prior to coming to my class...).

They move in the sky.


It was a fun week. :0)




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Chasing Kittens

School has started, and it is just as fun as ever. I love getting to know a new bunch of kids, and then tracking how much they grow over the next ten months.

This year's class has a lot of kids I have known since they were in utero. I find it miraculous that a mere three years ago my students were tiny babies that I held in my arms and cooed over, and now I am expecting them to pour their own juice and go potty in the toilet. Me? I haven't changed at all in the past three years, other than maybe a few more wrinkles.

The first few weeks of school are always chaotic. It always takes me a few weeks to get the paperwork figured out (correct spellings of names, student files complete, the parent helper calendar filled out, etc.) and to get back into the daily routine. And if it is challenging for me, imagine what it must be like for these three-year-olds. While I struggle with student files, they are struggling with being left in a new place, with a new grown-up. And this grown-up has the audacity to tell them what to do.

Which explains why when this new grown-up does make a suggestion, that it is more often than not ignored. I mean, why should they listen? They don't know me, and are fairly confident if they ignore me nothing bad will happen. And they are right.

Trying to get the kids to make the transition from outside time back to inside time is always the most challenging part of my day. By definition, recess is awesome, but we always try to make it super awesome - especially in the first few weeks of school. The kids get to feed Patton, our school's tortoise (Patton has the ability to make separation anxiety just disappear), spin endlessly on our tire swing, shoot some hoops, and, a current favorite, make rivers, canals, waterfalls and dams in our sandpit which we put the hose in. In Arizona it is a bazillion degrees outside now, so even if we get wet playing in the sand and water, we are dry before we walk the length of the playground.

So, with all this stuff to do, when I sing my special line up song, I am not at all surprised that not one kid lines up. So, I will gather a couple kids up, tell them how it is time to go in and have our awesome snack, and lead them over to the wall where we line up. And then go to gather a few more kids with the same speech. And as I lead the new set of kids over to the wall, I realize the original group I had placed there have gone back out to the playground. So, back I go to retrieve the kids that left. And when I get back, the other kids are gone.

We call this "Chasing Kittens". Those of us who teach three-year-olds always refer to the first six weeks of school as the Chasing Kittens phase. We actually "chase kittens" all day long, but it actually reaches the really, really funny level on the playground. The four-year-old and kindergarten teachers laugh hysterically as we chase these babies around, trying to convince them that actually going inside to a cool room with lots of cold water is preferable to being outside in the sweltering heat.

What's weird is even though I know I will be chasing kittens on the playground, I never allow enough time for it. I keep having to shorten music time to accommodate for the kitten factor.

It is now the second week of school, and the kids are starting to get it. I am starting to chase the kittens a little less, and in a few weeks the kids will start using peer pressure to get the last kittens to join the group. And while I love it when the kids start to know the routine, and do what is expected, I always feel a pang of sadness when I realize I won't have to chase kittens for another year. These babies are on their way to their scholastic careers, and will never be "kittens" again.



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Real Life Pretend Play

Ok, couldn't think of a good title for this blog...

So, our summer program has been progressing wonderfully this year. The kids and grown-ups have all been having a great time.

Last week, one of the classrooms was set up to be a grocery store. The kids were given a grocery list of items they needed to collect to prepare their snack. For example, one day the snack was Banana Dogs. On their list was a banana, a hot dog bun, and peanut butter. The classroom was set up into different areas, so they had to go to the "bakery" to get the hot dog bun, the "produce section" to get the banana, and the "canned good aisle" to get the peanut butter. Each child had a shopping basket, and when they found the item, they checked it off their list, and put it into their basket.

Because it was a pretend grocery store, of course we had to have a pretend check out area as well, complete with cash register, a scanner and pretend money. We thought the kids would have a great time playing store.

And they did. But what happened is that they got it in their mind they needed to pay for their snack. They would stand in line at the one cash register, baskets in hand, and wait patiently to pay for their snacks with wads of crumpled pretend money. The lines would sometimes get as long as ten kids, all standing with the baskets on their hips, tapping their toes, and looking extremely bored. Just like everyone of us has done probably at least once a week since reaching adulthood. We did suggest to the kids that they could just go ahead and sit down, and not "pay"; "But that would be stealing!" we were told. Ok.

What if no one was manning the pretend register? The customer would stand there, looking irritated, and shout, "I need help here!" until another child would run over to check out the waiting customer.

We got the biggest kick out of this very unexpected twist to our grocery store. Did they want to pay because they had been standing in lines at grocery stores with their parents since infancy? Are we genetically programmed to stand in line after checking items off a shopping list? Who knows. But it sure was fun. And funny.

