I spend quite a bit of time cleaning the center.  No matter how often things are cleaned, there is always a toy that has gotten dirty, a window that has fingerprints, or a corner that has a cobweb. I realize that as a director I should be directing others to clean, but I enjoy cleaning when I have time.  It relaxes me, and I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment that having a clean area gives.

Today I decided to tackle the blocks in the schooler room.  There were many blocks, almost too many for the shelves that held them, and the poor storage space made the children less likely to pull them out and build.  My original mission was to clean them, sort them, and store them so that they were more attractive to the children and more likely to be used.  As with many things, my mission changed when I began to work on the blocks.

As I cleaned and sorted the blocks, I discovered that many of them had developed rough places and splinters (I even got a few splinters from them).  Many of them could only be saved by a major sanding job.  Looking at the number of blocks that were worn, and the number that were left, I concluded that the best thing to do would be to discard the blocks that were in poor condition.

Now, I am not a hoarder.  I enjoy cleaning and have no patience with things that have been sitting, covered in dust, for several years because "someone may need them sometime".  If an item has no use, does not meet best practice requirements, or is broken - out it goes.  It did pain me, however, to throw out the blocks.  I love blocks - I love the feel of the wood, I love the way that the unit blocks fit with each other, and I love the things that can be built.  It was with a very heavy heart and a strong feeling of guilt that I piled the blocks on the cart to go to the dumpster.

As I was grieving over the loss of the blocks, it occurred to me that the center has been open for forty years and some of those blocks had probably been here for most of those years.  The blocks were in rough shape because they had been loved and used by years of children.  The blocks had been castles, zoos, houses, roads, and buildings.  The blocks had been laid out on the floor so that the children could push cars or walk on the road.  The blocks had been towers that were so high that when they fell there was a loud (and satisfying) crash.  The blocks were not just junk, they were an important part of the lives of many children.  It was suddenly easier to let the blocks go when I thought of all of the fun and learning that the children had derived from playing with them.

I still feel that an early childhood program can never have too many blocks, but I have discovered that since the area is more organized and the children are not concerned about splinters, they are building again.  Perhaps in another forty years another director will have to clean out the blocks, but I am enjoying them now.

Let Them Be Children!

I love the news.  I listen to the news on the radio in the morning, and on the drive home at night when one of the local radio stations play one of the local television news programs.  I used to love my newspaper, until the rising price of the paper, coupled with the poor quality of the writing and the shrinking content caused me to cancel my subscription.  In place of the newspaper, I read the headlines and news articles when I boot up my computer in the morning.  Not all of the articles are what I would consider news, since there is a great deal about people who are supposed to be celebrities but I have no idea who they are, but there is still a fair amount of news.

I have been known to yell, cheer, and even sob during a newscast.  Recently, however, there have been several news stories that have made me want to bang my head against the wall.  The first was one about a young child who lives in a southern state.  This child, who had just turned five, took his 22 rifle, which he had received as a gift and which was sitting in a corner of the dining room, outdoors to play.  Neither of his parents had thought that there was a bullet left in the rifle after the last time that he had been shooting it.  There was one, however, and the child shot and killed his two year old sister.  This story is wrong on so many levels - why would anyone make a rifle for young children?  They are smaller than an adult rifle, and come in bright colors, but these are working rifles.  Why would it be stored in the dining room?  Why would an adult just assume that the rifle had no bullets?  Why would a child be allowed to think of a rifle as a toy?  This is not a debate about gun laws and citizens rights - it is a question about the appropriateness of a young child having an adult weapon as a toy.  

Several days later there was an article about a group of parents who were taking action against a school because the dress code stated that the students could not wear strapless dresses to their eighth grade prom.  Seriously?  Once again, this is so wrong on so many levels - a prom has always been a special rite of passage for older teens as they near the end of high school.  Why would eighth graders have a prom?  Could they not just have a picnic, or a dress-up dance?  Why would these girls have the evening ruined if they could not wear a strapless dress?  Why are the parents not concentrating their energies on improving the school programs?   Are these the same parents who brought their four year daughters thongs and padded bras because they were "cute".

Often when I am in store I hear a mother yelling at a five year old because the little brother or sister has disappeared and the older child was supposed to "keep an eye on him/her".  How could a five year old possibly have the maturity to keep track of a younger sibling.  Recently I read a number of comments on a blog from mothers who were congratulating themselves on teaching their two year old children sight words so that they would not be left behind in school.  Along with the self-congratulations were comments about the "laziness" of mothers who did not do so.

