Ms. Agnes's classroom

Trust and bonding                                   Here is the story……. In the washroom, Child D was sitting on the toilet, trying to finish her business. Suddenly, she said to me, “ Agnes, I pushed a friend in the gym.” I wasn’t surprised she did because she has been very emotional recently. Then, I asked “why? What happened?” in a very gentle tone.  Child D responded, “ I pushed Child H because I am grumpy and angry.” “No worries. It is okay to be upset and frustrated. But we don’t push or hit our friends when we feel upset or angry. How about this, next time, when you feel upset or frustrated, you come to me or other teachers and ask for a hug.”  Okay!’ nodded Child D.  I was deeply touched by Child D sharing her true feelings with me. I also admired her bravery to admit what she had done despite that she ...

Recently, I was listening to a lecture called "Building Personal Resilience: Managing Anxiety and Mental Health" by Dr. Luana Marques, a Harvard Medical School professor, author, and clinical psychologist. One point that really stood out to me was about the importance of brainstorming multiple possible solutions . It struck me because I often find myself locked into just one workable answer after identifying a problem. That’s because when I’m caught up in the busyness of the day, constantly on the floor working with children, I have to handle the situation quickly and move on.  However, this lecture really made me reflect: is it really fair to offer my little friends just one path forward? Take Child W, for example. He's two and a half and currently going through potty training. Considering his age, he’s doing great—he can hold it for about an hour, goes on the regular washroom breaks with the group and occationaly asks to go to the washroom. But accidents still happen,...

  Take a breath, handle it and then move on!  Working with little ones as a professional could be exhausting and frustrating everyday. It could drain out your energy, patience, sometimes even compassion. You keep wondering if you are a good teacher or not, asking yourself why these little human beings just cannot listen and follow the given instructions after you have tried all the strategies.  Well, first of all, we have to remember that we are human beings,too. We have our own emotions and feelings. However, that we acknowledge how we feel doesn’t mean that we can lose our ration while handling the challenging behaviors. We should all keep it in mind that their behavior is part of their developmental process, not a reflection of our teaching ability or performance. Therefore, we should take this opportunity to model how we self-regulate our emotions to our little friends. Let’s take Child W as an example. He is 2 and half so surely he is at the stage of “ I want it so ...

Behind the “big feelings”,,,,,,, Last Saturday, I attended a conference about the developing social and emotional brain of young children hosted by CCRR with guest speakers, Dr. Vanessa Lapointe and David Loyst. The point of the whole presentation is about building connections with the young children before discipline, which I totally agree with. Some great examples and suggestions had been mentioned and discussed. However, I am just wondering how those strategies work in a small group setting, especially in the daycare, the raio is 1 to 8. It could be difficult for a teacher who works alone with 8 young children to manage everything effectively when “big feelings” arise. Picture this. The washroom is down the hallway. A teacher takes 8 little ones to the washroom after a nap. Some of them are still in potty training, needing pull-up change. The youngest starts having a tantrum due to not having enough nap. Why? The parents requested a short nap for this child so the child could go to ...

The moments……. Being an ECE could be physically tiring and mentally draining. However, the moments witnessing the growth of the children I work with is truly rewarding. Here are the moments that are worthy to cherish…….. On a cloudy morning, walking in the neighborhood……. While walking through the parking lot toward the street to begin our adventure, Child W, the only 2 and half boy, asked me, “Agnes, are we doing a fire drill today?” “No, not today,” I answered and was wondering why he popped the question suddenly. I followed his sight and then realised he saw the orange traffic cone at the entrance of the parking lot, which is our meeting point for emergencies. Then, Child J said,”look! The orange cone!” Child G continued, “ that’s where we do fire drills.” Then, I said,” yes, if the building is on fire or in any emergency, we follow the teachers. If you don’t see your teachers, we meet at the orange cone!”  After walking two blocks, “Chinese New Year, “ one of the children point...

From Chinese New Year to an inclusive classroom Celebrating holidays is one of the great ways to introduce variant  cultures. With happiness, joy and fun activities, young children embrace the difference of the world. Recently,I just talked about Chinese New Year. While I was decorating festival items on the wall, my little friends showed their great interest by eagerly asking me questions. Curiosity shines on their faces. Their excitement told me they couldn’t wait to hear more at the circle time today.  I opened my circle by talking about some traditional elements seen in CNY, including spring couplets, red envelopes, decorations with fish, old coins and lanterns. I simplified the words to explain the meaning behind these items, passing them around to the children so they could touch the materials and closely observe the shapes and colors. Surely, how could we forget to learn 12 Chinese Zodiacs animals, each representing a year in the lunar calendar as well as the grand feas...