Yelling out the window is not a learning centre.
Neither is chasing a classmate with a spray bottle. Stop it.
Flushing play-doh down the toilet? Also not a centre.
Please don’t pet the tadpole.
We don’t save Lego creations, no, not even if you “put it down really gently” in the bin.
Kindergarten.
I love it. Another year is wrapping up and this time of year is my favourite. This is when we get to reflect on the growth and success of the past year. I’ve been teaching this age group for about 14 years, give or take a maternity leave or two (math is hard, guys). Every year I learn new things.
Have you ever noticed a kindergartener when he dresses himself? I want to live my life with that kind of “take me as I am” attitude. Very few people over age five can pull off sports shorts paired with a long-sleeved, plaid, button-down shirt. Or socks and crocs with a winter vest overtop a t-shirt. They don’t care.
Some might say that kindergarteners have inflated egos and sense of self and they would be correct, but part of that is amazing. If you didn’t have a crazy ego you’d never think that coming in 8th in a race means you won. They don’t care.
Need a pick-me-up? Come to kindie gym and watch them run laps or do dashes from one end of the gym to the other. It is the best. It is physically impossible not to smile like a lunatic who ate too many Oreos when you watch them run their little hearts out with complete abandon. And their peers cheer them on and pat them on their backs regardless of how they performed. They don’t care.
This year I learned once again that being outside is better than just about anything. There are articles and books and jargon-filled resources that essentially all say the same thing: Magic happens when we learn outside.
No matter if you are indoors or outdoors, kindergarteners will sing along with any song, even if they don’t know the words. Because they don’t care.
I think I need to care a little less, too (but not about flushing play-doh, seriously stop doing that).
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Tough Bananas 
A lunatic who’s eaten too many Oreos? I wonder who that might be…
It could be anyone, really.
Hi Jan, I haven’t had the opportunity to see many kindergartners together but when I see my little daughter and a couple of her friends, I realize how amazing they are and how much as an adult I can learn from them to make my happy a little happier and more peaceful.
Thanks for sharing. Seeing things through their eyes changes you, doesn’t it?
And when you can just smile because the whole room of your friends can sing the song about your name, even though you can’t sing it . . . yet – you know Kindergarten is just a magical place.
Absolutely.
My eldest graduates from SK this year. She is so excited. Looking back you can see how much she’s grown and how far she’s come. {tear}
Bittersweet, isn’t it?