At our elementary school, there is a rule called KYHFOOTY. This is an acronym for "Keep Your Hands, Feet and Other Objects to Yourself." It's an important rule, and a lot of things can fit under this rule, including: hitting, kicking, pushing, punching, poking, putting others in head locks, wrestling, etc. We had a lot of KYHFOOTY problems in my class yesterday, with children pestering one another constantly.... remember my police threat? It's okay though, because kindergartners do not hold grudges. Which leads me to today's problem.
Kissing.
That's right, we're just sitting there in the middle of our reading lesson, practicing our letter D sounds, when one little girl leaned over and kissed another little boy smack on the lips. Unfortunately, rather than having the shocked expression I expected, he kissed her back! So, these two were happy as clams, and I not only had to separate them, but then we had to discuss some serious facts of life:
It kind of went like this, "Boys and girls, we need to follow kyhfooty in school. We are not allowed to kiss our friends!"
Children, "Gross!"
Me: "I know, gross, huh?"
Children: "My mom and dad kiss."
Me: "Yes, but they are moms and dads. We do NOT kiss friends at school."
Children: "Augh! Gross!"
Me: "Exactly."
I'm hoping that I put enough emphasis on this subject that it will remain in their psyche for years to come. KYHFLOOTY!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
I had to.
This morning I had a lot to do before school started. That means more work than I really had time for. But don't worry, my kindergartners started a fight on the playground before school, so instead of doing that work, I was having to be down at the office, dealing with unruly children.
So, here's the basic interview process when talking to kindergartners about fighting...
"So, would you like to tell me what happened?"
Child A: "I fighted him and he fought back!"
That's right. That was this child's argument for why he should not be responsible for what happened. Then, I turned to the other child.
"So, would you like to tell me what happened?"
Child B: "He hit me, and so I had to hit him back!"
Hitting him back including repeatedly slamming his backpack over the other child's head. Had to. There weren't other options. HAD TO.
Later that day we were still having troubles with several of the other children keeping their hands to themselves. So, we talked about what those behaviors would lead to, including being sent to the principal's office. And do you know what the response was?
"I like Mr. Adams!"
Kindergartners! So, I had to finish that threat with, "You'll go to the principal's office... and then he'll call the police!"
That finally got their attention. Maybe a little extreme... but when you spend all day everyday with five year olds, your thought process gets a little out of whack. :) I had to say it. I HAD TO.
So, here's the basic interview process when talking to kindergartners about fighting...
"So, would you like to tell me what happened?"
Child A: "I fighted him and he fought back!"
That's right. That was this child's argument for why he should not be responsible for what happened. Then, I turned to the other child.
"So, would you like to tell me what happened?"
Child B: "He hit me, and so I had to hit him back!"
Hitting him back including repeatedly slamming his backpack over the other child's head. Had to. There weren't other options. HAD TO.
Later that day we were still having troubles with several of the other children keeping their hands to themselves. So, we talked about what those behaviors would lead to, including being sent to the principal's office. And do you know what the response was?
"I like Mr. Adams!"
Kindergartners! So, I had to finish that threat with, "You'll go to the principal's office... and then he'll call the police!"
That finally got their attention. Maybe a little extreme... but when you spend all day everyday with five year olds, your thought process gets a little out of whack. :) I had to say it. I HAD TO.
Birthday and Puzzles
Well, happy birthday to Nathan! This past Tuesday was Nathan's birthday. That's pretty exciting, since it was Veteran's Day too, so he got a parade on his birthday! I also made him dinner that night... and I'll have to say it turned out pretty well. Here is his birthday cake. Mostly, I didn't have any cake decorating tools, so I squeezed the frosting out of the corner of a plastic bag-- how's that for clever?
Nathan also reintroduced me to the world of puzzles that evening. I don't really do a lot of puzzles. Only because I'm no good at them and they take me forever. (Let's be honest... I get frustrated when the kindergartners dump out their "hard" puzzles... not just because I have to put them back together, but also because it takes so long for me to figure them out!) I really liked this method though. I just sit there and attempt to put pieces together. Every now and then I get really lucky (by pushing the pieces together really hard), and then I still get to see the puzzle make progress as Nathan puts the rest of it together for me. What a good team!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Language Translation
I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to write today, but the Boy was telling me that I needed to report something. I had a really fun weekend, where I went ice skating and watched a movie with Nathan, and then Sunday evening we had dinner and went to Julie's house to watch the movie, "Emma".
Things must be going really well between us. I base that comment off of Nathan's facebook, where he wrote in Portuguese, "Nathan is very happy because this 'courtship' is going well!" Maybe he doesn't know that I took 3 years of Spanish, and could figure out most of what it said on my own. But even if that were not the case, I guess he forgot that it takes about 3.2 seconds to google that phrase to get a translation into English. Either that, or he wanted me to read it, but didn't want to make it so obvious. Either way, it made me laugh. :)
Things must be going really well between us. I base that comment off of Nathan's facebook, where he wrote in Portuguese, "Nathan is very happy because this 'courtship' is going well!" Maybe he doesn't know that I took 3 years of Spanish, and could figure out most of what it said on my own. But even if that were not the case, I guess he forgot that it takes about 3.2 seconds to google that phrase to get a translation into English. Either that, or he wanted me to read it, but didn't want to make it so obvious. Either way, it made me laugh. :)
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The First Snow of the Year
So, today was most definitely the first snow of the year! Last night it snowed a little tiny bit. And then today, we woke up to a blizzard. This meant a forty minute drive to school when it's usually under 15. It also meant that I was having to zip up a whole lot of coats. I think we are definitely going to need to work on the coat zipping skills of my students. The more that can zip their own coats, the happier we will be!
