Tickle's Top Ten: May 2012

A Preschool Teacher's Blog

With fifteen years of experience working in the field of early childhood education, I've accumulated a wealth of stories, resources, and experiences. As I have shared these experiences with others over the years, people have often told me that I should write them down... and so I shall!

I am fortunate to be blessed with a small class of ten children ages three to five. Every child and every class that I have had the privilege to teach holds a special place in my heart. But this year, the teaching experience has been especially sweet. This blog is dedicated to my top ten... and all the other top ten children in my life who have come before them as well as the ones who will come after.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Preparing to Let Go

A parent emailed me earlier in the week to tell me that her five year-old son became teary when a discussion about his upcoming transition to kindergarten came up. He said that he would miss me and his best friend. His mother comforted him for a while. Then he jumped up and ran to his room, returning with a photo of myself and my husband that had been included in a Valentine. He looked at it for a while and said, "Mommy, I can just look at this picture every time I miss Jessy."

May is such an exciting and bittersweet time of year. It is a time to celebrate the growth of the children and a time to let go as they move on to kindergarten - sometimes leaving for other schools. It is time to prepare the children, and myself, for transition. Today, I taught them this song:

Make new friends, but keep the old.

One is silver and the other's gold.

A circle is round, it has no end.

That's how long I want to be your friend.

We created a circle dance that included hugging one another and ended with chanting our class name.

"Gentle Gerbils, Gentle Gerbils, Gentle Gerbils, Yay!"