After four classes, tot school co-op is starting to find its groove. The kids are so excited to come in and work. I'm seeing more repetition with the work. And lots of gentle careful movements. Nothing has been broken. Kids are happy and engaged. Cute crafts are being made.
We're also seeing a lot of wiggles during our small circle time. I'm not quite sure how to get them to all be still and quiet even for a couple minutes. The volume is also a little louder than I would like during class. None of the kids seem super bothered, but they are all pretty loud still. And with six toddlers and two babies it can get really loud and distracting if we aren't careful.
The biggest problem right now is Henry. Little dude is testing me for sure. During a lot of the co-op time, particularly the time in the classroom, Henry is completely uninterested in working. Before or after co-op, I have zero problems. But during co-op, all he wants to do is distract everyone else, roll around on the floor, play with the babies' treasure basket, or run downstairs. It's perfectly infuriating. I'm really at a loss on how to change his behavior. Any ideas?
Overall, we are having an awesome time, and I hope it only gets better from here.
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Annabelle was my challenge last year, too. I think it was though for her to get used to seeing me divide my attention among so many other children. I agree with another commenter that it sounds like attention seeking, but I think attention is a totally legitimate need. My approach in those cases is usually to walk over, playfully put a hand on my hip and say, "Wait a second, that's not what we do at school. You must need a really big squeeze. Can I give you a squeeze, and then maybe we can find you an interesting work to do." Letting them know we see them and their need for reassurance can go a long way, I think. If it gives you any comfort, there has been hardly a trace of that behavior during our classes this year ... I think it's just growing pains :)
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