Drying Racks

Having a place for children to put their art work to dry is important. The type you get is also important. Last year we got one of these. We had opened a new classroom and so had ordered it for that room. We have had lots of problems with it. The racks have never fit right, they are constantly falling through to the next level and it has been real unstable. I thought it was the cart itself. However, I have since discovered that the person who put it together (it comes unassembled) did a poor job of it. (note: for other reasons, she is no longer working for us). How did I discover this? Well, my supervisors were kind enough to order new drying racks for two of my classrooms who have been having to share (now they have their own). It was very nice of them; but I was disappointed that they chose this same one. Still, I had another teacher assemble it and it is very sturdy, very well put together, and has no problems. The children are able to pull each rack out if necessary to be able to reach to the far back to place items in there. Each shelf is the perfect size for a full easel paper to lay flat on.

I strongly believe that these are the type of drying racks that are necessary in a classroom. The children need to be able to lay their artwork flat to dry. Why? Have you tried one of these? The paint/glue/everything just ends up sliding right off. Plus it changes their work. Have you ever had a child use an entire bottle of glue on one piece of paper to put two feathers on? Process not product! These drying racks don't allow for that. However, the one we have does. If you asked me 6 months ago, I would have told you to buy a different sturdier item. But my mind has been changed. Now I am going to tell you to go ahead and get this one; just have someone who knows what they are doing put it together.

It's lightweight and mobile. We are able to pull it close to the activity table during an activity so the children don't have to walk all the way across the room with drippy painting. Then we (or the children) can easily roll it right back to the art area. Papers easily slide onto the racks and there is plenty of room. It's great!

Question for you

As I am putting together our annual slide show for graduation, I am going through my music. I am tired of the same old songs (You've got a friend in me; and all the Disney goodies). Do you have a favorite song that would great background for a slide show? Leave your suggestions in the comments below.

Book of the Week-Ben's Trumpet

In 1980, Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall (illustrated by Barbara Cooney) won the Caldecott Medal of Honor. This is awarded: "It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children." I am usually impressed by these awards; however I have to disagree with their choice for the year 1980. Ben's Trumpet got the honorary award, it should have won the Medal of Honor that year. This book is beautifully illustrated. It's black and white pictures are fabulous. You can almost hear the music coming off the pages just by looking at the pictures. I am enamored with this book. It's great to use as a group read or to sit one on one with a child or two.

Is there a child in your classroom who is into music? This book will be perfect for him. Talking about musical instruments or styles, this is the book for those lessons. Brass, percussion, Jazz, it's got it all. This book is fabulous. Every classroom should be introduced to it.

Graduation time

Graduation is coming up for those children going on to kindergarten. This is a time of year that is special to us; and filled with mixed feelings. First, we are proud of the children who are moving on to kindergarten. Then we are sad; we are going to miss them. They have accomplished so much with us, and been through so much. Many of the children have been with the center for many years (three years for us, longer if you have infant care). In addition, things get crazy as those now-kindergartners do move on and we get a whole new classroom full of new children. Most likely these children are the younger ones and will have an adjustment period. But today we are focusing on the graduation. What do you do to celebrate this big step?

I don't have a graduation ceremony!!!

What?!? That's right! I don't have a graduation ceremony. I have a few outlooks on this: True graduation is cheapened by this. What's the great accomplishment in graduating college if you can graduate preschool? Second, I don't like putting children on display. Okay, that's really first. Most of the children couldn't care less about putting on a performance for the adults...and even more so they don't want to! So, a few years ago I sat down and thought: what is the purpose of graduation?

I came up with this simple answer:

To show the parents everything we have learned throughout the year.

It also involves somewhat of a "parent pleaser". What parent doesn't want to see their 4 year old in that little cap and gown? So, this is how I please them: I have cap and gown photographs taken about 3 weeks ahead of time. We use a company that gives us kickbacks from the sales of the pictures so it works as a fundraiser for us.