All of these stories have one thing in common - they are about adults who have no idea what is developmentally appropriate for children.  Because a child can hit a target with a bullet when he is with his father does not mean that he will have the judgement to handle the gun wisely when he is by himself.  A special event like a prom, along with adult clothing is something to look forward to.  If the child does everything early, where is the anticipation of the big event.  Many of the prom dresses that high school seniors wear are very revealing - do our twelve and thirteen year old girls need to dress like an adult to have a good time?  Five year old children have trouble with basic safety judgments at times - how can they care for a younger child?  Sight words are not an appropriate way for a very young child to start to learn about reading, and being forced to learn them at that age may even retard development of reading skills.

Why do so many people seem to be in such a hurry to have their children take on tasks that are beyond their developmental level?  Is it, in some cases, a reluctance to tell their children "no"?  Is it that parents feel that they will be successful if their children do things before the other children?  Is it because people in this country do not value childhood for its own sake?

Perhaps many parents do not realize that each child has developmental milestones that have to be reached before they can move to the next level.  Perhaps they do not realize that forcing a child to do things before he is developmentally ready is harmful to the child.  Perhaps each student in this country should have to take a course in child development as a graduation requirement.  (Let's face it - child development would be much more helpful than earth science.)

Please - let the children be children.  They are young for such a short period of time.  Enjoy that time, treasure that time, and do not force them out of childhood too soon because once their childhood is gone, it is gone forever.

Eat Your Wheaties!

When I was growing up my mother insisted that we all eat breakfast every morning.  While she was attending nursing school she had discovered that the days that she skipped breakfast were days that she felt very faint.  From that time on she became a convert of eating a healthy breakfast in the morning.  

Many children, as well as adults, tend to skip breakfast in the morning.  Scientific studies show that those who do not eat breakfast have a tendency toward weight gain, nausea, fatigue, constipation, low blood pressure, and elevated uric acid (kidney disease).  Friends who are teachers have told me that they can tell which children in their class do not eat breakfast because they are the ones that run out of steam by mid-morning.  Breakfast is as necessary for success as sleep, attitude, and school supplies.

Unfortunately, most of the breakfast items that are marketed to children are full of sugar, salt, and artificial ingredients, which is a sure path to poor nutrition and lack of energy.  Children need real food with healthy ingredients.  Whole grains, fruit, and protein (which slows digestion and helps the child to feel full and energetic for longer) are necessary for a healthy breakfast.  The only trouble with this is that most parents are generally rushed and do not feel up to getting up earlier to cook a big breakfast.  There are, however, many ways to give children the nutrition that they need without having to get up an hour earlier.  Options include:

1.  Whole grain toast with peanut butter, a glass of milk, and a piece of fruit.  (I like sliced bananas on my peanut butter toast.

2.  Sandwiches.  My brother ate a toasted cheese sandwich (cooked without butter under the broiler) every day for years.  He says he is just fine, although the rest of us are not quite so sure.

3.  Oatmeal.  It must be real oatmeal, however.  The little packages may seem convenient, but they are loaded with salt, sugar, and artificial ingredients.  A bowl of regular oatmeal is much less expensive and can be made in the microwave in 2.5 minutes.  I never sweeten mine, but I do love stir-ins.  These include nuts. fresh fruit, and dried fruit.

4.  Breakfast sandwiches.  These can be made with English muffins, eggs, cheese, and sausage (if desired).  I make mine with apple-tofu sausage, but regular sausage will also work. We make them ahead of time and freeze them.  When you or your child wants one, just defrost in the microwave (it could defrost overnight in the refrigerator) and them heat for a minute or two.

5.  Protein.  Protein added to breakfast helps you to feel full longer and helps to prevent blood sugar spikes and drops.  Adding protein to breakfast can be as simple as spreading peanut butter on your toast or eating some yogurt.  (Please make sure that it is real yogurt, without added gelatin or starch.  DO NOT buy the "children's yogurt" since it is full of sugar and artificial colors.  Real yogurt does not look like playdough.)  Keep some hard boiled eggs in the refrigerator for a quick and easy protein fix.  Cheese, humus, and milk also add protein to breakfast.  Cheese toast has been a favorite of my child care children for years.  Simply put a slice of cheese (real cheese, not the singles!) on a slice of bread (whole grain is best) and pop it under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese is hot and bubbly.  A parfait can be made with yogurt, granola, and fruit.

6.  Leftovers.  We all know about leftover pizza for breakfast, but why couldn't your children eat some of the casserole that they enjoyed last night.  Soups, casseroles...whatever is in your refrigerator can be reheated and enjoyed.  

7.  Make ahead casseroles.  One of my favorite breakfasts is baked oatmeal.  My favorite recipe can be found at http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Oatmeal-II/Detail.aspx  I do cut the brown sugar in half, and it could possibly be cut a little more.  The recipe calls for dried cranberries, and I love it with blueberries and peaches (canned and frozen work as well as fresh), but you can use whatever fruit you prefer.  It can be made up quickly the night before and will keep in the refrigerator for several days.

