Patience pays off

Well, it's finally happened. The youngest children that stay all day (the ones we call the nappers) can just about do the entire afternoon schedule without us. After about 5 months of practice these 3 year olds can follow a routine that takes an hour and half and contains four big transitions between environments.

They no longer need reminders to wash their hands before lunch, and other than a few sneaky ones remember to eat their protein and vegetable before diving in to that delicious fruit and crackers! L still has some issues with this, she absolutely loves the gluten free pretzels her mom packs and they're often gone before a teacher can even realize that she's say down and started eating! The nappers all know how to pack up their lunch boxes and clean up their table. Without any reminders they put those same lunchboxes away and get dressed to go outdoors.

Here's where most of the trouble is, not because they don't know what to do but because zippers can be tricky. And that darn second mitten! The first one can go on just fine, but how on earth does one put on the second one without a thumb? I think only one of the nappers has actually figured this mystery out, and mainly because she's too impatient to go outside to wait for a teacher to help her, she wants it on NOW.

Anyways, once dressed they know to go out the door to the playground, including opening AND shutting that same door! They have become experts at standing in line to wait and take their boots off, including how to scoot up the line when someone else goes inside. Some still need a reminder about when it is their turn (we only have 2 at a time on the bench to take off boots because of space issues), but our two smallest girls, Q and J, have started to figure out how to watch for a space to open up.

All the nappers have figured out how to get their boots off, even if the elastic of their snow pants gets in the way. I was so proud today to finish getting off my outdoor things, turn around and see three small children already finished and carrying their boots inside. There wasn't even any whining about it being cold in the back hallway, or about wet socks from the puddles of melting snow!

We've recently had a schedule change so the elementary students are eating lunch in the room where our shelves for boots and shoes are. This means that not only do the children need to remember to switch their boots for their inside shoes, but they need to do it surrounded by a crowd of excited and noisy older children. I am happy to say that all the nappers can successfully navigate this hazard with the barest reminder.

They have become such experts that at this point I can simply stand silently in the coat room while they hang up their snow pants and jackets. S and L usually need reminders to tuck their hat and mittens in to the sleeves, but other than that there isn't much for me to do.

Al the children know where they need to line up for the bathroom, and even which games or songs they can do while waiting. E has taken it upon herself to run the games (usually trying to guess which animal the child is thinking of), though I think this is mainly because she wants to be the first one to think of an animal! Each of the nappers remembers to walk quietly to the nap room door, remove their shoes and gently tip them against the wall before entering.

Phew! That's a lot of steps!

Sometimes the kids don't take the most direct line,
but they do get to the final destination eventually!

But hang on, there's more.

Those who don't sleep after an hour know that after they are dismissed by the teacher that they should come and find me, they no longer linger in the hallway looking lost. E, S and J all were awake today and as soon as they finished getting their shoes on came out in to the big room, searching for me to ask if they could help with the cutting I was doing.

For the children who don't sleep, they've learned that waking up after the teacher has gone means they should quietly come out, put back on their shoes and go to the classroom. Today Q woke up about half way through nap and even though she was really upset about missing her socks she managed to get her shoes on and get in the classroom to come and ask for help. O also woke up early, and she has even more to remember since she sleeps in the coat room. Each day she needs to roll up her blanket, put it by the nap room door, and put back the books she looked at. That's quite a few things for sleepy 3 year old to remember!

So yeah, it's a crazy schedule, but it's what we've had them do all year. If there's ever a strong case for consistency this nap routine may be it.

Lunch!

The children are really settling back in after having a couple of long breaks with the holidays and the snow days (that were technically cold days), and one of the easiest way to see this is how well they follow the lunch routine. The children are dismissed to wash their hands, grab their lunch box and find their name tag in the lunch room. The name tags are a relatively new addition to ensure that the younger children end up at a table they can reach properly.

At the beginning of the year we send a note home with parents giving them some specific instructions for their child's lunch. We are a nut free school and it's important that parents do not send peanut butter sandwiches or trail mix to avoid this. We also request that they specifically pack a protein, vegetable and fruit in their lunch box. The children are taught which food is which and eat them in order to ensure that they get enough healthy and filling food. This is super important because we have some children who stay until 5 o'clock and not having a full stomach can make those last few hours miserable. The children are also in charge of cleaning up their own spot, sweeping or wiping with a sponge as needed, and packing everything back in their lunch box.

Today all the children where in the lunch room in under ten minutes. They remembered which food they needed to eat first (after all it takes some willpower to eat that chewy sandwich before those sweet strawberries) and generally sat nicely in their chairs. We have really been focusing on having them sit properly at the table and they have been really responsive to the point where it only takes asking "Could you scoot in?" to have them turn forward and eat over their place at the table.

The best part of this? When the children are settled and focused at lunch they eat faster, which means they get dressed earlier and we get more outside time. Recently we had a group sled dog race, I explained a little bit about the Iditarod and then paired younger and older children to be sled dogs and mushers. The children loved it and it's been hilarious to see them continuing the game independently during the recess free time. All this because they have a good lunch routine that fills them up, and still gives time for playing.

Does the copy machine work on people?

Does the copy machine work on people? Because I sure could have used an extra one or two of me after recess today. Ok, so it was a little bit of my own fault. The other staff who normally helps me get the nappers ready was gone for the day, and I figured, "Hey, there's only 9 of them, I can handle it alone." Umm...yeah, not so much.

Getting ready for nap is a half an hour process; the kids come in, take their boots off, grab their inside shoes, take off their outdoor clothing and stow it, use the bathroom (only two at a time!) and then head into the darkened nap room. Almost 3 months into the school year, you'd think they'd know the routine by now. Nope. I had one kid still taking off his boots in the back hallway. two running circles around the rug near the boot shelves, four in the coat room playing hide and go seek, one wandering up and down the bathroom hallway, and the last sitting in the nap room fully dressed because she's been hitting one of her friends with a mitten.

Yeah, I could have used at least four more copies of myself. They all got through it, only five minutes late , but I guess they were pretty restless in the nap room. On a normal day we end up with about 7 or 8 who actually sleep. Today only 5 did. Sigh. Tomorrow I think I'll give a presentation after recess on how to take off our outdoor clothing. At least it will keep them all together in one group!