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Proven Wrong, Yet Again

Every year, I do a unit about Transportation. As part of this unit, we have a discussion about traffic lights. It is a good opportunity to talk about spatial relationships, colors, and introduce perennial favorite, Red Light/Green Light.

I get out my red, yellow and green circles, and arrange them on my white board, putting them in the correct order. We talk about how the red light is on top, the yellow light is in the middle, and the green light is on the bottom. And this is when little David raises his hand and says, "But really, green is in the middle."

I reply, with a note of condescension in my voice, "No, honey, green is on the bottom." And I reference my handy diagram on the white board to illustrate my point.

David, with a tone of condescension in his voice says, "Yes, there the green light is on the bottom. In a real traffic light, the green light is in the middle."

Obviously, David is confused. But, this is easily remedied, because the preschool is located right on an intersection, complete with traffic light. Field Trip!

I gather the class and we march outside to look at the traffic light. I was so excited to have the opportunity to use a real life example to show David this concept.

We all look up at the traffic light, and....from the top, here is the order of the lights. Red, yellow, green, yellow arrow, green arrow. Yes, The green light is in the middle. I am a dork, and obviously not versed in traffic light appearance in my city.

David, being a kind and understanding soul, did not jump up and down and yell, "In your FACE!" He simply said, "See? Real traffic lights are different than ones you make out of paper."

When will I learn that these kids know way more than me???




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Watching Them Grow

It is no secret that I truly love my job. I can talk non-stop about preschool, and the kids, and what they're learning, and how they're growing, for hours. And one of the best parts is watching these kids grow. Not physically, although that is always amazing, but socially and emotionally. We teachers work very hard to provide our students the tools they need to navigate in the world. We strive to teach them empathy, conflict resolution and self-reliance. And the absolute joy I feel when I see my students put to use what we've worked so hard to teach is...well...it is AWESOME. I have been known to cry.

Our little preschool offers a fabulous summer program every summer. Every summer, several students new to the program join us for the summer to get them ready for preschool in the fall. Last summer, one of our new students was Mark. Mark was painfully shy and had never been to preschool before. Preschool, I think, can be a pretty intimidating place to a child, even if you do your best to make it as friendly and inviting as possible.

Mark really had no idea how to interact with his peers. He wasn't sure how to initiate play, he didn't know how to join in play, wasn't sure how to go about asking for a turn, and was completely helpless if another child took a toy away from. He was so overwhelmed with everything, that he spent a lot of time under tables, crying.

So we started to work with him, and give him the tools he needed. And little by little, Mark came out of his shell, and gained his confidence. We cheered the first time he asked a group of kids, "Can I play with you?". We were beside ourselves when he approached a friend for the first time and said, "Do you want to play with me?". And when he finally had the confidence to tell a child, "Please don't do that, I don't like that, you can have a turn when I'm done!", we all congratulated ourselves on a job well done. The jumping up and down and cheering came when he tentatively started to make mischief. We knew then he had finally come into his own.

(For the record, Mark was not my student, his teacher, Mrs. M., deserves the credit for helping with his social and emotional development).

Well, here it is summer again, and Mark has joined us for our summer program again. He is a leader in the group, showing the younger ones the ropes and being a good and kind friend. Of course, we have several new students, and Mark is so patient with the kids who just don't know how things are at school.

I witnessed this exchange last week....

A little boy who is new to the program, Todd, went up to Mark and tried to take the hammer out of Mark's hand. Mark, very patiently says, "I am using the hammer now, you can have a turn when I am done."

Todd makes another grab for the hammer. Mark: "I am using this, wait for your turn."

Todd wedges his way between Mark and the nail that Mark was hammering. Mark: "I don't like that, you are in the way and you could get hurt. Please get out of my way."

Todd, still firmly in the way starts grabbing at the hammer and shoving Mark. Mark's patience has run out, and he is clearly frustrated and starts yelling, "I don't like that! Wait for your turn! You can have a turn when I'm done!" It was like he opened up his tool box of ways to deal with conflict and used up every tool he had. He looks up at me, throws his hands in the air and shrugs his shoulders and gives the non-verbal "I got nothing left, here, Mrs.V."

I walk over to physically remove Todd from the situation, and start him down the road of how to resolve conflicts in preschool ("Mark is using that hammer. I bet if you asked him if you could use it when he was done, he would say yes"). As I walk away, Mark says, "That boy really needs to go to preschool."

And, we have come full circle. How awesome is that?




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