First day jitters

We got home late Monday night from a great long family weekend in southern Utah. I'm all about squeezing every last bit out of summer vacation before I can really get serious about becoming a teacher again. I stayed up half the night getting my classroom in order and organizing every last button, block, and book and it all looks so perfect! Mother Goose Time makes getting back to school a piece of cake. I think I'll go eat some cake now that I think of it… But seriously, I can't love them anymore. With the starter kit, I get supplied everything I need for the new year and then some.

Because my class is small this year, I was able to add some fun new features to our room. I actually have a permanent sensory table and an art table this year! In the past I had to rotate these and was constantly moving things around. This is good news people! I hate moving things around so I am a happy lady right now. MGT sends the funnest math tools and manipulative each month and It always drives me crazy that I had to store them away. Now the class can access them anytime.

I know the kids get nervous for their first day of preschool but the truth is, I'm sure I'm far more nervous than they are. The weight of my responsibility for them and to their parents is huge! I worry that I won't love them enough or be able to teach them enough or that they won't be happy here. I worry that I won't have any love and patients left at the end of the day for my own kids when they need me. Caring and teaching other children than your own takes a certain patients that I didn't know I had.  After ten years of "first day" jitters I wish I didn't still get nervous. But I do. It weighs heavy on me. I read somewhere that the experiences a child has in preschool stays with them for three years! I worry that if I blow it… this poor kid is doomed for the next three years!

Because I have had so many great years, and such a positive experience teaching preschool, I can get past my insecurities and know that because I have love for these kids, and because God gave me the gift of teaching and understanding children, that through Him, I am making a positive impact in the lives of these families and their early education.

So here it is. The next year of adventure! After the first two hours with my new little class I wonder how could I have been nervous? These children captured my heart in seconds and I am smitten! I can't wait to teach them as much as they will let me.

Our Mother Goose Time theme for this month is "Friends and Feelings". I love this theme for September! When we are all feeling lots of emotions it is great to learn how to express them. When children don't have the words to express how they feel, their emotions (all of them) come our in their actions. I'm so excited to talk about feelings with them and watch them learn how to communicate their feelings with me and their new friends.

I had an idea of the different personalities at each table and I wanted to see where the children were at socially. So, for our very first craft time, I placed all the materials for our "friend puppets" in a pile on each table. I normally give each child their own supplies but because we are learning about friends and sharing and being kind this month I knew this would be a great opportunity to practice.

I LOVED WHAT I SAW!!! 

"Here! Have one of my google eyes!" 

"Do you want to use my glue?"

"Teacher! She made a shirt! Can you help me make a shirt?"

The only instruction I had to give was that everyone was to have two puppets. I'm kicking myself for interfering now because I feel really confident that had I said nothing, this would have happened on its own. Now I'll never know. 

Day one and these darlings are friends and sharing already. Not because I told them too. Not because they were promised a reward. But because it is in their nature to be loving. I am excited to see how this carries out through out the year. 

While we are learning about "Friends and Feelings" this month, I am going to be paying attention to how my new little class interacts with each other. I'm sure there is a thing or two that I can teach them   about empathy and considering other's feelings. This month we will also be learning about feeling good about our efforts and developing a positive self image. All in the fun of preschool learning of course!

It feels great to be back on a schedule! My first day jitters are just about gone. Day two is tomorrow and I am excited to see how we do.