Preschool Firecrackers

Today was Black and Blue Day at Jane's school.  It was the last day in the color series where each Friday a parent comes in with a color-coordinated snack and helps out in the classroom.  It was my first time seeing Jane's classmates in action.

Jane has been eagerly anticipating this day.  She and I baked mini blueberry muffins yesterday to share.  And this morning we made sure we had on matching blue shirts with black pants.

Although it has been awhile since I spent time in a prekindergarten class, I knew what to expect.  Remember that I worked at my mom's day care for several years and often had to jump in to cover for an absent aide.  Plus, Jane has been singing the songs, like the Month-arana and the Good Morning song, for the past two months.

Jane was so happy I was there.  She kept looking at me and giggling and encouraging me to participate in every activity.  So I sang and danced.  I helped the kids paint blue trains on t-shirts.  I watched her teacher put "fairy sprinkles" on the leader of the day's head.  I laid down on the rug.  And I joined in as the whole class pretended to be a train, chugging and blowing our whistles as loud as we could.

I tried not to notice the other things that were going on.  The boy who sat in the phone both for over half an hour.  The girl that couldn't stop touching her friend.  The one child that absently blotted at his painting without being able to finish the picture.  Little, subtle things, that may mean nothing like the nose and wedgie picking that is typical for this age.  But could mean something more.

When the director saw that I was there, she came over to talk about the conversation we had the other day.  She said I really opened her eyes to some things.  That she felt like she had attended a graduate class on Sensory Disorders and Misunderstood Children.  She confided that a family with a three year old was going through the process of having their child evaluated, per her recommendation, and that she was worried about them.  "They are afraid of what they will find out," she said sadly.

I wished I could have stayed longer, that I could come back.  I'd like to observe those children who seemed a tiny bit off.  Was it a bad day?  Or typical behavior?  I wanted to ask their parents if they had any concerns. 

I thought back to how Scott acted at this age.  I remembered some of the "problem" children from my mom's day care.

At one point during the lesson the kids got a little wound up and the teacher clapped her hands to do a Preschool Firecracker.  The children played along, putting their hands up and letting out a big, yoga-like sigh.  The children seemed completely at ease, comfortable going from active and silly to calm listeners with two Firecrackers.

I wanted to talk to the family that the director was concerned about.  I wanted to tell them that this is the time to help their child.  That their child needs them to be strong and not afraid.  I wanted to offer them hope and understanding. 

I glanced around as I was leaving thinking about what an opportunity preschool is for these children.  For them to have a place to go to play and learn.  But it is also a time for parents and teachers to uncover issues and start their children off with services, if necessary. 

The sooner the better before their little firecrackers lose their spark.

Comments

[Laura]

That was an excellent post Lori! I often too wonder about some of the kids from your parent's daycare. It seems like a lifetime ago............

[Kyla]

This was great. I can't help but notice the same sort of things when I spend time with kids. It is nagging, that could-be-a-red-flag feeling.

[Stimey]

This happens to me a lot, I see kids in Quinn's preschool or in a moms club playgroup, or any number of other places. I often wonder what is going on with the family. From the outside, it's often hard to tell.

[Jordan]

What a great post, Lori. As you know, I have this experience all the time.

Lyle's preschool is a co-op so we assist regularly in the classroom. One of the kids with sensory issues last year was a child of a friend - she sought my opinion and I was able to help her and the teachers a lot based on my observations. But there were so many others. What helped me was to offer the preschool staff a free in-service and I spent 2 hours giving them tons of info sheets and discussing social language and sensory processing issues with them, and brainstorming solutions to current "behavior" problems. I'm going to do it again this year.

I wonder if you know a great OT who could come in and do something similar? Maybe you could do an info night along with an OT, where you give the parent perspective? In SF I used to do this with a special ed teacher and OT - we'd do preschool in-services as a team. It made me feel like I was doing something when I couldn't actually speak up directly to parents who weren't on my caseload.

[inthefastlane]

It is soo hard to not want to know...I have a relative (her boy is now 3), and we did not even start talking until 3 and has had so many other "different-nesses" that we wanted her to have him evaluated. But, she said he is smart. She lied to the dr. when he asked developmental questions. She didn't put him in preschool this year, where an outside person might make these observations. And now he is talking, and even though he seems WAY behind in social skills and still has about 5 other red flags that I see. If the parents (a mom who is a teacher, mind you) are not willing to see it, what are you going to do? But, you worry. As you said, NOW is the time.

[mom-nos]

I have that experience frequently - I see a child in the grocery store and something about his behavior is familiar. It takes everything I have to refrain from stalking him around the store to observe him some more.

Nice post!

[floating in space]

Beautifully done! Perhaps the director will give the family your name? You are an excellent resource.

[kristen]

wonderful post! Maybe you have a higher calling? Maybe there is a way for you to help these families, to ease their fears...

[Niksmom]

Lori, this is so magnificent on so many levels. A sweet day with Jane (who has,unwittingly, made sure I will never again think of my veggies in quite the same way), good news from the director, astute and compassionate observations.

You get my vote! :-)