I have tried to offer a number of different and delicious alternatives for breakfast.  No matter what is served, the thing that will make a child most likely to enjoy eating breakfast is watching their parents eat and enjoy breakfast.  Breakfast is as important for an adult as it is for a child, so join your children and have a good start to your day!

I'll Miss You

Young children spend a great deal of time trying to understand the world.  There are so many different things and so many different people out there that need to be examined, categorized, discussed, and understood.  Some things are concrete and are easy to understand - peanut butter, dogs, cars, rain.   Some things are not easily felt and observed  and are more difficult to understand - sadness, later, manners, humor.  Young children are also very egocentric, which makes understanding difficult in many circumstances.  They know that if a friend hits them, it will hurt.  They do not understand that if they hit a friend, it will hurt.

A few days ago I had a conversation with a four year old boy who was obviously trying to make sense of some abstract concepts. 

Bobby:  I am getting older.

Miss Meg:  So am I.

Bobby:  But I am not getting as old as you are.

Miss Meg:  No, you are not.

Bobby:  You will get older and then you will die.

Miss Meg:  Yes, Bobby, that is right.

Bobby:  Everyone gets older and dies someday.

Miss Meg:  Yes, everyone does.

Bobby:  Miss Meg, I will miss you when you are dead.

Death is a difficult concept for a child.  It is hard to imagine that something or someone will just stop being.  Groups of young children will often play dead.  This games involves having a child lie on the floor while several children announce, "She's dead!".  They will then go to work poking her with blocks or play spoons and then jump for joy when the dead child comes alive again.  Bobby is starting to learn that death is permanent, but it is still not completely real to him.  Verbalizing his understanding of death helps him to better understand the concept.

It is also nice to know that I will be missed.

Conversations

I love talking with children.  I enjoy their thought processes, their view of the world, and their understanding (or lack of it) of social conventions.  I find that talking with children is a joyful experience that often teaches me a great deal and makes me laugh.

Several days ago, while I was talking to two young sisters, I admired the clothing that they were wearing and asked the older one if I could have her outfit when she grew too big for it. The girls laughed (for some reason they laugh often when I am talking to them) as the conversation continued.

Alice: You can't wear this.

Meg:  Yes, I can.

A: You are too big.

M: I think that I would look pretty in it.  Why can't I wear it?

A: You can't wear it.

M: You're mean and you can't come to my birthday party.

A: You can't wear it because it is a size 8.

M: I can wear a size 8.

A: I wear a size 8 because I am 8.  You are older, so you wear a size ...

At this point Alice's father intervened and told her that she could not tell me a size.  When I told him that I did not mind, he told me that she did not realize that sizes repeat, and that someone might be offended if she came up with a very large number for a size.  He was, of course, correct.  Not everyone would think it were funny if she came up with a very large number for a size.

I do, however, really wish that I knew what size she was going to assign to me.

A quality early childhood classroom has a number of learning centers, each of which provides a different experience for the children in that classroom.  Some of the more common learning centers are dramatic play, blocks, art, writing, science, sensory, and the cozy corner.  These centers can change often, but keep the basic intent of the area.  The dramatic play area can be a home, a store, a doctor's office, a produce stand - all allow the children to pretend, imagine, and increase their understanding of the world around them.  The sensory area (or tub) may have water, soapy water, ice water, dry coffee grounds, colored rice - the list can go on and on.  No matter what the center or its contents, however, the rule in the classroom often is that "each item stays in its own center".  Fortunately, our four year old teacher does not believe that all toys are used in a vacuum and keeps some of her toys in nontraditional areas.  She even (gasp!) keeps the tools in the block area, rather than relegating them to a tool bench.  I know that it may seem logical that tools and wood go together, but many early childhood teachers do not follow that line of thinking.

Two of our boys, who love to build all kinds of amazing structures with the blocks, have enjoyed having the plastic hammers available, and spend a good share of their day happily hammering the blocks.  Yesterday they began to build with the unit blocks.  They began by laying the longest blocks side-by-side They began to hit the blocks with the hammer, but discovered that the ends weren't even.  The boys then laid on the floor and tapped the blocks with the hammers until they were in a straight line. Once the base was even, they worked to add to the structure and the base began to take shape.  With each addition they hammered until they were satisfied that it was correct.




When the base was complete, the vertical structures were added.  The two boys would each add new elements to the structure.  Again, each new piece was hammered into place, and tapped lightly with the hammer if it needed to be moved into a slightly different place.  While they built, the boys discussed other blocks that would be needed for their structure.  The new blocks were added one by one, adjusted, and hammered into place.



