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When you work with 4-year olds, you get to see the world through their literal eyes. 4-year olds are VERY observant. You need to be careful what you say and do around them because they will repeat your words and mimic your actions.

The other day in school, Janelle* called over to her friend, Darcy, “Darcy, want to play blocks?” to which Darcy nonchalantly replied, “Not now; I have to pay the bills.”
It’s these random bits of “adult talk” which often cracks us up.

One day we were on the playground when I noticed a boy pacing back and forth through the grass with his hand up to his ear. He was clearly “on the phone.” I called out, “Hi Luke!” Luke abruptly stopped, and without speaking looked at me sternly and held up his pointer finger. I whispered, “Are you on the phone, Luke?” Again he very deliberately held up that finger and said, “SHHHHH.” I nodded, and Luke walked away, pretend phone to his ear saying, “Sorry about that” to his imaginary phone buddy.

Later, when I relayed this scene to Luke’s mom, we both had a good chuckle when she told me, “Oh that’s me- that’s exactly what I do when I’m on a work call!”

My 4-year olds bring many smiles to my day, but occasionally when they tell it like it is, “like it is” is anything but comical. Many years ago, Bria confided in me, “Mommy don’t likes Daddy. Mommy and Daddy keeps screaming at themselves.” I just murmured “oh” and gave her a hug; what else to do in that moment? If you could have opened me up, you would have seen my heart wrenching for this innocent child.

On a lighter note, one day Sophia randomly told me that “Mom and Dad kissed together at the marrying place.” Come to find out, Sophia’s family had been looking at her parents’ wedding album that weekend!

Another time we were talking about names when Ricky said, “My mommy’s name is Honey, and my daddy’s name is Honey.” Awwww.

So they ARE listening and watching. The few hours each week they are with me gives me a glimpse (through their eyes) into their home life. Sometimes happy and sweet, other times heartbreaking, and mostly just the mundane day-to-day events in their lives. And they always tell it just as it is!

* names and sometimes gender changed to protect child’s privacy

written by Theresa Young, Lenape Kiddie Kollege
www.lenapekiddiekollege.com

It all started with a shamrock plant. On a day just before St. Patrick’s Day, one of my teachers lent me her shamrock plant to show at circle time. We looked at it, we talked about it- “oooh, aaah” I asked a student to return the plant to the teacher and say thanks. As her door opened, I noticed the teacher’s look of panic. We had caught her in the act of something.

The child handed her the plant, said thanks and turned to us, excitedly announcing, “It’s a mess in the Teddy Room!” That could only mean one thing. The leprechaun had arrived in our school! And although the teacher felt “caught” it never would have occurred to a four year old child that anyone but the leprechaun would do such a thing.

You see, every year in our school there is a tradition of our rooms getting messed up on St. Patrick’s Day. The children never see it happen, so surely it must be the leprechaun with his mischievious and magical powers. Well, when we heard the leprechaun had arrived, we got to work…

How could we keep him out of our room so it wouldn’t get messed up like the Teddy room just did? The children lined up blocks along the crack under the door between the two classrooms. Surely he would not be able to slip through. Then for the next 45 minutes there was speculation, theorizing, not to mention pure excitement.

How does he get in they wondered? Through that door? No- it can’t be because we have it blocked (literally with BLOCKS). Can he slip through the vents? Maybe; he is tiny after all. Maybe he’s invisible. Maybe he flies. Maybe he comes through the ceiling. Maybe he has a special key to unlock the window. “I watch bad guy movies,” said one, “I think the leprechaun uses a crowbar.”

Could we try to catch him? There were so many ideas of how to make a trap for a leprechaun… a box with a trap door, dig a giant hole in the sandbox so he could run by and fall in. The children came up with plan after plan.

Later, after we had been playing outside, we returned to find our own classroom a complete mess. There were backpacks everywhere. The bin of markers had been overturned. There were upside down chairs. There were even dolls hanging from the ceiling fan!

Somehow he had gotten in after all. Luckily for the kids, the leprechaun always leaves some gold coins amid the mess. So we forgave him for causing so much mischief.

But then again the discussions started. The ideas began to flow. Just how did those baby dolls get way up on the ceiling fan? There were theories galore… Maybe he can fly. Or he must have climbed from a chair to the table and then jumped really high. No, he couldn’t do that because he’s so small. “I know how he did it,” piped one child, “He zip-lined up there!”

The wonderment even carried overnight. The next day, one of the parents whispered to me that her son is convinced that I am the leprechaun because when he was playing in the sandbox he saw me go inside for a bit. “Wow, he’s observant,” I remarked. The mom replied, “No you don’t understand. He doesn’t think YOU messed up the room. He thinks you went inside and literally turned into the leprechaun.”

