not ready yet!!

Clean up, clean up, everybody clean up!!  This song brings excitement for some children and panic for others.  Some children love the idea of tidying and cleaning and really look at this transition as an extension of their play.  Some children really don't know where to begin and/or aren't interested.  They need support in finding a defined task and "getting it done".  Other children are happy to clean up, but not the activity they have worked so hard to create during their play time.

Ilan fell into this last category today.  He had spent a lot of time building a block sculpture that was just to his liking.  When our clean up song came on, he stood up and took a watch dog stance as if to say, "This is my masterpiece and it will NOT be destroyed".  Unfortunately, some projects can be ongoing and left within the classroom.  Others cannot be kept which can be upsetting for a child who has worked so hard on it.

I asked Ilan if he would like to take a picture of his blocks so that we could post it on the blog.  He was excited to do this and stood proudly next to it.  Knowing that his work would be permanently displayed on the blog helped.  After the picture, he easily began to disassemble his work and helped some friends put the big blocks back onto the shelves.

Is it neat!!!