Tuesday, August 26, 2008

If You Teach a Man to Fish...

I felt like I was trying to teach a whole boat full of fisherman today, except they are all only 5 years old LOL.

It's amazing to me the ginormous amount of data that is fed to kindergarten children. Yes, there are all sorts of academics, they are writing their names, reading by the end of the school year, counting, writing numbers, doing math, etc. But here are some other things they also learn that we take for granted with our older, more seasoned students:
  • walking in a straight line with their mouths quiet (most of the time)
  • raising their hands when they need help
  • how to take turns in line, on the playground, for the bathroom, for a snack, to enter the gym, etc.
  • fair play (this is one even the big kids need to learn over and over sometimes)
  • how to open their own milk carton, juice pouch, chip bag, fruit cup, straw and even their lunch boxes (I implement the 'let me see you try it' approach first and you'd be surprised how many can get it on their own)
  • compassion - helping a playmate by pushing them on the swings, sharing something from their lunch, getting help if someone is injured, etc.

Moms, I know it's rough sending your 'baby' off to school for the first time for a full day. I know you want to do everything for them and that's okay because you have only them to cater to and it's your job to nurture them. But by the end of this very school year, your baby is going to have mastered everyone of these bulleted points, and many many more. They are growing into independent little people with minds of their own. The more we teach them to do, the more independent they become and the stronger the hunger becomes to learn even more.

Rest assured, your child is in good hands. We love our charges in the lunchroom like they're our own -- after all we are all mommies too.

'You can't take the mommy out of the lunch lady' (my motto)

2 comments:

Susan said...

Do you have the motto posted somewhere in your lunch room? :)

It's amazing how much they learn, isn't it? I helped in the lunch room last year with the kindergarteners last year and it amazed me what they learn over the year.

The one thing that really floored me most of all? All our kids have lunch PIN numbers. Five digit PIN numbers. And the kindergarteners learn them within a week.

I asked Ben if he remembered his PIN number for this year (the numbers remain the same for the entire 9-10 yrs they are at the school), and he rattled it off like a pro after a few seconds of thought. Makes a mom proud.

Vera said...

Very nice post!!!!