Okay, I’ll go with that- even though I have never zip-lined in my life.

A new school year is beginning.  It’s the opportunity for new learning, the hope of making a new friend, a new start full of optimistic anticipation.

I can’t help thinking of my students from last year.  They left me to head off to kindergarten.  I smile when I think of Patrick*- did he enter his new classroom with his ear-to-ear infectious grin, ready to charm everyone?

What about Katie?  Did she muster up the courage to be brave, or did she cry as she did those first days in my class?  She came to love school and trust that it was a secure place where she was loved; did that confidence carry through the summer to kindergarten, or is she scared again?  I cannot help worrying about her.

How about Jessica?  Is she already impressing the teacher with her bright mind and thoughtful  questions?  I’ll bet she is.  As I remember my past students, I am also looking ahead to a fresh start with my new crop of students.  There’s always another Patrick, Katie and Jessica.  I cannot wait to get to know them!

This all reminds me of a humorous story told by a friend about a long ago first day of school.  His children, now grown, are the stars of this story.

When his daughter was about to start kindergarten, the father told his son, “You are the big brother.  You know all about school.  Please take care of your sister.  I will need you to show her the ropes.”  His son stood a little taller, proud to have this important responsibility.

Off they went to school, big brother and little sister.  One was feeling confident and very responsible, the other a little scared and unsure.  That night, Dad asked them how the first day of school went.  The son answered, “Fine.  But Dad, I looked everywhere.  I kept looking, but I just couldn’t find the ropes to show her.”

Here’s to a new year of learning, making friends and of course being shown those ropes!

 

*The names of the children featured in my blogs are always changed.

written by Theresa Young, preschool director

www.lenapekiddiekollege.com

 

Today in school, Carter* was busily working on a puzzle of “red things.” He picked up each piece, a fire truck, a lady bug, and adeptly fitted it into its space in the wooden frame. Next he picked up a strawberry piece. As he tried to set it in, it just wouldn’t fit. He kept trying to jam it in the way he thought it should go, but it just was not working.

He was stuck. What to do next? “Miss Theresa, this won’t fit,” he stressed.
I recommended that Carter turn the piece around and try again. “Keep turning it until it fits,” I suggested.

Carter picked up the strawberry piece, held it in front of his face and began rotating it in the air. He studied it closely as he twirled it around and around.

I couldn’t help but to chuckle out loud. He was after all doing exactly what I had suggested: Keep turning it until it fits! Remember, four-year-olds hear and use language literally.

After turning and rotating it in the air 5 or 6 times, Carter brought the puzzle piece back down to the frame, and guess what? It slid right in!

*all students’ names are changed in my blog

My stories come from the 4-year olds I teach at Lenape Kiddie Kollege
www.lenapekiddiekollege.com

To a young child, a dad is larger than life.  He’s a role model, a provider, a strong man- even a super hero.  My four-year-old students and I recently had a discussion about daddies.  Here’s what they had to say…

What is your daddy’s name?

While most of the children gave me first names- Len, Nick, Tom, Alex- a few simply said, “His name is Daddy.”  Isn’t it though?  He literally is called Daddy; it MUST be his name!  One child understood the distinction.  She answered, “Well, his name is Victor, but we just call him Dad.”

What does your daddy do?

Typical answers were “he works at his job” or “he goes to work,” but many other children focused on what he does WITH THEM… “He plays race car games with me” or “He builds Legos with me” or “He plays wrestling with me.”  Did you know that for a child the word LOVE is spelled with 4 letters- T-I-M-E.  Young children are so very aware of the moments you get in their world!

How old is your daddy?

“I don’t know” was the most common answer, and I told them it’s okay not to know.  Some explained, “I don’t know; he never told me” and “I forget.  Mommy doesn’t even know either.”  The ones who did know were very specific:  35, 36, 42.  And then there were the guesses… 10?  Um, 69?  “40 or something; he’s really old and my mom’s 16.”

What does dad like to eat?

So dads like pizza and meat and hot dogs and sandwiches and salad and “green bean soup” and turkey and oatmeal and mac & cheese.  There’s one dad out there who just likes “ketchup with everything.”

What does Daddy watch on TV?

Lots of our dads watch “the news.”  And of course they like sports… football (“our team is the Eagles.”), golf, soccer, the Flyers game, the 76ers.  They also watch “cop shows,” Star Wars,  Walking Dead, “the catching fish show,” monster movies, hunting and animal shows.  One little guy summed up his dad’s television viewing habits: “Man TV and man videos and football.”

What does Daddy like to do for fun?

According to four-year-olds, what dads like to do for fun is…… play with their four-year-olds!  Bike riding, pushing me on my swing, jumping on the trampoline, playing hide & seek, playing Uno, going to the park and playing my pirate ship with me.  Again, if a four-year-old could spell, he would spell the word LOVE like this: T-I-M-E.

