Have you heard? Kids are messy [? ! ?]
Short post today to share my favorite moment from the college early childhood course I am instructing this term which focuses on math, science and tech for preschool age children. There is a wonderful engineering student in the class and today I asked him if he has had many opportunities to engage and make connections with the young children at his field placement school.
He shared that he has had opportunities, but..."the children tend to come straight toward me and I have to veer them away to another teacher because....well...kids are very messy."
I smiled. I agreed with him. I offered him an early warning to becoming an early childhood educator that not only is this likely to happen again, it absolutely will happen again and again and again. IT will come in many forms that are part of school - paint, goop, mud - and many other natural parts of being human - sickness, vomit, blood. IT is messy and gross and unpleasant and spontaneous and normal. Messy yet normal.
I kept smiling.
Are you smiling?
"Surely you have been a child or know someone who has been one?" [anon]
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| goop, gak, whatever you want to call it...IT feels cool, bloppy, sloppy, goopy, smushy, wet and- yes - MESSY. |
Ah, don't forget boogers! They're a big part of our day, too! ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, ummmm, for the additional Messy component in early childhood :)
Deletehaha! yes, they are! The messes tend to be the most fun and memorable for kids. Gotta embrace it!
ReplyDeleteExactly, Leslie! "Embrace the Mess" is a good slogan for ECE :)
DeleteWe made this a few weeks and the kids love it but what a mess!! LOL!
ReplyDeleteDeborah - I know, right, the kids love the feel of the cool and slimey stuff, especially if it can drip drip drip from their hands :)
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