"Children are a gift from God. A teacher has the opportunity to care for and guide them." - Jennifer Johnson
I truly believe children are a gift from God and what a privilege it is to be their teacher.
I have many favorite children's books. We have an Open House each year before school starts and I like to read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn to the children and their parents. It is a story about a little raccoon who is fearful of leaving his mom for his first day of school. Mama Raccoon has a special surprise to give him to let him know her love goes with him wherever he goes. I always send home two heart stickers for the first day of preschool. The child gives one to his mom and she gives one to him to help them both deal with those first day fears.
One of my favorite moments so far this school year really is a testament to the loving spirit inside each of the children who enter our classrooms. I have a little 3 year old friend in my class who was very slow to make eye contact and warm up to me or his classmates for the first couple of months of the school year. Sometimes, at the beginning of circle time, I ask the children to give a friend a hug. He finally progressed to where he would allow another child to put his or her arms around him, but he would not reciprocate. A while back, we had a new student enter our class. During "give a friend a hug" time, no one approached the new little girl. I watched my reserved little guy looking at the new little girl who no one was hugging. He got up and walked over to her and gave her a big hug, and she in turn, hugged him back. I was so proud of him and happy for him to make that big step out of his safety zone. I told him how kind and thoughtful he was to make our new friend feel welcome. Moments like that make my job so fulfilling.
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