No the more difficult question: how do we show what the children have accomplished? I had the brilliant idea of having a carnival! That's right! We have a graduation carnival every year now. This is not just any carnival. We have about 10 booths that are manned by volunteers (the last few years we have been blessed by some marines to come and volunteer). The volunteers ARE NOT the parents of the graduates. The preschool parents have to do nothing for this event. It is strictly for them and their children. We decide on the booths by looking at our assessment forms. We use the DRDP-r so we look to that as we decide what the booths will be. Here are the booths:

Fishing game-children throw their poles over the wall and "catch" different shapes and colors of fish. When they get the fish, the tell us what shape and color it is.

Bean bag toss-the children are given a certain number of beanbags and shown a pattern. They then toss the next few bean bags onto the shape and colors that would come next in the pattern

Pin the tale on the number-on the poster are sections with groups of dots, in their hands are items with numerals written on them. They match the numeral in their hand to the number on the poster.

Feelings-the child draws a feeling out of a grab bag (a cartoon picture that shows an emotion). They then say what the feeling is and use a mirror to make a face that represents that emotion.

Obstacle course-we make an obstacle course that has things like over, under, through, as well as balancing jumping, and other key elements. At the end of the course they take a ball and throw it at a target.

Letter/sound matching-a poster with different letters and objects that start with that letter is hung. There is a piece of yarn connected to one side with a clothespin so they can match the letter to the sound.

Bean count guessing game-we have several different jars filled with different amounts of beans. The children get to guess (estimate) how many beans they thing are in there. Then they get to count them out.

How many will fit-there are empty jars and they need to guess how many scoops of flour will fit in.

Ordering-different size balls are grouped together. The children need to put the balls in order according to size

Grouping-three baskets are placed out and the children are given items of different colors (red, blue, yellow). They toss these items into the baskets to group them according to color

These activities can vary according to the children for the year, but that is the general idea. After the do an activity, they get a sticker. It doesn't matter if they do one activity 10 times or if they do each activity. It's up to them which activities they want to do (very much like our child centered classrooms). Once they get their 10 stickers, they can come to the prize table. Each child has a bag that is filled with little trinkets (we stay away from the candy). The trinkets, for the most part, represent things they could find in their classrooms: little animals, dress up necklaces, crayons, stickers, small games. The dollar tree is a perfect place to get these items. They have a wide range of selection that is perfect.

In their prize bag there is also a "certificate of graduation" from preschool and a CD full of pictures of them while they were at our school (from their very first day). The disc also includes a slide show made special for the graduates. This slide show is also shown on a continuous loop throughout the activities.

Remember those cap and gown pictures we took three weeks ago? Well, they have been delivered by now and we sell these at the graduation as well. This is a perfect time because the grandparents are there and are very willing to take out the checkbooks!

We also ask the other classrooms to bring in hot dogs, chips, salads, and drinks. This is the gift from the other classrooms. Then we buy a cake.

Before starting, we have a gathering place where I call all the children to come up to the front of the crowd. We sing some of our favorite songs (kind of campfire style). Then everyone stands and we do the pledge of allegiance. This is probably the only place that you can say the children are "put on display"; however, the are standing with their back to the adults as part of the group, and no one is uncomfortable. Plus, the adults are participating as well. After the pledge of allegiance is when we open the gate to the carnival area. It really is a very fun day!

Believe it or not, time ends up flying! We start graduation at about 10:30 and everyone is done by 12:00. Then, we clean up and allow the preschool teachers to take the rest of the day off. Since we do continuity of care, each teacher gets this opportunity every year (it's never the same teacher). The years that we have Marines volunteer, they end up having everything cleaned before we can even blink. They are a great help. You could easily rely on your volunteers to get everything done from set up to clean up. It takes a huge weight off your shoulders.

So, what do you do for your graduations?