Today was also Vianne's very first snow. I think they don't have much snow in Burundi, and I think it was awfully overwhelming. He went running outside to recess with all of the other kids, got out onto the playground where it was snowing like crazy, and then began to bawl. This child is silent most of the time, but when he cries, he howls. So, I helped zip up his coat, and cover his hands with his sleeves, and then had him stand next to me, and rubbed his back to help keep him warm, and he calmed down. I think he just didn't know what to think. And if you have never seen anything like this, and no one around you can explain it to you since you don't speak English, what are you supposed to think? He is one adorable little boy though. He has long black curly eyelashes, and all of the snowflakes get caught in them.
I also had children that did not know how to get dressed for the weather. As school ended, one little boy, Beau went running outside wearing nothing but his t-shirt. When I asked him where his sweater, coat, hat, and gloves were (his mother had been so kind to send him prepared for the weather), he told me that they were all inside his backpack! I told him to come back and inside to put them on, to which he replied, "But Miss Parrish, I'm cold!"
We're going to get this figured out. I'm sure of it.
Today was also Vianne's very first snow. I think they don't have much snow in Burundi, and I think it was awfully overwhelming. He went running outside to recess with all of the other kids, got out onto the playground where it was snowing like crazy, and then began to bawl. This child is silent most of the time, but when he cries, he howls. So, I helped zip up his coat, and cover his hands with his sleeves, and then had him stand next to me, and rubbed his back to help keep him warm, and he calmed down. I think he just didn't know what to think. And if you have never seen anything like this, and no one around you can explain it to you since you don't speak English, what are you supposed to think? He is one adorable little boy though. He has long black curly eyelashes, and all of the snowflakes get caught in them.
I also had children that did not know how to get dressed for the weather. As school ended, one little boy, Beau went running outside wearing nothing but his t-shirt. When I asked him where his sweater, coat, hat, and gloves were (his mother had been so kind to send him prepared for the weather), he told me that they were all inside his backpack! I told him to come back and inside to put them on, to which he replied, "But Miss Parrish, I'm cold!"
We're going to get this figured out. I'm sure of it.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Good Surprises
This morning, I had a major surprise. The kind of surprise that you really, honestly, never would have thought of, and is a super good surprise.
As I was heading out the door this morning, expecting another regular day of school, I went out to find a tall, handsome young man named Nathan raking our leaves and bagging them for us. He had them nearly done by the time we even noticed. That's right... crack of dawn, and he's raking our leaves!
So, I hugged him, and thanked him, but it just seemed so inadequate. As Ian put it, "I give that man props!"
I was super excited about it... more than I realized, I think, because at about 10:30 in the morning, the secretary, Susan, came in to ask me a question and just said, "That smile is still on your face."
As I was heading out the door this morning, expecting another regular day of school, I went out to find a tall, handsome young man named Nathan raking our leaves and bagging them for us. He had them nearly done by the time we even noticed. That's right... crack of dawn, and he's raking our leaves!
So, I hugged him, and thanked him, but it just seemed so inadequate. As Ian put it, "I give that man props!"
I was super excited about it... more than I realized, I think, because at about 10:30 in the morning, the secretary, Susan, came in to ask me a question and just said, "That smile is still on your face."
Monday, November 3, 2008
Going Nuts!
Kindergartners have vivid imaginations.
A few weeks ago, we had a lesson on prepositions. This lesson involved a stuffed squirrel looking for nuts to store for winter around a chair. He tried on top of the chair, around the chair, under the chair, etc. When we were finished, he found a small stash, which the children insisted that I place in a special place for him to store for winter.
Since that time, every now and then the children will find an acorn on the playground and bring it in for "the squirrel." I have found all of this quite amusing, but today, they found "the mother load."
Before school started today, my children discovered that the tree in front of the school has lots of acorns... enough to fill the pockets on the fronts of your hoodies, and all of the tiny little pockets in your pants, and even enough to put in your backpack!
Soooooo... the stuffed squirrel in our classroom will not be going hungry any time soon!
A few weeks ago, we had a lesson on prepositions. This lesson involved a stuffed squirrel looking for nuts to store for winter around a chair. He tried on top of the chair, around the chair, under the chair, etc. When we were finished, he found a small stash, which the children insisted that I place in a special place for him to store for winter.
Since that time, every now and then the children will find an acorn on the playground and bring it in for "the squirrel." I have found all of this quite amusing, but today, they found "the mother load."
Before school started today, my children discovered that the tree in front of the school has lots of acorns... enough to fill the pockets on the fronts of your hoodies, and all of the tiny little pockets in your pants, and even enough to put in your backpack!
Soooooo... the stuffed squirrel in our classroom will not be going hungry any time soon!
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