First Day of (Pre)School

Believe it or not, I have always been afraid of teaching children...usually because I think there are many many people out there who could do a better job than myself, and enjoy it more to boot. And yet, this last Tuesday, August 9, 2011, there I was...getting my house ready for Celeste's first day of preschool.


 
It's still two more years until Celeste starts kindergarten, and boy, is she going to be bored by the time that blessed day finally comes. She's already pretty advanced for her age socially--it must come from playing with older kids so often. So, I decided that it would be good for her if we could get her started in preschool. This year, we're participating in a co-op preschool; there are 6 kids and their moms are all on teaching rotation. Guess who drew the first teaching spot?

That's right...yours truly. Plus, I just used that segue as a transparent excuse to post a picture of my new, shorter haircut. I'm loving it! But back to preschool...

As you can see by the topmost picture, each kid had their own little "mat" upon which to sit for the opening & closing segments of preschool. In the opening segment, we do a roll call, check our calendar, say the Pledge of Allegiance, and sing a couple of "getting to know you" songs. After that, it was time for the craft.

We used tempura paint to decorate each child's tote bag (another mom had generously stitched each child's name onto their tote bag). We poured the paint into paper plates, then had each child make a colored handprint on their bag. Then everybody used colored sponges in our preschool craft bin to make a variety of cute designs on the rest of the bag.

Neat! Also, not my idea, I must add...see the previous blog entry regarding my lack of craft skills! We left the bags to dry off while the kids had snacks & played upstairs. Why don't I have any pictures of the kids themselves, you may ask? Well, because I was trying to be a good teacher and pay attention to the kids, not follow them everywhere with a camera.

All that was Tuesday...Thursday was more of the same, except that the craft was good old fashioned coloring pages, and the kids made each other cry a few times (and I made one kid cry as well...see what I mean? I'm not the most patient teacher). We all survived, though, and lived to see another day.

Needless to say, it was a learning experience for both me and the kids. I have already thought of several ways I can do this "teaching" thing better when my turn comes around again in late September. I know the kids will get more comfortable with this as well...it will just take some time. Celeste still had fun, though, so I suppose that's the most important thing for now. In the meantime, I will work on building up my patience, enthusiasm, and sweet craft-making skills. My theme next time is "trains"--does anybody have a good train craft for preschoolers? Inquiring minds want to know!