Self-Control

This story was on NPR yesterday and it connects to many of strategies we use in the Fairfield Preschool classroom. 

 Connect to the story

The teachers at this preschool in Maryland were trained by people from the Center for Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL). The folks at CSEFEL have been training trainers in Vermont. This summer and October, many teachers and providers, including me, from Franklin Central officially became CSEFEL trainers. You may recognize some of the techniques in this NPR story to what you see in our classroom everyday.

  This poster of solutions is a resource for helping the kids solve their own problems when they come up during play. We learned the words "problem" and "solution" early on in the year. We know when we have a problem we need to find a solution. Now we have a mediator (or problem solver) each day as a job in the classroom. That person helps others solve their problems with a set of solution cards they wear on a lanyard. 

 

These are the five basic rules we have for the classroom. They are stated positively (what the expectation is, rather than what we don't want to see). We review these often and they are posted near the meeting area. This helps kids understand the consistent expectations for everyone.  

This is our schedule, which helps kids know what we have done and what we will be doing. We move a clothespin along to show where we are at in the daily schedule. Our secretary (another job) reads the schedule at meeting and we always ask if we will be having a regular day or a different day, which helps kids stay grounded.

 

These are the four expectations for whole group meetings. We regularly ask the kids to check themselves when we are to the meeting area.

 

When the kids enter the room, they use this visual to know the four steps of coming into preschool each day. The goal is that they will do these on their own, without adult help to build their independence.