Good Friends!

I just had to smile today when I saw this happen in the gym:  One of my little guys from my classroom was having a great time.  He was bouncing around in his gait trainer (walker) laughing and vocalizing.  A little girl from the other classroom came running up to him smiling and talking to him (we think she may have a bit of a crush on him...she LOVES talking to him!). 

She suddenly stopped and looked up at me, "But, when will he TALK to me?"  "Well," I said, "he IS talking to you!  Listen...see, he says he's happy you came over to play with him!  Look at his face, he's smiling at you!"  I was waiting for her to question how I knew all this or to question my translation skills, but, she just stopped.  She looked at him, looked back at me and smiled a huge smile, as if to say, "Oh, NOW I can hear him!  I just didn't understand!"

Just then another child ran up and overheard our conversation.  "HEY, he just said Wally!" he exclaimed!   "That's her brother's name!  How did he know that?"  And for the next few minutes they insisted that the little guy from my room KNEW the little girl's brother and was calling out his name!  

I love seeing the children develop friendships and love seeing them enjoy playing and talking with their friends!  These children just viewed the translation process as a fun part of the interaction!  They were quite sure that this little guy was speaking his own language, and all they had to do was figure out what words he was saying!  I'll just bet you that they will run back up to him next time they see him and ask him who else he knows.  And, I'll just bet that he knows SOMEONE from their family and, of course, he will tell them all kinds of cool things he has done and how he knows the person!   They, of course, will listen and translate and enjoy hanging out together with a good friend!  

"I'm Just a Little Bit Shy"

The children in my class have recently been more and more cooperative and excited to engage in some simple play with other children.  This is a big and very exciting step for many of them!  Rather than attempting to find an area furthest from other children and turning to avoid the activity, they have wanted to join in and find another child in the gym or in the classroom, take a hand and smile! 

If this is as far as the interaction went, I would be happy!  But lately, with a bit of adult assistance, it has gone even further!  While in the gym the other day, a very sweet little girl from the other classroom came up to one of the children in my room and handed him a bean bag.  I gently reminded her to let him know who had handed him the beanbag since he couldn't see her.  We then suggested that she could talk to him.  (She clearly wanted to interact with him, but wasn't sure what to do after handing him the beanbag).   After several minutes of silence and smiles, we suggested that she might want to the ask him to play row, row, row your boat. 

She smiled, and looked like she would say something to him several times, but then stopped.  She leaned over and said something to me.  I couldn't quite hear her.  Her teacher, who was sitting next to me, listened and then said, "She says...I'm just a little bit shy!"  Well, that would explain why she wasn't talking!  I suggested she could just whisper the question in his ear. 

Apparently, that was all it took to overcome shyness!  She whispered the question, he said "ya" and they happily sat on the floor holding hands and pretending to row back and forth singing "Row, row, row your boat."  And in OUR version we sing the regular verse one time, then sing "row, row, row your boat gently down the stream, if you see a crocodile, don't forget to scream!" And we scream loudly!

They played together for almost five minutes! Do you know how big this is?!  This is VERY big!  They played with no adult facilitating the play!  They sang together!  They held hands!  This reminded me that sometimes, as teachers, we become so busy we easily overlook these small moments!  So, I'll try to remember to slow down more often, because sometimes those small moments are a BIG deal for that one child!