New Cameras

We just got new cameras for the entire center. The Kodak Easyshare C813. They are fabulous. I had a few criteria that I wanted before we bought them:

1. They had to be able to take photo and video

2. They needed to be able to zoom from a distance so as not to disturb children's play.

3. They need to be easy to use for those "technically challenged" teachers.

That was about it. And this one does all those things. With the card that we put in to the camera, we can get 25 minutes of video. That's fabulous. We use pictures and videos to document what the children have accomplished developmentally. When we do the assessments, we can go back to these photos and videos to verify what we are marking down as an accomplishment. It's great!

These cameras have proven to be very user friendly with the teachers. The pictures we print out are fabulous as well; and we use a black and white copy machine to print them out. We decided not to invest in a color printer because we really only need the photos for the children's files. However, when we have pictures we want to display, we can easily go to the store and print them out. These have been great. We'll see it they stand the test of time.

I figure with one camera per classroom, they really should stick around for a while.

Dinosaur Curriculum

Okay, I bunch of you have been searching and asking for some Dinosaur Curriculum. So, here are my five best ideas:

1. I have talked before about the sensory table and an archaeological dig. This is always fun!

2. Of course there is my favorite song. This is great fun to act out, use at transition times, or just to sing together. My favorite time to use in transition is getting ready for lunch. It gives plenty of time between each child to go potty, get their hands washed, put out their blanket, and sit down for lunch. This doesn't work if the children are going from one activity to line up and wait for everyone. They wait in line way too long!

3. I also love to have the children see how big dinosaurs actually were! Find the measurements for dinosaurs. There are so many different types and sizes I can't begin to give you links. You'll have to look those us. But once you get those lengths, measure them out on the playground. Use chalk and draw a line on the sidewalk or wall to show the length. You can also use yarn, but make sure you attach is securely so it doesn't come undone and trip people up. Have the children lay head to toe to show how long they actually are. Another way is to have them stand with their hands wide spread. Mark along the line how many children it took to measure the different dinosaurs. Make sure to post pictures of the dinosaurs you choose to use to show how tall they were.

4. You can do the same with the weight, in a way. This takes more math for the bigger dinosaurs, so stick to some smaller ones. Using a picture of the dinosaur, find out how much that dinosaur weighed. Then, weigh all the children. You'll have to add them all up; unless you have a really big scale! Take a picture of the groups of children that equal the weight of the dinosaur and post it underneath the picture.

5. Sorting dinosaurs by type (land, water, flying, meat eater, plant eaters, etc...). Have pictures or play dinosaurs and let the children sort them. Even better: help the children make a land area in the block area or on any expanse that can be left out where they can put the dinosaurs accordingly in the areas.

Book of the Week-Whistling Thorn

As I am putting books into my data base at LibraryThing, I ran across The Whistling Thorn by Helen Cowcher. I found it very fascinating. It's a perfect story that shows how things in nature adapt to protect itself and survive. The pictures are absolutely gorgeous! It feels like you are right there in Africa watching what is happening.

This would be a great book to read with one or two children quietly. Those children who may just need a little bit of personal attention. You could present this at circle time as well, discussing what kinds of things they see that could be a form of adapting. Even if you just have this book available for the children to look at leisurely, it will definitely be a fabulous addition to your classroom.

BONUS: Her picture is on the back cover! So, I will leave you with a link to her web page. Maybe you could find some more things to add to tell the children about her.

Take a ride on a roller coaster

Here is something that I never would have bought myself. However, when I came to this center that I am at, it was already here. The car was also missing. So, essentially, this sat in the toddler yard taking up space, not being used. Occasionally the children would walk along it, maybe even push each other down it; but that was about all. Finally, the teacher removed it from the yard and it took up space in the shed. For the price that was payed for it, I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of it...and I'm glad I didn't.

This past week, my preschool teachers decided to set it up in their yard. Something new to explore with and see what they children would come up with. Well, it turns out that we have some larger hard plastic trucks (something that is about this size, but it's more of a flatbed type truck). These trucks are perfect for a creative preschool class to take up to the top and ride on down. They are working out gravity and other science concepts like inertia, force, all that fun stuff. They are getting the smaller cars and racing them down, different size balls and rolling them down and up as well! They are doing so much exploring with this ramp, it almost makes it worth the money.

