"The thing that impresses me the most about America is the way parents obey their children."
~King Edward VIII
Ouch. I feel your pain Edward, I feel your pain.
Besides my own 2 monkeys, I have two dozen others that I borrow for a few hours on a daily basis. I'm a preschool teacher and have a full class of 24 four year olds. I know, I'm kind of a glutton for punishment aren't I? But the best part about teaching is they surprise and amaze me on a daily basis. It's amazing to watch them as they progress academically & socially.
It also reminds me on a daily basis that I'm doing a decent job raising my own girls. If nothing else, it shows me what NOT to do with my own children and how blessed I am to have 2 healthy, normally-functioning children. I have 2 "challenging" students who have just been placed in my class because I'm known to have a way with "spirited children" (read: I don't take any of their nonsense and put up with exactly zero of their games). Boy and Girl, as they will be known from this point forward, remind me daily that not everyone is born to be parents.
Girl is not only very defiant toward authority in general, she is outright disrespectful toward adults. I've seen her shout, pull, shove, hit and even spit at various teachers, her parents and even HER GRANDMOTHER. I know I was brought up "old school", but at what point did it become acceptable to a parent to allow your child to act that way toward their elders!?!? I was absolutely appalled to watch her yell at her grandmother and pull her out the door while her parents did nothing to stop it - no feeble words of protestation, no idle threats, not even enough sense to look ashamed of how their child was acting!!! Wow. Just. Wow.
Boy is a child who has issues. It's one thing for a child to lash out when they have been hurt or wronged in some way, it is another thing entirely when Boy will reach out & smack other children in the face or will see if his foot can reach far enough to trip them just because they pass close enough. It's as if not all connections are being made in his head. The word "impulsive" only BEGINS to describe him. That's what makes teaching him so difficult. Boy is a terribly sweet child and is never actually malicious in his actions. He just never thinks about them. To make matters worse, his parents "don't see a problem" and say - alright, everyone together now - "boys will be boys".
However, the impulsiveness provides for some very interesting conversations. Yesterday he raised his hand in class. I have been using positive reinforcement as much as possible and immediately called on him. "Great job, Boy! What a quiet hand! What would you like to say?" Silly me, I thought he wanted to add to our class conversation about "camping"
"Did you know I'm a superhero!?!? Yeah. I can save the world - all by myself, I don't need any grownups." :::sigh::: Wow. Just. Wow.
~King Edward VIII
Ouch. I feel your pain Edward, I feel your pain.
Besides my own 2 monkeys, I have two dozen others that I borrow for a few hours on a daily basis. I'm a preschool teacher and have a full class of 24 four year olds. I know, I'm kind of a glutton for punishment aren't I? But the best part about teaching is they surprise and amaze me on a daily basis. It's amazing to watch them as they progress academically & socially.
It also reminds me on a daily basis that I'm doing a decent job raising my own girls. If nothing else, it shows me what NOT to do with my own children and how blessed I am to have 2 healthy, normally-functioning children. I have 2 "challenging" students who have just been placed in my class because I'm known to have a way with "spirited children" (read: I don't take any of their nonsense and put up with exactly zero of their games). Boy and Girl, as they will be known from this point forward, remind me daily that not everyone is born to be parents.
Girl is not only very defiant toward authority in general, she is outright disrespectful toward adults. I've seen her shout, pull, shove, hit and even spit at various teachers, her parents and even HER GRANDMOTHER. I know I was brought up "old school", but at what point did it become acceptable to a parent to allow your child to act that way toward their elders!?!? I was absolutely appalled to watch her yell at her grandmother and pull her out the door while her parents did nothing to stop it - no feeble words of protestation, no idle threats, not even enough sense to look ashamed of how their child was acting!!! Wow. Just. Wow.
Boy is a child who has issues. It's one thing for a child to lash out when they have been hurt or wronged in some way, it is another thing entirely when Boy will reach out & smack other children in the face or will see if his foot can reach far enough to trip them just because they pass close enough. It's as if not all connections are being made in his head. The word "impulsive" only BEGINS to describe him. That's what makes teaching him so difficult. Boy is a terribly sweet child and is never actually malicious in his actions. He just never thinks about them. To make matters worse, his parents "don't see a problem" and say - alright, everyone together now - "boys will be boys".
However, the impulsiveness provides for some very interesting conversations. Yesterday he raised his hand in class. I have been using positive reinforcement as much as possible and immediately called on him. "Great job, Boy! What a quiet hand! What would you like to say?" Silly me, I thought he wanted to add to our class conversation about "camping"
"Did you know I'm a superhero!?!? Yeah. I can save the world - all by myself, I don't need any grownups." :::sigh::: Wow. Just. Wow.
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