Problem Solving

While I was helping the children get ready to go outside one morning, I all of a sudden heard a child shout, "I'm bleeding!!!!" So I turned to the child, saw his cheek was bleeding (where a scab had been) and asked him what had happened. He replied, "I didn't want my ouchie on my face anymore. So I tear-ed it off."

To Buy a House

One morning, as I was sitting with the children while they were coloring, the little boy who was sitting next to me looked up and said, "Miss Rachel, guess how many dollars I'm going to pay when I'm a grown up to buy a house?" I asked him how many and he very matter-of-factly replied, "A hundred and two!"

Wouldn't that be nice!?!

Apples v Pears

Every day after nap, the children get a small snack before heading outside to play and be picked up. One day, as I was passing out their snack of sliced apples and pieces of cheese, one child, who had eaten his apple very quickly, called out, "More pears, Miss Rachel!" Before I had the chance to remind him to ask nicely, one little girl chimed in, stating with a bit of attitude, "Those are apples, not pears. They're not squishy.... They're like frozen pears!"

So there you have it! Apples are like frozen pears!

Modern Conveniences

While getting ready to go outside and play, one little boy came up to me and said, "Look Miss Rachel, I have none sock on this foot! It's because I got egg on it." He paused and then said, as if it was a completely novel idea, "But it's ok. My mom has this thing called a washer and dryer."

Grown-up Hair

One of the girls in my class has beautiful long, blonde hair. One day, I noticed that the ends were in cute little ringlets and I asked her if her mom had curled her hair for her that day. She replied, "No, it's just getting grown-up-y." When I didn't understand, she explained by saying, "I always knew that one day I would have curly hair like my mom!"

Special Halloween Edition

All the children came to school dressed up today. We had many wonderful costumes: a bunny, a gardener in his garden, a flower garden, two cowboys, a viking, a knight, a mermaid, the night sky, a few fairies, a triceratops, an eagle, lightning, Curious George, and Goggle Man. I was a tree lady, complete with a bird's nest on my head.

There's a Nest on Your Head!
All day long, I was met with, "Miss Rachel, you have a nest on your head!" On one occasion, one of the girls came up to me and said, "Excuse me, Miss Rachel. In case you needed know, there's a bird nest in your hair." Like I didn't know it was there!


Halloween Costumes are Pretend
While playing outside, the little gardener came up to me and a teacher from another class. The other teacher looked at the gardener's costume (it was covered in all sorts of fruits and vegetables) and said, "Mr. Gardener, do you have any fresh blueberries?" The gardener said, "No." and looked confused. The teacher said, "But I see some on your shirt!" And the child sighed and replied, "Those are just pretend!" and walked off.

 Little Vikings
At the end of the day, when the little viking's mom came to pick him up, he ran running to her and yelled, "Carry me!" Mom replied, "You are a strong viking. You don't need to be carried." And the little viking replied, "But moms carry vikings!"

Sparkle-Toes

Before nap each day, the children get to soak their feet in a warm foot bath so they can have a foot rub during nap. One afternoon, one of the boys had taken off his socks, walked from his cubby into the classroom to soak his feet, and all of a sudden I heard, "Ahh! Miss Rachel!" So I walked into the classroom, knelt down near the boy and asked what had happened. He replied, "I have sparkles in my toe!" Not understanding what he meant, I asked him again what happened. He explained, "I hurt my toe and now there are sparkles shooting through it!"

What a way to explain what it feels like when you stub your toe!

A Lesson on Animals

As I was pushing one little three-and-a-half-year-old girl on the swing one morning, she began to tell me about animals. She was quite happily swinging, rattling on about zoo animals. The following is what she told me:

"You have to watch out for bears... 'Cause they bite." -long pause- "Giraffes bite too." -moment of reflection- "And hippos bite!" After another moment, she smiled and said, "Elephants are nice though..." then she practically squealed saying, "Because they're happy!"

First Grade Cell Phones

One afternoon as I was leaving school, I got stuck behind a first grader in the stairwell who was walking very slowly, hand up to her ear, and chattering away. She was completely unaware of her surroundings and was holding up several people behind her. When we finally got out the door, I passed her, looked back at her and realized that she was chatting on a paper cell phone!

A few days later we had a fire drill and my class was gathered near the first graders. While we were waiting to go back inside, I heard the first grade teacher calling to one of her students, "Molly, get off your cell phone and come sit down!". The teacher saw me watching and said, "You think I'm kidding!" and I replied that I had seen it before and knew she wasn't.

Imitation is alive and well in the first grade! And their behavior while on their paper cell phones is just as obnoxious as adults on the real thing!

Love is Weird

While out on our daily walk one morning, the little boy who was holding my hand looked up at me and said, "Miss Rachel, Emily said she loves me." And I replied, "How nice it is to have friends who love us!" And then he said, "No. It's weird! (pause) It's just weird, Miss Rachel."

