Spending a large portion of my day today in the classrooms here at the preschool and before and after school programs on island, I am reminded of why I love my job so much. I decided to write a little about this because as I was headed home today, a friend stopped on her way around the island with a new hire in a golf cart and introduced me as a teacher on island. Then she said she didn't know how I spent all day with kids. For me, it's a no brainer because I like to play pretend and imagine and dream just as much as they do. I love to watch them learn new things about the world and their excitement about the littlest accomplishments. Children appreciate everything in a way we as adults have gradually become accustomed to and now take for granted. Most mornings when I visit the before school program, I am bombarded with little girls wanting to show me the pictures they have drawn for their friends or boys showing me what they have made with the Knex building system. As parents, it's easy to become complacent about these small accomplishments our kids achieve, but if we take a minute to stop and talk to them about it, we'll find out how much they are learning and how creative they really are. So, with the kids in the program, I don't just stop at, "Wow, that's a beautiful drawing or I really like your ship you've created with the K'nex." I delve deeper. "Tell me who the picture is for and what you have drawn or what kind of ship is it and what can it do?" The greatest thing about asking these questions is the broad smiles of excitement you receive from the children because you are showing interest in their world, and usually, they can't wait to tell you all about it.
Later this morning, I spent some time in the preschool classroom where some of my favorite little friends attend. It's that "they're so cute you just want to pinch them age group." Anyway, out on the playground, one of the little boys asked if I wanted to play with him, and I said "sure." So, we went to the water table with some toy boats and began motoring around the "ocean," docking, and dropping off boxes and picking up passengers. After a few minutes of this, I asked my friend where we should go next, and you know what he told me? He said we were going to Machu Picchu! I was amazed he had even heard of that famous "Old Mountain" which is part of a Pre-Columbian Inca site located in Peru, South America. Of course he didn't know where it was exactly, but it was fun to "travel" there with him on boats in our very small water table world. Another group of kids was building an "Ant Trap" with outdoor blocks on the playground. When I asked them how the ants would get in there, they said they would put them in, and then they wouldn't be able to get out. When the rain showers began, 4 kids ran into the small house for shelter. I asked if I could come in and join them and queried them about who they were and what they were doing. Amazingly, there was a mom, dad, daughter, and a grandmother in the house all working very nicely together cleaning and cooking and chatting away.
All of this "play time" is learning time for them, and it's fun to be in that intial learning and exploring the world with them stage. It gives me a renewed perspective and appreciation for life. When one of the boys pushed over the block tower, and another boy pushed him out of anger from the hard work he spent building the structure, it was a perfect teaching time for conflict resolution, teaching both children how to use their words to express their frustration instead of violence and how to be considerate of others by not pushing down the block tower to begin with. It was also a good time to show the children how to work together to help build the tower back and play cooperatively.
When we take the time to play with our little ones or anyone's little ones, it can be a form of escape like reading a good book which takes you to another world and when you look up once again to your duties and responsibilities for the day you feel as if you've taken a journey up to Machu Picchu and back and thus had the break you needed to put you back on track. At least that's how it is for me, but I guess that's why I am a teacher. It's where my passion lies.
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