What we had not prepared our easily-excitable hearts for was that our preschoolers were celebrating Halloween early and wearing a mish-mosh of Disney princess dresses, and the boys in your standard occupation outfits, policeman, chef etc. As they walked around the room moving like fish, sharks, and sea weed to Saint-Saëns' "Aquarium," we three teachers did our best to contain our giggles.
Our break through of the day was when the children were able to walk in a circle. While to you and I this may not seem like a difficult task, ( in fact, for my peer teachers and I it was hard to fathom why our activities were flopping,) for this age group it makes sense. Children develop motor skills based on a combination of their brain development and the experiences they have in their environment. For most of the students this is their first time in a preschool, or an organized social group. Children don't often walk in group circles at home...I don't think, and so they haven't had the experience necessary to gain the walking-in-a-circle skill.
Our break through came in the form of duct tape.
Pieces of it on the floor. In a circle.
We made just a start on it, but next week, ohhhh man. I expect that we'll do a little, "pretend that the floor is lava and you can only step on the duct tape."
and maybe someday... we'll get special mats for the floor... maybe shaped like something exciting.
but you know... small steps.
literally. the children are small.
that is all, Happy Halloween!
Also, Here's "Aquarium."
Practice moving around the room in your own space like a fish, then a shark, then sea weed.
And good luck with those circles.
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