As the  boys worked, they discussed the structure.  One felt that it was a party boat, while the other felt that it should be a fire boat.  At the suggestion of one of the boys, they decided that it would be a party fire boat. As they built, they thought of things that the boat would need to be complete.  "These are seats for the people on the boat."  "They can climb up here to see where they are going/"  As they visualized and verbalized each item, they searched for the blocks that would be just right to for that part of the boat

After some discussion it was decided that the seats should be located under the tower so that the people on the boat could climb up quickly if necessary.

The party fire boat, when the last block was put on and the last piece was hammered, was a masterpiece.  The boys had worked together to plan and build a wonderful creation.  Along the way they had practiced the give and take of social situations and cooperation, verbalized their ideas and built their language, exercised their long arm muscles, and worked with algebra and geometry by using the unit blocks.  It seemed a shame to put the blocks away at the end of the day, but the story of the party fire boat is captured in pictures, and the next day .... there was another block masterpiece.

Do You Smell Something?

During my commute today, I was listening to the radio when one of the morning people mentioned (I don't know what lead up to it) that she loved the smell of new tires.  She admitted to being a tire junkie who would leave her children sitting in the shopping cart in the tire aisle of a big box store while she smelled the air.  This lead to a further discussion where another one of the morning people told about how he loved the smell of play dough.  I haven't played with it in years, and I will not use it in my classrooms when there are many better, less expensive alternatives, but I do remember that smell after 45 or so years.  A caller talked about loving the smell of the horse stables.  I do remember that smell from visiting my sister while she was feeding her horses, but I was usually jumping out of the way of what I was sure was certain death by huge horse to pay too much attention.

After listening to the conversation, I began to think of my favorite smell - that of my favorite present, a large box of crayons.  There were only 64 or so crayons in the box back then, but I still remember opening a new box, seeing all of the brand new crayons in neat rows, and smelling the crayon smell.  I have since learned that some of that smell is from the beef fat in the crayons, which should be off-putting to a vegetarian, but I still love the smell.

From there I went on to other smells from my past.  The smell of baking bread always reminds me of my mother's kitchen, where she made bread for the family.  When my husband is working on a project and is sawing or sanding wood, the smell takes me back to my home, where my father - a carpenter - had a wood shop in the basement.  Burning wood reminds me of Girl Scout camp, where we cooked over a fire during the day, and sang songs around the fire at night.  If I try, I can still smell the canvas of the tents where we slept.

 

So, you may ask, what does your love of the smell of crayons have to do with anything?  The point is that humans are very sensory beings.  Everyone has memories that can to evoked by a smell or a sound.  Young children, who are absorbing new things like a sponge absorbs water, are particularly interested in smells.  Too many programs for young children try to emphasize sensory items in the environment, but neglect the olfactory senses.  Does the program smell like disinfectant and bleach?  Does it smell like the diaper pail should have been emptied two hours ago?  Does it smell pleasant and welcoming or like the guinea pig's cage is long overdue for a change.  If the smell in not unpleasant, it is too often neutral and offers no stimulation.

 

There are many simple ways to help children experience the sense of smell.  While incense and candles are (of course) out of the question, there are many other ways to scent the air.  Children love to grind spices with a mortar and pestle.  Shop around - there are huge differences in the price of spices.  Do baking projects - cookies baking and bread rising have their own special spells.  Have the cook make real food - nothing is more welcoming that the smell of spaghetti sauce or soup simmering.  Flowers are a lovely addition to a room.  A pot of hyacinths in the spring will scent the whole room.  Herbs can be grown in pots on the windowsill.  Rubbing basil and other herbs is a special experience.  Smelly bottles can be made by soaking cotton balls in essential oils or extracts, putting the cotton in a bottle and hot gluing on the lid, and poking a few small holes in the sides.  The scented pine cones that are sold in the fall and winter will add a spicy smell to the room.

 

Adding a scent to a room is limited only by a teacher's imagination.  Just make sure that everything that is used is safe for children and, of course, that you talk about the smells if you should notice that a child is noticing them.  Also, remember that one child's delicious smell is another child's stinky smell, but they are both are correct.  Make some happy memories for your children, and they will remember you years later.

 

P.S. (Can you P.S. a blog?  I don't know, but since it is mine, I will).  After writing this post and finishing my day, I headed to Wegmans to get groceries.  I have been working 6:30 to 6:00 most of the week, with a 45 minute commute each way, so I was really dragging.  It was past 7:30 when I headed for the checkout.  At the end of one register, where there is usually a bin of some sort of merchandise, there was a bar of Yardley lavendar soap.  It has always been my favorite but it is very difficult to find now.  I held the cardboard box up to my nose and breathed in.  All at once I was visiting my New England relatives. Another breath and I was going to the Hopewell Jct. Pharmacy to buy a three pack in a pretty box as a gift for my mother.  Another breath and I realized that the cashier was looking at me funny, so I put the soap in my cart and checked out.  Tonight when I am home I will probably smell it again.