Firsts with Wonder
The beginning of the year for the Wonder Primes classroom is a time filled with important firsts. For many of our students it is the first time they have been in a group care setting before, it is the first time families have left their young children, and it is the first time that they are meeting their teachers and peers. Some of our students are returning to us for a second year and despite being here before, they still are experiencing newness and change as they adjust to their growing bodies and new peers to play with. Our world in these first few weeks revolves around providing consistent expectations and routines, kind compassionate care, and fostering curiosity and playfulness with teachers and peers. In order to allow for students to feel comfortable, joyful, and even willing to play with each other, we must first establish a sense of safety within the classroom.
For children in the Wonder Primes, much of their sense of safety revolves around having consistent caregivers, routines, and care. Having consistent routines around diapering, eating, and sleeping comprise most of our day and really are the most important features. When the children feel loved and cared for they are more primed for learning and connecting. Us teachers spend a long time creating a schedule and routines that meet the needs of all the students in our care. We spent the last couple weeks in August meticulously planning and setting up spaces to create consistency, engagement, and meet the emotional and bodily needs of the students in our care. Diapering/toileting times create intimacy between the caregivers, establish trust, and help students know they are loved and cared for. Our snack and lunch times happen early and often so that students know they have the time to eat, relax, and feel secure in their bodies. We help students get the adequate rest they need by providing a quiet nap environment with familiar routines like reading stories, cuddling with teachers, singing songs, and white noise machines.
As we move into our first full week of school, we are noticing how the predictable routines and caring environment helps students warm up to each other and to become curious in their environment and social setting. We are also still learning about each other, our unique interests and curiosities and how we can all fit in together and we still have so much to learn this early in the school year.
We hope to help nurture the innate kindness, love, and desire for discovery that we witness in our students through our loving care, predictable routines, careful observation, and intentional scaffolding of play.
