It is a glorious moment to watch a child transform from an apprehensive and hesitant participant to an independent, curious and confident one. We have many children that are returning for their second session of the class and I love watching them as they bravely march into the classroom, find their name tag, and then begin to explore the many materials that are available. Equally as interesting is to observe the new children as they struggle with saying goodbye to their caregivers; each child reacts so differently. Some of our newer students jumped into the routine as if they had previously been here while others were happy only if their caregivers were by their side. Others were not happy even with their caregivers by their side. One child, who was particularly upset without his mother, decided it was time to go home and packed up his belongings and wheeled his suitcase bag towards the door. He spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to open the door; no luck on that front!
I enjoyed watching a few children sit down and listen to some finger plays and songs. Two girls sat next to each other and began a little shoving match. I found this to be a good step towards learning how to work with others. It provided the teacher with an opportunity to guide the children towards more pro-social behaviour
Other moments today:
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| Sorting objects by colour |
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Painting with balloons filled with water and wide brushes
Cutting pieces of wooden fruit and learning the names of the fruits |
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Pretending to bake cookies and eat them .The skill of "pretending" to eat food is actually very challenging; usually the pretend food item goes right into the mouth! I guess the play food is too realistic!
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I am looking forward to watching the children develop their skills, make friends and engage with their teachers.
Emily