Boating Advice from the Kitchen Sink

One morning, as the children were helping to clean up after snack, (each child washes their own plate, but the first-grade-ready children help with extra chores such as dish-washing, sweeping, cleaning the table, etc) I was putting things away in the kitchen when I overheard the children washing dishes at the sink. One wise child firmly stated, "Never put a boulder in a boat." This caught my attention and I turned to look at him. Then he quite seriously said, "I'll show you why." And he proceeded to sink the bowl he was washing.

New Siblings

When we're little it can sometimes be hard to make sense of a new baby sibling. I was one month away from my sixth birthday when my sister was born and I expressed serious frustration over the fact that I thought I was supposed to be the older sister. I only understood that my sister's birthday came before mine, not that the six years between us made a difference!

One of the children in my class has a new baby sister. When the family came to our open house before school started, this child came up to me and the lead teacher to say hello. We said hello and then asked about his baby sister. He told us she was very soft and that we could come feel her if we liked. Then we asked him what his sister's name was. He excitedly proclaimed: Hoola Hoop! It turns out he started calling her that during his mom's pregnancy. But he hasn't let it go...

A few days ago, when his mother came to pick him, he came running out of the classroom shouting, "Mom! Mom! Where's Hoola Hoop?! Where's Hoola Hoop!?!"

Why I Love What I Do

Welcome Back! The summer is over, school has started up again, and with it, material for my blog!

An update on my job position: I am now officially working! I was hired in May at the school I had been subbing in before. So now I am the lead kindergarten assistant and I couldn't be happier!

Before school started this fall, we had an open house to greet all the families and give the children a chance to meet us (their teachers) and the other children in the class while their parents were there to provide extra support. During the open house we played outside, had a little story in our classroom, and then went back outside with popsicles!

As the children were leaving, one four-year-old boy came up to me and said, "excuse me, Miss Rachel. Are you going to be my teacher every day?" And I replied yes. Then he said, "can I give you a hug?" And I said "absolutely!!!" Then he sweetly said, "ok. I love you! I'll see you next week!"

And that is why I love what I do!

Dealing with Impatience

One afternoon outside on the playground, the children were playing a busy game of running around the yard, climbing up the playhouse, sliding down the slide and knocking into a child who was waiting at the bottom of the slide. Once the child who was waiting at the bottom of the slide was bumped into by another child coming down the slide, they could run off and begin the course again. One girl was waiting at the bottom of the slide and the child who was supposed to slide down and bump into her was taking a really long time. The six-year-old girl at the bottom grew very impatient, placed her hand on her hip and said, "I'm not getting any younger down here!"

Stories with Maggie

On the mornings I drove Maggie to school, she liked to have me tell her stories about when I was little and about our silly cats. It was her favorite thing and she would ask for a story the moment we got in the car. One morning, I couldn't think of any stories so I asked Maggie to tell me one instead. She laughed and replied: "Miss Rachel! I don't have any stories... I still have to live my life!"

Chocolate Chip Pancakes, Hawaii, and Good Friends

One afternoon after nap, the children got onto the subject of pancakes. One particular child told us all about her favorite pancakes: chocolate chip! She went on to say that the very best chocolate chip pancakes are those which she eats in Hawaii when she and her family go there for Christmas break (her dad is from Hawaii, so they spend every Christmas break there). She added that she always eats these pancakes with her friend Sasha. She told us all about how much she likes to play with her friend Sasha in Hawaii, and then her eyes lit up and she said, "and my friend Sasha has to go to school with the Secret Service!"

Her friend would be Sasha Obama. No joke.

On Being Gentle

One afternoon, while out on the playground, the older boys were getting into some pretty rough play. It seemed like a simple game of tag, except they were chasing each other with plastic red shovels, tackling each other, and one particular child kept coming to me crying, saying it wasn't fair. After many warnings that "shovels are only for digging" and "no more tackling", I gave the boys just one more chance. Not surprisingly, the trouble continued, so I called them all over to me and told them it was time to find a new game to play. Then, one of them looked up at me and very earnestly said, "It's ok Miss Rachel. We talked about it and we all agreed that we will only hit each other gently."

Reassurance About Turning 24

Since Maggie knew my birthday was coming up, many of the other children at school also found out. While helping one six year old with her weaving last week, she looked up at me and asked how old I was going to be for my birthday. I told her I was turning 24 and she replied:

"That's pretty young to be a teacher. But it's OK Miss Rachel, you look like you're 30!"

Seeing our Parents Clearly

One morning, while driving Maggie to school last week, she asked me how old I was. I replied that I was 23, but that my birthday was in 4 sleeps. Then she said:

"Ooo! This weekend we'll have to make you some presents and a birthday cake!" ...long pause... "Well, probably actually buy you a birthday cake. My mom is pretty lazy with cake baking."