So here’s to the dads out there- your children look up to you and count the time you spend with them as their love language.  Happy Father’s Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From time to time, I run into one of my school families outside of school- at the grocery store, at Target, at the pool, even at church.

Very often the child gets “shy” when she sees me. I can understand; she’s confused by seeing me outside of where I “belong.” How can this be? That teacher is always at school. That teacher must LIVE at school. For I literally only see her at school. So what is she doing here- in this store, for example?

The other day at my town library I ran into my student Jeffrey. I adore the library. I always have. As a child, we rode our bikes to the library and spent hours there. It was such a treat that at no cost we could take out piles of books in which to delight.

An aside note to you parents: We are always looking for things to do with our kids. If you are not a library user, start today! It’s convenient, it’s free, it has so much to offer, and above all it fosters that great habit of reading in your child.
Okay, end of library advertisement and on with the story…

I still enjoy how the library has that special way of slowing me down, and occasionally I do still enjoy a good novel. So on this summer afternoon I decided to stop in to the library and choose a couple of bestsellers to read before we reopen in September.

As I exited, books in hand, Jeffrey, along with his mother and siblings, was entering. “Oh hi,” his mom and I greeted each other. Jeffrey remarked, “The police are out there.” He was right. Our municipal building is part library, part police department. “Yes, Jeffrey, the police officers work over there,” I pointed. “Look at us- we both like coming to the library!”

Jeffrey was having none of this library talk with this “stranger” his mom knew. “The police put people in jail,” he mused. His mom chuckled and explained that Jeffrey was worried he was going to jail because he didn’t stay on the sidewalk outside.
Jeffrey continued his thoughts on the police: “It was noisy.” His mom added, “There was some commotion out in the lot and the cruiser had its siren on. Jeffrey’s afraid he might go to jail because he wasn’t listening to me about staying on the sidewalk.”
“Jeffrey, you don’t need to worry about that because you’re a good boy,” I said.

Suddenly Jeffrey got a look of recognition on his face and said “You’re in Lenape Kiddie Kollege.” “Yes I am. I’m your teacher. Remember my name, Miss Theresa? We have fun at summer camp together, right?”
“Yeah,” he smiled. A moment later: “I don’t want to go to jail.”
“You won’t go to jail, Jeffrey, because you you follow the rules and do the right thing, right?” Jeffrey smiled, looking relieved.

We said our goodbyes, and as I walked out the door I could hear him announcing to his siblings, “That is my teacher.” A little louder- “THAT is my TEACHER!”

Four year olds love pretending they are older than they are. In our classroom, we often set up dramatic play areas. You might see a kitchen in action with toy plates, cups, utensils, pans and food. You see the children making meals, having birthday parties, setting up a restaurant.

I recall my daughter, at age 5, wanting to be a waitress when she grew up. This was an occupation she occasionally witnessed, so it was literally something she might BE when she grew up. How could she have articulated “I want to be a Speech and Language Pathologist” as she is now? This simply was not in the literal world around her when she was five.

Sometimes we set up an office with keyboards, phones, notepads and pencils. As serious as they get in their play, their “work” conversations are often hilarious to us. One of my students who often observes his mom at work on the phone sat with the play phone propped on his shoulder declaring, “Okay, I’ll send over that resume today.”

We might set up a doctor’s office with baby dolls and medical kits. We will see the children giving each other “shots,” taking temperatures and fixing boo boos. One of my students announced that she wanted to be a doctor when she grows up. Another girl chimed in, “I want to be a doctor, too!” After a brief moment of hesitation she changed her thought: “Well actually not a doctor. What I really want to be is a fairy princess.”

Speaking of fairy princesses, I asked 4-year-old Brielle what she wanted to be when she grows up.  After deliberate thought, she said “a fairy princess.” After another minute, Brielle corrected her answer: “No, I don’t want to be a fairy princess. I just want to be a fairy.” It was then that Jay put in his two-cents worth. In a completely serious tone he informed the girls, “What you really want to be is a lifeguard.”

A common “grown up aspiration” for preschoolers is to be a TEENAGER. To them, teenagers are larger-than-life, very “grown up.” Teen numbers are very big! My students often guess my age as 17, 18, 19, very big indeed. Can you see why me, a Grammy and a teacher for decades, loves my profession? Where else do you get compliments like this?! During lunch one day, Katie showed us, “I’m learning to be a teenager, so I am taking a big bite.”

It is so fun to watch the pure hope and possibility in a four year old child. She can grow up to be a waitress. A doctor. A fairy princess. Just a fairy. A lifeguard. For sure…a teenager!

