4 days down, how many to go?

Just kidding, I'm not counting down days of school quite yet. That usually doesn't start until right after spring break when we have no more days off until summer vacation. I just wanted to give an update on my class this year at Carver. I've never had the same kind of class twice, which makes sense I suppose, different kids, different personalities, different "quirks" (I use that word lightly, meaning they could be good or bad). This year's preschool class is no exception, we have such a wide range of abilities from barely speaking English and just potty-trained to sounding out the spelling of familiar words and having the vocabulary of a 60-year old woman!

I see this melting pot of students as a challenge to my teaching, one which I will fully embrace- hopefully someday soon :) When I think about it more though, I makes me appreciate the insanity of myself and my co-workers even more. Who in the world wants to be a preschool teacher?! We're nuts, insane, loco, whatever you want to call it, that's us. If you've ever had to get lunch ready, while helping your kids wash their hands, while cleaning up milk spilled on the floor by someone who wasn't supposed to be touching the table because they just went to the bathroom and still need to wash their hands, while putting out the fire between the boy who looked at the other boy who burst into tears, while politely (yet firmly) telling another child that you will not wipe their bottom like mom does at home, while singing songs to occupy the children who are starving and ready to revolt unless their friends "hurry up so we can eat!"......then think about doing them with 18 children between the ages of 3 and 5, how could you NOT believe that preschool teachers aren't one fry short of a happy meal?! (And that's just lunch time)

I say all this, but of course I love my job and working with small children makes me appreciate the little things in life, like hugs, "I love you", holding hands, bubbles, being silly, and best of all- just enjoying what's in front of me. If you have a preschool teacher that you know and love, make sure to tell her exactly why you do- the kids and the families are why we do it.