What a Husband is For

For the last week and a half I have been helping a family from school by going over in the mornings to get their daughter ready and take her to school, which has given me plenty of material for my blog! For the purposes of this blog and the many to follow, we will call this child Maggie.

I went over to their home one afternoon before I began helping in the mornings so we could go over everything and they showed me around the house. The house is older and has a lot of character and unique designs, which I really like. When I saw the master bedroom, I commented that I really loved it and Maggie's mom said she hoped someone else would love it too and be willing to buy it because they will be moving this summer.

Maggie then very excitedly said that maybe I could buy their house! I replied that if I had the money to buy a house right now, I would love to buy their house, but that I don't have that kind of money right now.

Maggie thought for a minute and then proclaimed: "Maybe you could get some from your husband!!!"

"But Miss Rachel, it taste-ez good!"

While out on the playground this afternoon, one of the children called my attention to another child who was on the swing. When I looked over, I saw why the first child was so excited. The boy on the swing had his tongue out and was licking the chain holding up the swing! The following conversation took place:

Me: Dear friend, please don't lick the chain. It's dirty.
Child: But Miss Rachel, it taste-ez good!
Me: I'm sorry, silly, but we don't lick the chain.

He gave me a sly little look with a smile, then stopped licking the chain. A few minutes later, I looked back and he was licking the chain again. I reminded him again to stop and then he explained,

Child: I'm going to eat it for my dinner! It will be pretty crunchy! And it might hurt my toothies back here! (pointing at his molars and flashing a completely irresistible smile). 

The Depths of the Ear Canal

After lunch recently, a child came up to me and said: "Miss Rachel, will you look inside my ear?" I knelt down, looked at his ear, and asked what was wrong. Then he said, "Can you see anything?" I responded that it was dark and pretty hard to see in there and he said: "Can you look in there and see if there's something in there?" I looked again and told him that he had a little scratch outside his ear, but that it looked OK inside and he walked off.

Then he went to the other teacher in the room and said, "There's something in my ear. Could you stick your finger in there and get it out?!"

What is Love?

During a fire drill at school recently, all the kindergarten classes were outside together. My friend, and fellow kindergarten teacher, Wayne came over to say hello and gave me a hug. Then one of the kindergartners remarked, "awww, Mr. Wayne and Miss Rachel are in love!"

If only it were really that simple!

Mr. Rachel

It's pretty common in Waldorf kindergarten's for the teachers to go by Miss/Mrs/Mr "their first name," but the three other teachers in the class from my internship went by their last names. Because it feels more true to who I am and my philosophy as a teacher, I chose to be Miss Rachel.

One afternoon while the children were putting away their nap things, one of the teachers was talking about her husband and referred to him as Mr. "her last name". One of the children promptly turned to me and said: "Miss Rachel, is your husband's name Mr. Rachel?"

I guess the logic follows, but I'm not sure how my then-boyfriend felt about being Mr. Rachel! Although a few weeks later the children all very adamantly wanted me to "bring some cookies home to Mr. Rachel," so it seems there are some benefits!

A Teacher is a Teacher (Not a Regular Person)

I have had the following conversation with several different children on many different occasions:

Child: Miss Rachel, are you married?
Me: No, I'm not.
At this point the child will get a very quizzical look on their face and pause for a minute, then ask:
Then who do you live with???

This made me wonder. It seems that the children all have a very clear picture of what teacher is and being married is apparently part of that picture!

Only 23

At the end of a very hectic day of one of my first days subbing, a person from the office came down to let me know there would be a fire drill momentarily. Being new, I didn't know what I was supposed to do with the children during a fire drill. After asking another teacher, I found out where to take the children and decided it would be easier to head outside before the alarm went off in order to avoid the children panicking. So I told the children we were going on a special adventure and we headed outside and sat down on the grass before the fire alarm went off.

A few days later I was relaying the story of the child saying I was young to another teacher and it turns out she had similar story about me from the same child.

She had been working with him and he told her that I had taken them on a special adventure so they were outside before the fire alarm went off. Then she said, "Miss Rachel must be pretty smart!" and then he said, "Yeah! And she's only 23!!!"

How Old is Old?

During lunch one day, one of the children looked up at me and asked, "Miss Rachel, how old are you?" to which I replied, "I'm 23 years old." Then his eyes got really big and he said, "Wow!!! You're really young! My mom is like 40!"

I have to say that I really wasn't expecting a 5 year old to think I was young!

When Mosquitoes Attack

One spring day, I was out in the play yard while some of the children were playing in the sandbox. All of a sudden, one of the boys ran up to me yelling:
"Miss Rachel, Miss Rachel! The mosquitoes are attacking Henry... And Henry is attacking them with a spoon!"

Henry wasn't having much luck with keeping the mosquitoes at bay, but his efforts did make him laugh hysterically!