Don't get me wrong, I still would never buy this piece of equipment. I think it is completely unnecessary and takes up too much space. However, now that the preschoolers have found a productive use for it, I am glad we have it around.

Punishment versus Discipline

Years ago I had a great mentor define for me what I was doing when I was disciplining a child:

The root of the word discipline is Disciple, which means: to teach. You are trying to teach a child something.

Typically, you are trying to teach them how to be successful in society and life. If you keep this in mind, you will be teaching the child, not punishing. You are not allowed to slap a teacher! Now, you can make him sit in the corner where he will just get madder and madder and learn that you are the mean guy and to stay away from you; or you can teach him that when he hurts someone he needs to take care of that person so that next time he will be less likely to hurt.
I can't explain it as well as I would like in this short post, but hopefully you will see these natural disciplines as I give more examples on this blog site. Punishment is appropriate at very limited times (and typically at an older age); in preschool, we are still teaching the children how to function and succeed.

He slapped the teacher...

...and she didn't slap him back! Nope. She spend a little bit more time with him. So here's the story (I'm proud of her):

A child, let's call him Zach, was coloring...on the table. Miss J sees this and tells him that she has paper for him to color on if he wants, or a box, but he is not allowed to color directly on the table. Zach is going through some rough times at home, has some social delays, and is in speech therapy. This can get very frustrating for a teacher at times; and difficult to reach deep down and find some patience. Well, Miss J seems to be overflowing with patience. So, when she tries to redirect Zach, he reaches up and slaps her across the face! What does Miss J do? She takes him by the hand and tells him that he isn't allowed to hurt her and she needs to go do laundry, so he would be coming with her; and when they got back he would be washing the table. She didn't raise her voice, she didn't pull him, she just paused, took a breath, and reacted appropriately. When they got to the laundry room, he was still crying (he knew he had done wrong). When I asked what had happened, she let him explain. Through some quick and subtle questioning, I gathered that things were a bit chaotic in the classroom at the time (it was clean up time and they were making a major transition to another part of the day). Knowing this, I "suggested" that Isaac get to hang out with me for a bit. This would allow him to calm down as well as avoid a highly stressful situation back in the classroom.

Of course, he cried about this; but I explained that when he slaps his teacher, he doesn't get to be with her. It took him about 2 minutes to calm down enough to start examining the pictures on my wall. Once he was calm, I asked him what had happened. He kept repeating, quite mournfully, that he had slapped Miss J. This, along with his body language, told me he was very sorry he had done it. I suggested that we go get some ice for Miss J to help her feel better and bring it to her. He hopped up and skipped (literally skipped) to the kitchen and asked the cook for some ice. With a big smile on his face, he walked back to the classroom. I wasn't sure, at this point, that he really got the concept of what we were doing. Just outside the door I stopped and asked, "What are you going to do when we go inside?" "Give to Miss J, ice, feel better!" So, he did understand! We went inside, he gave Miss J the bag of ice, and this is what she did:
She bent down to his level and said Thank you! This makes me feel better!
I didn't need to give subtle hints to what we were doing, and she still got it. That made Zach feel even better.
It is so important to understand where a child is coming from. Miss J understands that this child didn't really want to hurt her, he was upset. He couldn't come up with the words fast enough to express himself, so he reacted physically; it's human nature. She wasn't mad at him! She understood him. She didn't punish him, she disciplined him. Natural consequences for your actions. You will clean up your own mess; you will take responsibility of your actions. Even better, there was a look in her eyes of true understanding; I know that she went home and cried from the overwhelming feeling that this child truly cares about her.

