Not just a game

It might look like a game to you, but these Shamayim children are doing so much more than "playing".

ZINGO is a game that combines Bingo, Concentration, and Tic Tac Toe.  Each child has a 3x3 board with pictures. The dispenser gives out 2 tiles at a time.  The first person to see a match can snag the tile and put it on their board.

Sometimes two or three people are all waiting for the same tile.  Paying close attention to be the first to grab the tile is important. However, being resilient when you aren't first is equally important.  It is easy to say "I quit" when the game isn't going your way.  This Zingo group persevered through the let downs and remained respectful and kind throughout the game.

Each child gets a turn to move the tile dispenser.  Then, you have to wait for the dispenser to make it back to you.  Patience is crucial as it can take a few minutes to make it back.  While you wait, you have to pay attention to the tiles coming out so that you can fill your board.  So many things going on!  Great multi-tasking, Shamayim!!!

What to do when I don't like what you're doing?

Stop!  I don't like that!

In our classroom, we take care of ourselves by using our words to express what we like and what we don't like.  Sometimes classmates might stand too close.  Other times they might take something that we are still using, or knock down something we have just built.  As adults, we have a set of strategies when we don't like what someone has done.  First, we let them know that we want them to stop.  Then, we might explain why.  If this doesn't work, we might get a friend or colleague to help us.  On the rare ocassion when all of this doesn't work, we ignore the behavior or remove ourselves from the situation.

The Shamayim children are beginning this extensive process of building their problem solving strategy skill sets.  Today, we started talking about how we feel when another child is doing something that we don't like or makes us uncomfortable.  We feel mad, sad, scared, frustrated.  The first problem solving strategy that we will try is:

Stop!  (Hands on the hips making triangles with your arms and a strong voice).  We are advocating for ourselves.  Making our needs and feelings known and beginning to take care of ourselves.

We role played and practiced this together.  We also talked about how we take care of each other by supporting a friend when they are not comfortable.  Sonia showed us how she would help Bennett if he wanted someone to stop.

Strong problem solving skills are key to resiliency and success in later childhood and adulthood.  We are excited to embark on this important life skill together.

Helping a friend

Accidents happen, and some are more painful emotionally than physically.  Matt worked hard this morning to create his vision using gak and a plastic cone that doubled as a rolling pin. As soon as he was happy with his creation and ready to show it, someone accidentally put it back in the gak bag during clean-up. Not to be discouraged, Matt took more gak, borrowed a cone that Teddy Fox was using as part of his artwork, and together the boys worked to recreate Matt's original design. Although that proved too difficult, they settled on a gak snake that Matt proudly displayed during second morning meeting.