For preschoolers, the concept of TIME is beyond their developmental capacity. They don’t quite get the concept of minutes, hours, tomorrow, yesterday.
I will hear them say things like “Tomorrow I went to the park.” Did it already happen or will it happen? They couldn’t tell you!

When you tell a 4-year old “you will have a turn in 5 minutes,” you might see him begin to count “1, 2, 3, 4, 5. It’s my turn now!” In his mind, it makes zero sense that he should be counting to 60… 5 times!

One time, Ryan told me, “My birthday is Fall 24th.” What I took from that statement is that his parents must have told him that his birthday came in the Fall. September 24th? October 24th? November 24th? Who knows? Fall 24th… Close enough!

On a different day, Gregory proudly exclaimed, “Every three hours, I just get a good idea. And I just got one!”
A good idea…just like clockwork. I love this!

A 4-year old is egocentric which means that the world as he sees it IS the world. It was the first week of school, and Rachel was missing her mom. She repeatedly asked, “When is Mommy coming?” Answering 2 hours or 45 minutes would have made no sense to her, so instead I would outline the day in order of activities. We will play for awhile, then clean up, then hear a story, then have a snack, then play outside, THEN the mommies will come.

Rachel hung on every word. As a 4-year old hears explanations literally, so did Rachel. A few minutes later, she approached me saying, “Well, I’m done playing now.” So I happen to speak 4-year-old, and the translation would be “I am done playing NOW. So we need to move on to those other activities NOW and that means Mommy will get here closer to NOW.

As our morning winded down and we were on the playground, Rachel came to me again and stated, “I am done playing outside NOW.” Translation: Outside play is over NOW; therefore Mommies must come NOW.”

Oh, that we could manipulate time like that!

The children returned to school after Thanksgiving break. Brian’s mom, Mrs. G, pulled me aside. “I have something funny to share with you,” she smiled.
She went on to tell me about the car ride home from school the day before Thanksiving. Brian was buckled in the back seat with a macaroni necklace draped around his neck.
His mom complimented him, “Brian, I really like that necklace you made in school today.”
Brian grimaced and mumbled, “Miss Theresa killed it.”
Not quite sure what she had just heard, Brian’s mom asked, “What did you say, Brian?”
“Miss Theresa killed it.”
Glancing in the rear view mirror, Mrs. G. noticed the troubled look on Brian’s face.
Mrs. G went on to tell me how this conversation continued all the way home, going back and forth and around in circles until she finally realized what Brian meant.
You see, I had told the children that I DYED the macaroni to make it different colors. Yes, I had dyed it with food coloring.
But Brian, being a four year old child who hears everything literally, heard me say that I DIED the macaroni- that I killed it.
Poor Brian must have sat through circle time wondering why I had to DIE the macaroni. This probably weighed heavily on his mind as the day progressed. Why, oh why, did Miss Theresa have to DIE the macaroni?
Mrs. G and I got a chuckle out of this. I learned a valuable lesson that day. Four year olds think and speak literally.
This happened in one of my first years teaching four year olds. It has been over twenty years since Brian told his mom “Miss Theresa killed the macaroni.”
Since then I have never once told the children that I dyed the macaroni.
“See this macaroni? I colored it to make it pretty for the necklaces we will make today…”

Preschoolers understand gratitude.  As we celebrate Thanksgiving, my students are honest and forthcoming about the objects of their thankfulness.

“I am thankful for Mommy and Daddy.”   Just as adults are thankful for family, children put members of their families at the top of their thankful lists.

“I am thankful for my Uncle Mike.”

“For my brother.”  “For my sister.”

“I am thankful for having two boy cousins.” (This from a boy with sisters)

“For the best Mom & Dad ever.”  “For my whole entire family.”

Of course, high on the family thankful list are grandparents…

“I am thankful for MomMom.”  “For Nana.”  “For Gaga.”  “For Poppy.”

And my favorite, “I am thankful for my Dad’s mom.  Her real name is Grandmom.”

What else is important to a 4- year old?  Favorite toys…

“I am thankful for my super heroes.”  “For my playroom.”  “For my Barbie dolls.”  “For my Paw Patrol.”  “For my fire truck.”

And favorite foods…

“I am thankful for my juice.”  “For pizza.”  “For strawberries.”  “I am thankful for my chocolate ice cream.”

And then there are the very random, very precious comments…

“I am thankful for the chicken that left a feather for me for show & tell on letter F day.”

“I am thankful that we always have the best Christmas.”

“I am thankful for my haircut.”

Thankfulness, appreciation, gratitude.  Sheryl Crowe sings It’s not having what you want.  It’s wanting what you have. (lyrics from Soak Up The Sun)

Being thankful for the big things and for all of those simple things in one’s life.  It would be good to take a lesson from a bunch of 4-year olds.