Math essential

We know that every classroom should have puzzles and math activities no matter what the age group. In my opinion (professional at that) I think every classroom should have one of these or one of these or, better yet, both! The second of these is perfect for an infant toddler classroom. They can't choke on the pieces, and they can't miss in putting them in the wrong hole. They fit in all the holes! The long pieces are great for little hands to grasp as well. As the children get older, they can be introduced to this one pictured here. With the four different shapes there is a 25% chance that the pieces will fit into an appropriate hole. Eventually, as they age, they will begin to sort by color and size. They can also sort in short simple patterns. These are great for spacial relations, geometric shapes, color awareness, coordination, seriation, measurements, and even logic! And yes, the children will stack them and roll them, and build with them too; and that's okay! I am a very firm believer that this is a tool that every classroom should have in a preschool setting, every age from 0-4 years.

Book of the Week-Fox Tale Soup

Here is a book I recently discovered; one which I can use as an extension to my stone soup curriculum. Fox Tale Soup by Tony Bonning; illustrated by Sally Hobson. This book takes a unique twist to a classic story: animals! And who would farm animals trust less than a fox? When they finish the soup and he leaves, of course they invite him back for more stone soup whenever he would like! The use of a sly fox adds to this tale. The bold colors used in the pictures add to the tale as well. This is a great book for group reading and one on one time. It is also great to expand on the stone soup curriculum; showing children books with the same story written/interpreted by different authors is a great social awareness.

Again, with not picture of the author or illustrator, I am cutting down your work (but only in half). Here is a picture of Tony Bonning:

Responsible parents

I have a general rule: when a child destroys school property, they need to replace it. Now, I of course have lots of flexibility in this rule. If it was accidental, if this child doesn't typically destroy things, and if the child was only a victim of circumstance (i.e. the pages in the book are already falling out). When a child's behaviors begin to escalate on a regular basis, I typically give the parent(s) a warning: If this continues, we will hold you financially responsible for what s/he has destroyed. This usually gets the parent's attention and they begin to cooperate with us in making a plan to improve the child's behavior.
Yesterday, we had a child tear a book apart...literally. This child is having some problems at home, but not too many at school, so I was ready to look the other way, in a sense. He owned up to it; and when dad came to pick him up he was the one who told his dad what had happened. Of course dad was upset that his child had done this.
Today dad came into my office with his wallet out, "How much did that book cost that he tore apart." I told him not to worry about it this time. We are all working together to help his child through some problems and that's all that matters. Dad was insistent that he pay for the book. I suggested that he take his son to the store and have him buy a book for the center, making sure that he knew that this was because of the book that he destroyed. Dad thought it was a great idea and promised to take him to the store tonight to do just that.
Then the light really went on:
"I'll take it out of his money, too."
That is a fabulous, no perfect, plan. The more responsibility this child has to take in righting his wrongs, the better he will learn. Needless to say, the child was very upset when he found out that he was going to have to use his own money to replace the book he destroyed.
I have to give big credit to this father. He is a single dad trying to do the best in raising his son. The child's mother is a drug addict and never around. He is trying hard to do this on his own; it's not easy. But to take the responsibility to replace the book...Huge points in my book! There are parents whose child has destroyed 2-3 books a day and I can't get them to replace one.

Do you have any parents that you give big credit for doing the right thing?

Parent Teacher Conferences

This is the time of year when we have parent teacher conferences. We do this twice a year (once in the fall and once in the spring). For the preschool child, the parents have one question: Is my child ready for Kindergarten? If the answer is no, it shouldn't be a surprise. You should have already been discussing this all along. What this conference should consist of are the skills their child has mastered in order to be ready for kindergarten. You should also discuss with the parents how to help their child transition to kindergarten. At this time, talk to them about what to expect: when the last day of preschool is, if you are having a special event for the children (we have a carnival day) in celebration of this big step, any paperwork they need to have ready to register for kindergarten, if they are going to public school find out which school the child will go to. The more information you give them, the easier this transition will be for everyone.
If you are in a younger classroom which the children will not be going to kindergarten, you still need to meet with the parents to let them know what to expect as well. Are they moving to the next classroom up? Who will the teacher be? Does your center practice continuity of care? How will the class be introduced to the new environment? This is a time that parents will have your undivided attention and be able to ask any questions or concerns they have.
This is also a time for you to find out anything that may be going on in the home. You need to listen and ask questions about home. You may surprisingly find out that the parents are splitting up. No wonder the child has been acting up suddenly.
The best thing someone once told me was this: A parent should do more of the talking in a parent/teacher conference.
There should be no surprises to a parent in these conferences. They already know you are having problems in the classroom; or that they are being extra great helpers. You should be communicating daily! There really isn't any new information the parent should have to hear. But there is lots of new information that the parent has for you. When they drop off and pick up their child, there are lots of ears around and the parents isn't comfortable discussing private family issues with you. In a conference, you have no one else around; they feel more free to talk.

