Stars

Normally herding ten three year olds from one activity to another is about as much fun as trying to herd cats. A common situation is as follows. I announce it is time to clean up the toys on the table and go to circle time. Apparently those are fightin' words because chaos insues. Several children due remain at the table and assist in the cleaning process - major points to my sweet cleaners. One child promptly flees the area and finds something to hide under - generally the soft couch in the book corner. Another child watches the first child flee and hide and then decides it would be great fun to join him. Child number three wanders around the room, occasionally dumping a few odd toys on the floor. Child number four just starts to wander around the room. Children five and six rely upon us adults to assist them in getting to circle time, so they wait patiently for us to help them transition to the carpet. Children seven, eight, and nine generally do an excellent job of cleaning and then independently finding their chair on the carpet. Child ten will go sit in his chair at circle time but needs you to remind him several times along the way otherwise the lure of the toys he must pass is just...too..strong. Now that I write it out, herding cats is sounding easier. We are making steady improvements though, and the whole process only takes about 5 minutes now instead of the 10+ minute process this was at the beginning of the school year. I will not admit how many times I count to 3 in a day though (i.e. Do you need my help or can you do it yourself? 1, 2, 3. Okay, I will help you do it.). So on Thursday my assistant squashed her foot under the wheelchair lift of a schoolbus and so she needed to be out of the room for a while. I was faced with the above ritual without reinforcements or backup. Oh crap!! However it went nothing like the above play-by-play. Children one through three assisted in cleaning up and then promptly went and sat in their chairs at circle time. Children seven through ten helped clean and actually carried the containers of toys to the shelves to put them away before sitting in their chairs at circle time. Children five and six waited patiently until I assisted them to their chairs and setled into their chairs at circle time without protest. Child number four, who has never responded to our classroom routine without numerous prompts, walked over to the group at circle time and stood in front of a chair!! Yes, I have the world's best children!! They are amazing, wonderful, awesome little ones who knew that I desperately needed them to pull out their best of the best behavior because I had the odds so stacked against me. Just to continue to show off they sat at circle time without complaint and participated to the top of their performance for 20 minutes!!! WOW! After 20 minutes a relief pitcher came and we left circle time to make really cool scarecrows. I don't mind the little behavior stuff (although the running away when I make a request is getting some serious intervention) as long as I know that they can pull out the best behavior when I really need them to do so. It would be unreasonable to expect near-perfect behavior from three year olds on a daily basis - and it would be a little freaky too! I was amazed, thankful, and impressed but most of all so incredibly proud of my little ones. They are Stars!