now THAT's random

Yesterday I was walking past the older 3s classroom at work on my lunch break and I heard a little girl singing. I thought I recognized the song, but told myself that couldn't possibly be what she was singing. So I got closer. Sure enough, her little crystal clear voice was singing "catch me ridin' dirty!"

Child's Play

Thirteen things my class loves to do/play with: 1. Duck Duck Goose - and all its variations. We played Pilgrim Pilgrim Indian at Thanksgiving, and all winter long we played Polar Bear Polar Bear Penguin (they have to waddle like penguins around the circle instead of running - it's adorable!) 2. I Spy - I have some very observant little preschoolers. 3. Quiet Mouse - yes, they actually like playing Quiet Mouse. There are days when I am the luckiest teacher in the world, I tell you. 4. Legos - I have some brilliant budding architects and engineers. 5. Math - I have a set of different colored bowls and a set of little figures (houses, cars, people, dogs, trees) that are different colors. The kids love to roll the color dice and sort the pieces into the bowls. Yes, they're my little nerdlings. 6. Cutting and Gluing - they adore cutting things out of magazines. I give them paper to glue their pictures to so they can keep track of them. 7. Dinosaurs - I think there's something about the preschool ages that just naturally attracts these kids to all things dinosaur. 8. Cars - I blame Disney/Pixar. There is always a knock-down drag-out over who gets to play in the car center when we have free play. There's only enough room for 2 kids in that area at a time. 9. Hungry Frogs - it's Hungry Hungry Hippos, but the mouths are frogs instead of hippos. My only regrets? A) it's only 4-player; and B) it's LOUD! 10. Play Dough - don't mess with the classics. 11. Jellyfish Tag - I tried all last year to explain the concept of freeze tag to my first class of 4 and 5 year olds. They never got it. Until we talked about how when a jellyfish stings a fish, it paralyzes the fish. Now I pick a jellyfish and the rest of the class are fishies. Swim, fishies! 12. Jumping Jacks - sometimes they just need to let out some extra energy. They don't realize they are doing jumping jacks though. I call out "tin soldiers!" and "tepees!" 13. the Hokey Pokey - elbows, knees, tongues, noses...they all go in.

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a pocket full of dandelions

There are days working in child care that make you want to scream. Someone calls in sick, leaving the facility short handed. A child comes to school in a foul mood and nothing you can do will help. Another child spills his milk all over him and doesn't have any extra clothes to change into. While you are occupied with that child, 2 others decide that was pretty funny, so they pour their milk out on the floor. Another child displays a severe need for for an attitude adjustment (sadly, the only thing you are legally allowed to do for that is time out). It would be so easy to walk out and never come back.



And then a child comes running across the playground holding a dandelion picked through the chain link fence aloft like an Olympic torch. He stops and hands it to you, saying "you're my best teacher!"



That little bit is just enough to keep you coming back for more.

ancient Ms Amber

Yesterday on the playground, I bent down to tie a little girl's shoe. As I bent down, I groaned and said, "Ms Amber's too old for this." The little girl said "yeah."

I asked, "how old do you think I am?"

The response?

"Fif-teen!"

Good answer, sweetie.