The best part of my job is the funny things the kids say, the ones that can talk that is..They keep us laughing and always on our toes. Allow me to share:
Helpless
Little E was a boy who would never do anything for himself. He'd come into the classroom and just stand expecting us to remove his coat and backpack for him. He was potty trained but again, would not assist in anyway to help. We would unbutton his pants for him but he just stood there as if his arms were totally useless. His lack of self help skills came from his mother who would do everything for him, which doesn't fly in preschool. Even though we do our best to encourage our kiddo's sometimes it takes a peer to say it straight. On a routine trip to the bathroom we divide and conquer. One of us goes in with the girls, and another with the boys, while the other stays out and waits to help the preschoolers wash their hands. Cheryl was on boy duty. Little E was part of her group, they all go into the bathroom and Cheryl helps little E unbutton and pull down his pants. After he went potty he just stood there, without saying a word, waiting for someone to help him. Another little boy came out of his stall and saw little E standing there with his underpants down to his ankles. He took one look at his helpless friend and said, "Pull up your damn pants, your penis is showing."
Sassy:
We use a soft purple rope for the preschoolers to hold on to as we walk in the hallway, outside and to and from the bus. It keeps them together and teaches them to walk in a line. As we went out to collect the kids from the bus, again we divide and conquer. One of us will unbuckle the little ones, another will help them off the bus, and the other will stand by the rope and encourage them to hold on. This particular group of preschoolers had a very sassy little girl. It was her behaviour that qualified her for our program. Everyone was lined up and ready to enter the building, except Sassy. She had one hand holding her backpack and the other in her pocket. I reminded her to, "hold the rope," With her chin in the air and a determined tone she said, "I only have two hands!"
Half Pint
It's not required for the preschoolers to be potty trained. If they are still in diapers, we change them when necessary.One of our kiddo's was a pint size little man with blond hair, blue eyes and full of vin and vigor. He was one still in diapers. During free play I noticed a foul smell coming from our little half pint, so I grabbed a diaper from his backpack and told him we needed to go to the bathroom. As we were walking down the hall to the restroom he noticed the diaper I was holding, and said, "I don't need that, I'm already trained!"
The Crier's
We recently obtained two new students in our program. One is a cute blond haired, blue eyed boy and the other a sweet little girl with eye's that sparkle when she smiles...All was well and good when the parents were around, but when they left the crying started. Both the boy and the girl just wailed. All through circle and singing time the crying continued, we just ignore and carry on. Then, by the time snack rolled around, the boy finally stopped. One down, one to go...The girl would not come to the snack tables, she just sat in her chair and continued to cry and scream. Finally, our new little guy, whose own tears were still fresh on his face, looked at me and said, "Give her some soap" I was rather astonished, "soap?" Yeah, put some soap in her mouth to stop her crying...
Home sweet home
Our schedule is pretty sweet, with only working three days a week our classroom staff has pretty good attendance, which makes it nice for the students to have the consistency of the same teachers. If we get sick, it usually it falls on the four days we have off, and we are most always recovered by the time class rolls around. Once every so often one of us will fall sick during the week, which happened to be me. I was gone all three days, but the following Tuesday I was back in action. As we got the kids off the bus, a little boy ran up to me, embraced me with a big bear hug and said, "Your home!"
