Oh, It's You Again

That doesn't sound like a compliment, but I assure you, it was. 

I've been substituting for a teacher at school who wanted to go be with her daughter for the delivery of her second grandchild.  I was glad to be able to help and I looked forward to seeing some of the students I'd met before at my children's school.

The first day when I came in, one of the students I knew from before came into the room and said, "oh, it's you again!"  He didn't remember my name, but he remembered me and apparently he liked me as a substitute teacher.  He made me smile.

I've learned a lot about how the flow of the day goes at our school.  I substituted through three "phases" of the day starting at 11:30AM and ending at 5:30PM over the last three days.  The first phase, "After School" is for children under the age of five who are staying beyond normal dismissal.  They are between the ages of fourteen months and almost five years. 

These children walk into the classroom, put their bags up, change into their inside shoes, go to the bathroom, wash their hands, get their lunch box, select a seat, get their place mat and napkin, get a plate and utensils, fill a glass with water to take to their seat and then sit down so they can eat their meal.  They do all this without the teachers doing more than helping them remember what to do when they're off task, and most of them don't need any help at all.

When they're done eating, they put everything away, go to the bathroom again if needed, select up to three books and then they are expected to lie quietly on their sleeping mats until rest time is over.  Most of the children fall asleep, especially the younger ones.  The older ones look at books until it's time to clean up and go outside to play or do work that's been made available to them at the various tables after rest time.

At ten to three, most of the children prepare to be picked up.  Some children remain for a time called "carpool care".  This is a short thirty minute period specifically for people with older siblings who aren't dismissed until three-thirty.  There are specific items the children can work on during this time.  These specific things, such as paper and pencils, puzzles, eating their snack, blocks and tower-building components can be pulled out and used in groups during this short period.  At the end of this time, more of the students go home.

Next, the period called "After After School" begins and lasts from 3:30PM until 5:30PM.  This is for children who's parents aren't able to pick them up earlier due to work schedules.  We start with group time for fifteen minutes, either sharing something or reading a book.  The ages in this group range from three to eleven.  Once group time is over, we head out to the front playground for the remainder of the day. 

In the playground many things can happen.  You can work on projects or art items at the picnic tables, many like to play soccer, some of the younger students play games that involve a lot of running around, giggling and imagination and some of the older students sit and read.  Today, we got out rakes and raked leaves into big piles.  We had so many leaves we filled three big bags full and then sat on them like seats.  Some of the children were very interested in helping rake and bag the leaves.  

I learned so much substituting.  It's helped me understand what happens at school for my children and it's given me a good idea of what I can hope to see our children turning into as they get older.  It was a fun three days.

The Big Boy Update:  Unphased at my presence.  My daughter is inclined to become upset if she sees me at school.  Mostly this is because she sees me in her classroom just before noon dismissal and she's both tired and hungry.  My son has seen me enough there that he says hello and continues on his way.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  "Where's my mokey?"  She meant "monkey" but she was so cute in her mispronunciation of it that I had to keep asking her what she was saying.