Who's foolin' who?

While preparing snack one day I noticed out of the corner of my eye that a child was about to throw a puzzle piece. "Hey" I said, "Don't you throw that puzzle". The child stopped dead in his tracks and stared at me with wide eyes. He looked at the child next to him and said, "How did she know I was gonna throw that"? The other boy looked at him and said, "My mom told me that teachers and moms have eyes in the backs of their heads so she has eyes in the back of her head". The other boy nodded his head in agreement. Another boy had overheard their conversation and walked over to them and stated, " She does not have eyes in the back of her head. People do not have eyes in the back of their head. Look, if she had eyes back there her hair would be over it and she wouldn't see out those eyes." The two other boys just looked at him and then continued playing. The non-believer approached me and said, "Teacher, those kids think you got eyes in the back of your head. . . and you don't". I looked at him and smiled, " How do you know I don't have eyes back there"? He rolled his eyes and said matter of factly "You just don't". I nodded my head and asked, " Oh, well then how did I know he was going to throw that puzzle piece"? The boy looked at me square in the eye and said, "Because you have peripheral vision". I couldn't say anything! Whay!?!? How could this five year old know about peripheral vision??? All I could do is say "Yup buddy, I do". Too smart for me!

These one's are quick but they're too cute to pass up

I was helping a little boy locate his socks and shoes after an adventure in the sandbox. We located everything and I told him to come sit with me under the tree in the shade and I'd help him get his shoes and socks back on. He sat down on the grass with me and I started to put his socks on. He leaned back on his hands and sighed, " I love shave, it keeps me cool and outta the sun." I smiled at him and asked, " so you really like the shade"? He grinned at me and replied, " I love this tree, it helps me shave. I love the shave".... Too cute!

I was still sitting under that tree in the "shave" when another child came up behind me and started to play with my hair. He piled it all on top of my head and twisted it around itself. As soon as he let go, ofcourse, my hair all fell back down. He leaned around me and said, "Teacher, your hair isn't stable". "Oh, it's not"? I chuckled. "No, it's very unstable", he replied. I sat smiling for a moment before I asked, "How do you think I can make it stable"? The boy though for a moment before responding, "With hairspray...or maybe a wig". What a great afternoon!

A small glimpse at the future

A week or so ago I had two children(a boy and a girl) wake up a little early from nap. The two of them chose to sit together on a nap mat and read books until the other kids started to wake up. They sat close to one another flipping through the books and talking about what was happening in the pictures. After awhile the little girl came over to me and said, "Teacher, we are going to get married when we are bigger...to each other"! I told her it was nice that they were friends and she smiled a huge smile and went back to her books.
Later that day, at snack time, I noticed that this little girl had seated herself next to this same little boy and was once again talking his ear off. This time,however,the little boy was way less interested in what she had to say. The other children were awake now and he was more involved in a conversation with the boys. The girl started to notice she was losing his attention and started to lean in closer and closer to the boy. He continued to either look in the opposites direction of directly down at his snack. Finally the litte girl leaned way over and stuck her head between the boys face and the table...not wanting to be ignored any longer. "Guess what"! She said and he finally answered her in an annoyed tone, "what"? She beamed at him, "We are going to get married when we are bigger! We're going to get married"! The boy stared at her blankly for a moment, clearly not getting the importance of the conversation. She continued,"we're going to get married to each other"! she squealed. The boy looked at her for a moment,gathered up his snack, got up out of his seat and stated, " I don't think so" and then walked away. I watched to make sure this didn't upset the girl too much. She seemed to take it in stride and found other children to play with for the rest of the day.
I however, pondered the fact that this situation, though in varied forms, would most likely happen to her many more time in her lifetime. It's amazing how young personalities develope. Girls will be girls and yes, boys will be boys.

With just one look. . .

This blog is titled "Kids SAY what", I just wanted to demonstrate that sometimes a child doesn't have to SAY anything to tell you everything. A special thanks to my cute friend Cara for letting me share this picture of her little guy with ya'll.
So. . . what do you think he's saying?

Point of View

I heard a fellow teacher ask one of her children this question the other day; "Why on earth did you have your head in that garbage can"? The child responded with a shoulder shrug and an eye roll. The teacher then asked, " Can you tell me if there is ever a good reason to have your head in a garbage can"? The child looked at her for a moment then looked down into the garbage can. " I don't think there is ever a good reason for you to put your entire head into the garbage can bud, so please don't do it again." the teacher pleaded. "Alright" said the boy, "but I can think of a reason you'd put your head in there. . . if you wanted to see what was in it. . . all the way at the bottom, or if you were lookin' for sumfin". The teacher smiled and said, "well I guess that is a pretty good reason. What were you looking for"?
The child looked at her quizically, " I wasn't looking for anything, I just put my head in it".

It's all relative

Overheard this conversation during lunch today:

B- I have a dog. She's a good dog.
T- Oh, that's cool dude.
B- My dog is a girl, her name is Rawly.
T- Oh.
B- My dog is a girl, so she is my sister because she's a girl.
T- * Blankly stares off into space clearly tired of this conversation*
E- Your dog is what?
B- My dog's a girl so she's my sister!
T- *snapping back to reality* What? Wait a second dude, how can a dog be your sister?
B- Cuz she's a girl.
T- Ah man. That's weird.

Name that tune!

I like to help the clean up process move along in my classroom by playing up beat and fun music. In the past the favored song was "Who let the dogs out" but due to teacher Jaime being down right sick of it, the songs have changed. The kids like to keep it up tempo but they also favor things that are mainstream. For example we often listen to things from the Hannah Montana soundtrack or from (gag) Justin Bieber. . . I try to get them to exeperience different music but once they get a fave it gets played over and over and over.. . .and over.
This months favorite is appropriately entitled "Replay". It's a popular hip-hop song that the children just adore. The lyrics go something like this:

"Shawty's like a melody in my head that I can't keep out, got me singin' like, na na na na everyday. It's like my ipod's stuck on replay. Replay."

This, however, is not what the children like to sing. Every child has their own personal version of these lyrics. . . here are some of my favorites;

"Chinese like a memaneez in my head"
"Shawny's like a Melody"
"Shiney's in the melodies"
"Mac and Cheese in my head"
"Johnnny is like a melody"
"Shinny is like a Melanie"
"Scotty is like a melody"

And when asked what song they'd like to hear for clean up the shouts are unanimous for "Melanie in my head" or "Macaroni in my head"

Sounds like a hit to me!