A Recommendation for Parents of Preschoolers and Future Preschoolers
May 21st, 2003
Something I haven’t read in a while, and want to
re-read…
re-read…
There are tons of advice books out there, and some
are great, and some will fit your children, and some won’t. But getting to
assist amazing teachers in a co-operative preschool has taught me almost
everything I know about handling pre-schoolers. If you don’t have a preschool
teacher to follow around and take notes on, though, I highly recommend anything
written by Vivian Gussin Paley, a preschool teacher who has published these
amazing memoirs of her expereinces in the classroom. The thing that really gets
me is her tremendous humility — she’s quiet and listens to the kids, instead of
just imposing all the things she knows on them because she’s big and they’re
little, and her love and respect for the kids really shines through. I’ve loved
everything of hers I have read, but Girl With a Brown Crayon stands out
as singularly amazing.
are great, and some will fit your children, and some won’t. But getting to
assist amazing teachers in a co-operative preschool has taught me almost
everything I know about handling pre-schoolers. If you don’t have a preschool
teacher to follow around and take notes on, though, I highly recommend anything
written by Vivian Gussin Paley, a preschool teacher who has published these
amazing memoirs of her expereinces in the classroom. The thing that really gets
me is her tremendous humility — she’s quiet and listens to the kids, instead of
just imposing all the things she knows on them because she’s big and they’re
little, and her love and respect for the kids really shines through. I’ve loved
everything of hers I have read, but Girl With a Brown Crayon stands out
as singularly amazing.
Anyone with a
small child who likes to bite toast into the shape of a weapon and aim it at his
brother across the breakfast table might do well to read Nancy Carlsson-Paige’s
Who’s
Calling the Shots: How to Respond Effectively to Children’s Fascination with
War Play and War Toys . This book was suggested to me by
Aodán’s first preschool teacher and it fit with her gentleness, her
philosophy of re-directing unacceptable behavior, and her effectiveness in
keeping order in a room full of three-year-olds. It seems like a good way to go
about starting to create peace.
