If you have ever taught in a 3 year old classroom or even the Pre-K/Young 5s classroom you will understand exactly what I'm talking about! I call it the AAA effect...that would be "attitude, attention, and affection".
Young children at this age are now beyond Piaget's second level of development and are in the midst of trying to figure out who they are and what kind of independence they have in their roles cognitively and socially. The preoperational stage....hmmm...sounds so clinical yes? Yes, indeed it does...Although I'm not too big into studying childhood development in such a technical manner; this tiered level of cognitive/social development is definitely very apparent in the early childhood classroom.
I have been met with such issues as eye rolling, adamant throwing of wooden blocks across the floor as well as on-demand urinating in the hallway to get my attention. Well, I have to sit back sometimes and ponder that thought. Don't we all strive to earn the attention and accolades of our friends and family, at least to a certain extent? So, as I sit here drinking my coffee, pondering the appropriate way to handle these moments; I have to logically come to realize that these moments and actions, taken by my most thick headed stubborn of students, is not a way to make my morning at school as long as humanly possible but, it is merely a form of communication to relay to my most inept "adult" mind how this student is feeling...hmmm....I think back to times when I have made my students apologize to another student although, cognitively speaking, they are not sorry at all....Their young brains have not yet developed in a way to feel the same empathy and remorse that adults do (or SHOULD). They are merely trying to communicate based on pure impulse.
Please, share your thoughts on a time when you had to choose to sit back and really delve into what was going on in the young mind of your early learner. What did you do to help your student better communicate their feelings? Better yet...what laughable moments do you recall at the beginning of your teaching experience with a moment(s) like I mentioned above?
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