Parent/Teacher conference tips:
1. Make a private space that is closed off and has no traffic coming through. Even if you have to have parents go through a different classroom to get outside to their children, you need to know you won't be interrupted.
2. Have adult seating available. We may be comfortable sitting in those tiny chairs, but parents aren't. When a 6 foot tall dad is trying to comfortably fold himself into a chair 1 foot off the ground, he isn't hearing what you are saying.
3. Don't have any surprises for the parents. They should already know if you are having issues in the classroom. This is a time to discuss your solutions to these issues, not bring them up for the first time.
4. Get the parents to talk. Ask questions that draw information out of them. "Is she writing her name at home?" "When he gets ready for school, do you pick out his clothes?" "Does he have any chores at home?" "What is your typical Saturday like?" "Who puts him to bed? Do you read him a story?" All these will get them to open up. You will be able to assess how much school work is being tied in at home. You may find out that he can tie his own shoes at home, even though he always asks a teacher to do this at school. The child that you think can't write his name, no less recognize it, may actually be writing his name and every one else in the house as well!
5. Enjoy yourself! This isn't a stressful time. This should be a pleasant experience. You may even find out that dad has a hobby of building things and he is more than willing to build you that new coat rack you have been looking for.
6. Have something to give the parents. Give them a piece of art work, have some pictures, put together a small book of samples. I used to have the children help make a book of their work with a cover, writing samples, pictures of them at play, dictation pages, and other fun things. Keep it small, only about 4-5 pages stapled together. You also might want to have some cookies and lemonade (preferably made by the children) as well.

Swings in the infant room

I have never been a believer in having swings in the infant classrooms. I like children to be self soothers and swings are quite the opposite of that. Plus, I don't like the look of them in the classrooms. I do understand that some infants need to feel that snuggled feeling when they sleep. So how do you accomplish this? I ran across this in a catalog today and I would definitely purchase this if I had an infant room. I would probably get at least two. I especially like the look it would give the environment. I have to admit, I love the Reggio approach and look of classrooms; this would fit right in. A hammock in which the child could be relaxed and comfortable is also ideal! With the child's natural movement the hammock would swing slowly and would encourage the self soothing.

Has anyone tried this in their classrooms? What do you think of it? I would love to have some pictures of it in real use as well!

Dramatic Play Clothes Rack

We have had this clothes rack for a while; we actually have two of these in different classrooms. We used to have three. Why are we down one? Because it was not well made and was unstable and just in general bad shape. It is nice to have for the children to be able to put the dramatic play clothes on, but I could probably have a dad make one for us that would be much sturdier. The two that we have left are just about ready to go as well. I would prefer to get a sturdier rack. If I had ordered these (which I didn't), I would have gone to the store to get them. I have seen some much better quality ones at IKEA, Target, and even Walmart for about the same amount of money (even less).

I am very big on getting parents to volunteer and help out in the classroom; so I would have actually asked one of our handymen dads to build us one of these. I can promise you, the parents put so much effort into these projects it will last longer than anything in the center.

