Uncle!

This REALLY has not been my week! Even though I was recovering from my running incident, I went on a scheduled vacation to Hawaii. My first big experience in a major earthquake! We were without power and water at our hotel for about 13 hours. It was difficult to get food (no restaurants open, etc.) and water. We spent over an hour in line to get into the ABC convenience store to get some water and snacks. I know these are minor inconveniences. There wasn't damage or injuries here on Oahu. We are all subject to natural occurrences. It is amazing how it changes one's perspective!

Ouch!

I was out for a run yesterday and got hit by a car. Actually, the car backed into me and because I was running I did a left-side nose dive into the pavement. It really hurt. I'm not sure the driver of the car knew that it hit me because he/she sped off. I spent many hours in the hospital and finally was released last night. I just had lacerations and burns, no fractures (for which I am truly grateful). But, I was interested in how they cross-checked things at the hospital before they let me leave. I know how accurate they wanted to be so that I could repair and again be healthy. I wish we had a similar cross-check for children's development. It would be great if every child had gained every bit of skill and knowledge necessary before entering kindergarten and again before leaving high school. I know we try our best to have a cross-check system, but social stigma and social status can sometimes get in the way. I guess we can't guarantee academic learning any more than a doctor can guarantee that we will never get sick or injured. It just would be nice...

Time Goes By...

My oldest son turned 30 today. It seems impossible that I have a child that age! Especially since I still feel like I just turned 30 myself. I remember when he began kindergarten. I was a little concerned with his class because it was a paper-pencil-worksheet environment. I was a bit disappointed that there weren't many hands-on activities. My son, who could already read, was thrilled with the worksheet atmosphere. There have been times I wondered if leaving him in that class was a good decision on my part. I guess I will never know. There were indicators throughout the growing years that he missed something important. He's a great guy now and I wonder what would have been different in his life had he had a more developmentally appropriate kindergarten/first grade experience.

Lost Teeth

My granddaughter lost her first baby tooth this past week. Such a growing-up milestone! When your my age, losing a tooth would be a growing-OLD milestone. Not one that I want to experience anytime soon. The new lost tooth, however, does represent a growth process in the physical development of a young child. It might be nice if cognitive and emotional growth developmental milestones gave us a physical reminder of what to do, also. Unfortunately, when a child does not recognize the letters of the alphabet, the adult needs to diagnose where she is functioning to determine what activity would help her develop that skill. Many early childhood teachers have not been equipped with the skills to do a proper diagnosis. Think of how much training a doctor requires to be able to diagnose an illness or a physical developmental stage. As impractical as it sounds, it might be nice if teachers of young children had a similar intensive training as they are charged with the emotional, cognitive and mental health of a child.

Making Cupcakes

My California grandchildren were in town this past week. I was lucky enough to get to babysit my 2 month-old granddaughter and my 3 1/2 year-old grandson while my daughter and kindergarten granddaughter got their hair cut. We had a great afternoon. While the baby slept, my grandson and I made cupcakes to surprise the other family members. We made a big mess, but we ended up with yummy cupcakes and eventually a clean kitchen. This experience reminded me that sometimes it is messy to give children life-learning experiences. Adults who refuse to make messes are probably not doing what is best for children. I used to get raised eyebrows occasionally for now wearing dress clothing when I was teaching kindergarten. I found that if I wore nice jeans, I didn't hesitate to get out the paints and get on the floor with the children. Raising resilient children is a messy job sometimes. Get your hands dirty!

BPOE

I know that there is a national club that has BPOE all over their facilities. I was always told that the acronym stood for "Best People on Earth." I actually think that the best people on early are early childhood teachers. I just met and worked with a group of preschool teachers in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. What a wonderful group of teachers. Actually, I find that same quality in most groups of early childhood teachers. They really are the best human beings around. They are nurturing, caring and work very hard with little compensation. Lack of proper pay alone tells you of their commitment to children. I know there are a few deadheads in the profession, but overall I am so happy that our children are in the care of such wonderful people. It makes you wonder how fantastic our classrooms would be if there was enough money for adequate compensation and plenty for classroom materials. We might just have the best educated children on the planet. It would be a wonder to see what the combination of love and resources could do!

Does the Paint Come Out?

A local group of preschool teachers and directors asked me to come and show the art materials (paint mostly) that are available at Discount School Supply. Although I do numerous workshops each year, I haven't done a hands-on art workshop in a long time. We have renovated our entire house this summer so much of my teaching stuff is still in storage, including aprons. I dressed up today for the workshop and began demonstrating Biocolor and Liquid Watercolor paints. As I opened one jar of purple paint, it shot with an air bubble out of the lid and onto my (new) shirt. The label says 'washable.' Thank goodness when I got home I found that it really was washable. It brought back many memories of how I would dress and plan for clean up when I was a teacher. I never let mess keep me from providing a fun project for the children, but I think I had forgotten just how messy it is! At least the purple paint is gone and the teachers have new materials and ideas. A win-win.