Liberal Practices From A Southern Teacher
I’m fortunate enough to have some pretty understanding coworkers but I tend to be slightly more liberal than most caregivers in Texas. A few of my classroom behaviors however continue to turn a few heads- don’t worry, none of them are harmful to the kids or their development. They’re just part of my teaching style.
“Pre-K Pause” is something I picked up on TikTok from “Mr. William’s Classroom” and my kids LOVE it. As a teacher of three, four, and five-year-olds, I do a lot of methods to regain the attention of the kids. “Pre-K Pause” and “1, 2, 3, eyes on me” are our personal favorites.
I won’t bore you with process versus product art but if you’re curious, I encourage you to do some research as it’s a very interesting topic. As a result, I almost never do product art (except for special occasions) and instead do almost exclusively process art. Why? Because it’s easier for me to step back and allows me the freedom to move about the room instead of having to “help” them through their art. I also don’t require the children to work on their art for a certain period or cut them off after a certain period.
As Much Free Time As Possible
Kids need structure, obviously, but they also need unstructured time to play, work out scenarios, and practice skills. Not to mention, they’ll practice skills you’re teaching (and retain them better!) when they’re in control of when they practice.
Playing outside is fun, yes, but taking small new activities like coloring or books to read outside makes being outside even more fun and more exciting. These activities are optional among children but can add a sparkle of excitement.
Discipline That Puts Them In Control
When I can see that one of my kids needs a small break from our circle time, story time, or just to simply walk away from a situation, I put the child back in control. “You can come back when you’re ready to listen.” Giving them the power to come back to a situation puts them in control, and gives them a moment to identify how they’re feeling and start to connect the feeling and action.
Careful Language and LOTS Of Questions
As you can imagine, if a child doesn’t understand why they’re in trouble, they can’t fix it. The fix is (thankfully) very simple; ask them. I talk to the kids one-on-one after an incident and have them explain to me what they did to see if they understand why it wasn’t acceptable. We also make a plan for better behavior next time.
We use terms like “kind listening” and “good choices” to help them later transition into kindergarten classes. We regularly review the meanings of these terms so they have a clear understanding of expected behaviors.
Threes, fours and five year olds tend to have a lot of disagreements. Instead of jumping in with the solution, I aim to guide them along to a natural solution that they come up with. It often goes as this,
I aim to be extremely mindful of language and word choices in my class, partly because our school is highly LGBTQ+ friendly, but because it creates an inclusive environment for the children and families. We use “grown-ups” in place of “parents'', and gender neutral pronouns as much as possible. In fact, we were wearing crowns one day and a young girl said, “I’m not a queen, I’m a king!”
Free Social Experimentation
I don’t hold my students to stereotypical gender roles. Boys are invited to play in home center, girls are invited to play with trucks. This is occasionally met by confusion among parents but once I explain that boys playing with dolls means they’re learning to be dads, uncles, grandpas, cousins and future caregivers, and discover a general understanding of infant care, parents become more accepting.
I don’t have any restrictions on dress up clothes and encourage all children to experiment accordingly. Sometimes, disagreements over whose turn it is to be “mommy” or “daddy” come into play and I help them find a solution which often involves them taking turns playing the role of “mommy” or “daddy” (meaning even the boys can play “mommy”!)
I tell the children in my class just about everything that is scheduled to happen including if I’ll be out, where I’m going if I have to step out of the room or if an event was canceled or moved to another day. Being transparent with the children helps them feel like they know everything that’s going on, gives them an idea of what’s going to happen, and helps them feel less in the dark on a day-to-day basis.
In a world of adults that struggle to control their emotions, it’s never been more important to encourage and teach children emotional regulation. We use a “calm down corner” to give them a soft space to work through big emotions like anger, frustration and a general need for calm. I take a corner of the classroom, add a soft rug, some pillows and a few sensory bottles for the perfect “calm down corner”. It takes a bit of time for children to understand it’s not a center to play in but a place to go for a few minutes when they need it. They naturally begin to phase out the corner as they mature.
There’s no such thing as an emotion that’s not okay in our room. I tell students that it’s okay to feel angry, sad, disappointed, frustrated, happy, excited, scared, or anything they’re feeling. Emotions aren’t bad, just the negative actions that accompany them. Kids often tell me if they’re angry at me for holding a boundary and I remind them it’s perfectly fine to feel that. I’m here if they need help with it.
Do you have any practices that give you weird looks? Let me know!
