To me this means picking and choosing what to adjust in my child's behavior. For example, I am a big believer in letting her explore the world in her own perfect way. It's no way I would have explored it, and that's just the point. Why is my way THE way? It's not!
Of course I don't knowingly let her get herself into an unsafe situation or explore cherries by grinding them into the carpet, I think you see my point.
So the following video was taken moments ago during 'yogurt exploration hour'. The result is I am, right now, watching her in the tub and getting yogurt out of her hair, her nostrils and off her belly...and I couldn't be happier for her!
(I can't figure out how to imbed the video here, so please follow the link to my youtube page!)
Okay, the part where she said "gross" was hilarious :)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite activities when I taught preschool were the messy ones. Sure, I wasn't a big fan of trying to get play dough of the carpet or bleaching the tables to get out those ever-present marker stains, but it was always, always worth it. They were so much more creative when I turned them loose, and I know they learned more that way, too. Fortunately, I never had a parent complain about their child being messy, but I know other teachers did. My feeling is, if your kid comes home clean, they probably didn't learn very much!
One of my favorite text messages of all time (I still have it on my phone) came from one of my students' mom the day we splatter-painted (outside; I do have my limits!). She wrote, "Issac informed us at dinner that he could paint like a real awesome painter man named Jackson Pollack. He said you had an awesome book with real paintings . . . he was impressed. We enjoyed his yellow hair and splattered face.* The story made the splatter make sense. Sounds like a fun day ;-)"
Messy art and cooking projects are one of the few things I do miss about teaching. Hmmm, guess I need to find a way to do it at the library!
Thanks for sharing your Ro stories. I love reading them!
*I did try to get all the paint out of his hair before I sent him home!