Forming positive responsive relationships with children and families is my primary goal at the start of every school year. I find that this happens quite naturally when you just spend time with the students and parents informally. I have made it a point to participate in some key times of the day such as: lunch time, nap time, outside time, group times, and swimming. One of my favorite parts of working with young children is listening to what they have to say, and learning about how they understand the world.
This week, we have two special community worker presentations. The first was from the fire fighters with their fire truck and the second will be the police officer with his squad car. I have a strong belief that these presentations help ease children’s fears if they are ever in an actual emergency and for others it is really exciting and fun!
Here is what some of the children had to say about their experience, please note these quotes are from children ages 2-6 years old.
“I didn’t like the wee ew wee ew wee ew, I did like the lights.” Cora
“When there is a fire in your house you duck and roll.” Willa
“They have different kinds of hoses
.” Ariella
“I liked hearing the siren” Rosemary
“Too loud” Mae
“I noticed the lights on my car don’t flash so well, but the lights on the fire truck flash so well.” Bryson
“I liked the fire truck” Rosemarin
“I learned that you cannot get near fires, because if you get too close it can burn you.” Aleah
“They showed us the hoses” Niko
“They had these big axes that were so sharp and could cut anything!” Markie
“They can’t touch the metal on their helmets cause it is too hot!” Eric
The firefighters also left us with a coloring and activity book for each child and helmets which most of the Preschoolers chose to wear for the rest of the day.