Back, hopefull on track

It was so great to see so many people at the CAEYC conference this weekend (plus all the people who attended my workshop). I really enjoyed the group that joined me in my Conflict Resolution workshop. We had some great dialogue going on; and I hope I got you all excited about making some positive changes to how you view conflict resolution. I am already planning on next year's workshop ideas. Vote on the side panel here for what you would like to see.
I am thinking of doing a Friendship training. This is one that I have done with my center staff and others with a lot of success. We talk about Friendships in the classroom, recognizing friendships, and encouraging children to respect each other even when they aren't "friends". It's one of my favorite topics.
I am also considering doing my Art in the Child Centered Classroom. This is where we talk about all the fun art activities (not craft activities) that can be added to the classroom. This one is fairly hands on and draws a lot of your own creativity. You'll walk away with a lot of ideas for your classrooms and curriculum with this one.
This I am thinking about a training on enriching your curriculum. This talks about how to include dancing, cooking, board games, and other activities into your group and curriculum. Sometimes we have the best intentions, but we don't know how to incorporate these things into the classroom.
So, what do you think? Are there other trainings you would like to see?

See you there!

If you are going to the CAEYC conference today or tomorrow, I'll see you there! I am presenting a workshop on Conflict Resolution tomorrow at 10:30 (Saturday). Hope to see some of you there.

How do you report to a parent?

At our center we have four standard written reports that go home to the parents. One is a clothing request (we need extra clothes in the cubby/diapers/wipes). The second is an ouch report (you’re child fell and scraped his knee today). Third is an illness report. This one we fill out even if we call them (which we always do anyway). On this report is a space to tell what their temperature is, what the symptoms are (tired, quiet, runny nose, coughing, clingy, not eating, vomiting, etc…). I really like this form because a parent can pick up their sick child and, if they go to the doctor, they know all the symptoms and don’t have to tell the doctor “I don’t know, they just called me and he has a fever.” Our last report form is the one for discussion today: the incident report.
When I first came to this site, I was signing at least 15 incident reports a day. This was ridiculous. The teachers who were here at the time were writing incident reports for “not helping clean up the classroom” or “telling the teacher no when ask to sit down for lunch” or even “not napping today”. The idea of these forms, as I understood them, was to report incidents to parents that are of great concern. I quickly put a stop to the quantity of the use of this form. I limited it to doing purposefully physical harm to another person: biting, kicking, punching, etc… This brought the number down significantly. However, I was still getting more than I wanted to see.
I figured that if a parent was getting an incident report everyday for something their child did, they were going to begin ignoring it. The idea of this form was to bring behaviors to the attention to the parent. We had some children who had some challenging behaviors and were doing quite a bit of hitting, punching, and throwing things. The parents were not looking at these forms. It was also becoming a way to stop the communication with the parents; teachers were using these forms to avoid telling a parent about any behavior concerns. At this point, I created a new form that I filled out daily with theses specific children. On it they dictated something that was really good about there day; something they had difficulty with, and something they wanted to discuss at home. Doing this, the parents responded very well to this change. They began to see that we don’t hate their child and we could really see the good in them. They were more willing to work with us after this.
A few months ago, I noticed an increase in incident reports again. Some of them I didn’t put through. For example, a child “bit another child in the classroom when the other child took his toy.” That does not merit a report. He was defending himself! I have since added another limit to the incident report criteria: It must be an ongoing behavior and must be discussed with the parents when handed to them.
I like to deal with things at the center. If a child bites someone once, we deal with it at the center; it’s over and done with. He has been disciplined for it and doesn’t need to get in trouble all over again at home. However, if it becomes a behavior, then I talk to the parents about it before I hand them the report. I see the incident report as a tool to tell the parents we are having a problem at school that we need your help with.
All this being said, I am thinking of changing the title of the form from Incident Report to a Behavior Report; What do you think?

Nope, not ignoring you

No, I'm not ignoring you. It has been crazy around here since I got back from vacation. Today is probably the worst of them all. I'm just hoping beyond hope that someone is going to jump out and say "April fools!" But, I know that's not happening. So, I am suffering through this day and I am hoping that tomorrow I will be able to give you all a fabulous post on a fabulous product. I am putting together a list now of different things that I would like to review or talk about.

What would you like to hear about? Math, science, reading products? More literacy activities? Sensory table ideas? Leave me a comment!