One of the boys who has moved to the older class still loves to come visit me. His favorite excuse to do so is "I want to feed the fish." Where I work we strive to help children become as independent as possible by allowing them to perform tasks for themselves, such as taking off their shoes or opening doors. After helping him feed the fish in my classroom we walked back to the playground. As I was watching this boy (who was about 18 months at the time) stretch to reach the door handle and then realize that he had to push instead of pull, one of the middle school teachers walked by and said, "Sometimes I envy your job. How great it is that you get to take the time to explore an object as simple as a doorknob."
I'd never thought of it that way. I've read articles about taking the time to see life the way that children do and my job is centered around the needs of the children, but I'd never really thought about the pace of their lives. For myself as an adult as well as others I've talked to the pace of life is quick. We jump from one task to another usually without pausing in between. We're always in a hurry to get somewhere or to finish something. The children I've observed over the last two years take life much slower. Granted they can move through a room like a tornado when they want to, but they also take the time to sit and contemplate objects or tasks that they have completed.
One boy, a few months ago took the rectangle blocks from the shelf and built a tower that was taller than himself. He tried and tried to get the smallest block on the top, standing up long ways. When he finally decided it wouldn't work that way he laid it down side ways on the top. Then he stood back and looked at his masterpiece for a minute. When he was satisfied he looked around the room with a big smile and said, "I did it!"
They get so excited when they discover that they can do something for themselves. My favorite phrase to hear in my classroom is "I did it!" They use it all day long from completing a job from the shelves, opening their own lunch and even getting their own pants down in the restroom. They love to be able to do things for themselves, but we as adults need to allow them that independence. Another boy in my class wanted so much to be independent in everything that when we would see him struggling with something we would ask, "Would you like me to help you with that?" and he would say, "No, I do it!" After a few more moments he would look up and say, "Help please." Even when they ask for help, I've learned to only do the part that they are struggling with and then let them try the next step. For example, this happened most often with this boy trying to put on his shoes. He had a hard time getting them over his heels. So when he would ask for help I would help him get the shoe onto his foot and then let him try to do up the velcro on his own.
Another important lesson I've learned is that being independent doesn't mean that they don't need attention. They need adult interaction frequently throughout the day. They love to play and cuddle and will generally behave well if they know that you're willing to play with them and that you're going to let them do things for themselves. The right balance of independence, attention and observation on the part of the adult makes for a great environment and lots of learning experiences for both toddlers and adults.
