I have my usual 5 or 6 who attend regularly and always ask where I have been and why I wasn't there if for some reason I cannot make it on a Sunday as apparently the relief teachers aren't as fun (or so my class tells me).
Today we had a lot of visitors and I had 10 in my class. Do you know what 10 four year olds in a small and I mean small class room that barely has room to fit that many chairs is like? From the way they were all acting it appeared to me as though they had all gulped a big helping of red cordial (full of sugar) before entering the classroom. They were feral! And why is it only in my class? Right through sharing time they were so quiet, meek and mild, yet as soon as the doors opened and they ran (with me yelling "don't run" pointlessly) all the way to our classroom where they then insisted on jumping on the chairs and asking for a toilet break every 5 mins for the next hour.
My regulars know the routine. I keep it simple. The class is broken down into 4 elements, first is the lesson (10 mins max) then is the games time (usually hang man or something similar that is themed towards the lesson) and then is drawing time. For drawing time before church every Sunday morning I spend 1/2 hour trawling the internet for outline pictures that vaguely match the lesson so they can be tied into the theme. I then use our printer to print out 8-10 copies of the picture for drawing time so they can colour it in. Then after drawing time is closing prayer and the end of primary class, whereby I open the doors and let them loose on the unsuspecting people loitering in the hallways of the chapel.
My regulars know this routine and they favour it. When I try to do anything out of order they let me know or they will ask towards the end of the lesson whether it has been 10 mins yet and how long it is until game time etc.
This week I was out of ink in our printer. I wondered for a moment where I would find ink on a Sunday as shops do not open on Sunday here and then figured drawing time for this week can actually be used for drawing instead of colouring. So I went to the bottom tray of the printer, pulled out 10 blank sheets of paper and took them to church with me. When we got to drawing time I handed out the pieces of paper and explained that today for something different we were going to draw instead of just colour in. As the lesson today was about praying to Heavenly Father I asked them to drawer a picture of themselves praying. Even though I explained this 3 of my regulars asked me where the picture was they were meant to colour in as the page was blank and one of them went really quiet and then burst into tears and when I finally cheered him up enough to tell me what was wrong he said he didn't know what he was meant to be doing because there was nothing on the page like there always was. Did I get these kids too comfortable with a routine? I mean I do not have children but I have always been told that with little kids routine is better as it becomes familiar to them and they can rely on it. Familiar is more comforting for little ones... but now I am worried they are too comfortable? What am I meant to do now? I don't want them bursting into tears everytime something different happens or the routine is not adhered to. I don't have children, I have no idea what I am doing, I am making this up as I go with the only aim being that the children learn the main principle of the lesson whatever that is ie - you can pray to heavenly father no matter what happens. I know I asked for the little ones because I was intimidated by some of the older ones and didn't want the questions and behaviour from some of them but sometimes I feel like I would really rather them as at least then they would understand me shaking up the routine and would be more interactive. Any ideas on what I should do?
Cindy
10 comments:
I think it sounds like you are doing exactly what you should be. Is that child normally weepy or clingy? I wonder if he was just thrown off more by the influx of visitors than the lack of picture to color. A 4-year old that comes unglued by something that small is probably reacting to something else.
That is what I was going to say, Sharon. Routine for little ones is essential. Maybe take a picture for them to color and a blank page as well and give them the choice of which one they want. Or just change it up in this one area. But as Sharon said, to react to something this small is probably something else and a lot of visitors is probably it.
As for the "sugar high" behavior in your class? Probably because your class is at the end of a very long block of meetings. Too long for little ones to sit still. They need to get up and move around and expend all that pent up energy. If the choirister is not doing a lot of action songs or there is not a lot of opportunities for them to move in sharing time, they are going to do it in class. See if you can incorporate some type of movement in the lesson or game time.
Take today's lesson. "Show me what it looks like when we get ready to pray" Then they would get out of their chair and kneel down in front of it. "Show me what it would look like if we were a family and we were getting ready for family prayer" You all kneel in a circle together.
When I was in Primary and had the small ones and needed them to get quieted down, I would have them mimic me. The first day I explained how it would work, after that I just did it and they followed. This is what I did.
I would start by raising my hands above my head and shaking my hands, then wiggle my hips, then shake one foot then the other, then move my arms around some more, then just my hands then fold my arms and sit in a chair.
The rules are, when you see me doing this and not talking, you have to follow what I am doing without talking. After about 3 weeks they know this is the quiet down routine and it works, but it also allows them some movement.
I'll see if I can find my links from my other hard drive. There were all kinds of primary links and lesson pictures etc. When I find them I'll post them here for you.
Thank you. More activity to burn the energy is needed. Only problem is our classroom is the size of our bathroom at home and I do not want to take them outside in case they get run over or something as our chapel is on the corner of two roads.
That is a problem then. Try having them stand in front of their chair and do the last activity I suggested- it doesn't take up a lot of room. Like singing Head Shoulders, Knees and toes.
Here is a link to some of the other links. See if you can find something there that helps
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4RNTN_enUS324US324&q=lds+primary+blogs
This is one of my favorite:
http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php
Good for coloring pages:
http://churchbabies.blogspot.com/
I agree - Sammy is SUPER sensitive when we have a lot of visitors in nursery - to the point of tears and not wanting to go, etc... It sounds like you're doing great!
Sandra: isn't there a site called...the red door or something like that with clip art and printables?
T-are you thinking of the idea door? http://www.theideadoor.com/
Movement is definitely something they need. I have 20 four and five year olds in preschool right now, and we always have to make sure we do something that gives them the chance to get any last wiggles out before we start large group time. Then they are more likely to sit still and not be distracting to their neighbors for that 10 minutes.
When it comes to the change in routine, it's good for them. It might cause them a little bit of distress, but if it happens regularly (like every third week or something) they'll get used to the idea that sometimes things are different. I like Aunt Sandra's suggestion of taking blank paper and something with a picture already on it. When children are given a choice, they feel more like they own their work, and are more likely to behave during the activity.
Thank you for the suggestions, they are appreciated.
Sharon - the child isn't usually clingy.. maybe he was just having a bad day.
One of the visitors kept hugging me too. He kept getting up off his chair and coming to the front of the class and hugging my leg... I wasn't sure what to do about him... little people are strange...
The visitor probably felt a bit lost and scared as well and as the teacher, you were the anchor, the constant and the safe place and the going back and forth to hug you was his was of reassuring himself that his world was still ok.
hello... hapi blogging... have a nice day! just visiting here....
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