Understanding Two Year Olds; a Few Brief Words
What I Do All Day
or,
My Job
I am an "Assistant Teacher" with a chain daycare company. I "teach" the 2-year old class. The class consists of 5-13 children between the ages of 22 months and 2.5 years old; some children come five days a week, while some come three or two, so the number of children depends on the day of the week.
Some Basic Facts About 2-Year-Olds
or
Things You Need To Know
Children this age generally aren't toilet trained. So, I change diapers. We change diapers every 2 hours or more. The head teacher and I swap diaper-changing duties, so we each change a minimum of 10 dirty diapers a day. I almost never have a day where I change the minimum, and that 10-diaper mark gets passed well before 11 o'clock in the morning.
Children this age have greatly varying abilities of speech. Some of them have mastered 3 and 4 word sentences. Most of them are still working on single words. We're still working on using forks and spoons; most of the children can't drink out of a regular cup; many of the children still need bibs. Psychologically, they won't be able to grasp the idea of "sharing" for another year or two, so we try to teach them to "take turns" and "ask nicely." They have very short memories, so they need constant reminders of simple things: "keep your feet on the floor," "walk, please," "gentle touch," "we eat food; crayons/dirt/bugs are not food."
Children this age, for the most part, simply do not understand negatives. This is probably the most difficult part about working with them. Saying "don't run" means nothing to them; what are they supposed to do, if they aren't running? An adult can make the leap of logic: don't run = do walk. Most two-year olds can't make that jump. To them, don't run = "?" They just don't know what to do. So you have to say everything in positive terms. "Don't run" becomes "use walking feet, please." Instead of telling them what they should not do, you remind them of what they should be doing. "Don't eat crayons" becomes "eat food, color with crayons," a reminder of what one should do with crayons, and of what one may put in one's mouth. "Don't hit" becomes "use gentle hands," and "don't climb" becomes "feet on the floor," and so on. It's all so very not how we're used to speaking.
I've gotten pretty good at it. My co-worker, the head teacher, isn't so good at it. She keeps saying "no" and "don't" and getting frustrated when they don't understand. Rather, when they don't obey her. Well, duh, most of them can't understand and obey yet, and it's not their fault. Tell them what they should be doing, and they'll usually do it! And be prepared to tell them often, because their memories aren't so good yet. And stop taking their childishness so personally; it's not like they're being purposefully disobedient! (Trust me. When they are being purposefully disobedient, you can tell. Toddlers have zero subtlety.) Frankly, I had expected better from a psychology major. (-.-)
How I Justify My Title
or
How Do You Teach Toddlers?
Anyway, all of this merits putting the word "teacher" in quotations; we do far more damage control than actual teaching.
We do have a curriculum, lesson plans, mapped out schedules, the whole nine yards, just like a Real School. You might think this is silly, giving two-year-olds a curriculum. Let me tell you, it's brilliant. Really, what do you do to occupy rambunctious toddlers all day? A curriculum and a schedule help answer that question. Without order and routine--not too much, mind you, but just enough--toddlers go a little bit crazy. No, scratch that. They bounce off the walls. They're out of control. You know that old bromide, "kids crave discipline"? It's true, I swear it. I'm not talking about a militaristic regiment, just a fairly ordered and predictable day. It turns a wild mob of savage, vicious little heathens into a semi-manageable mob of adorable, precocious little heathens.
The nice thing about the daycare chain I work for is that they've already got a comprehensive curriculum and teaching materials already set up for you. Every season, each class gets a box of curriculum materials and a bin of special toys. We have books that walk us through all of the lessons. Everything is there for you, you just have to read it and implement it. And with the basic lesson already handed to you, coming up with daily supplemental activities (art projects, song and story times, outdoor play) becomes a pleasant creative exercise instead of a burdensome chore.
While it's not rocket science, we are teaching them important lessons. These little things we're coaching them through are the foundations for the rest of their lives. Can you imagine the time a child would have if they went to kindergarten ignorant of the most basic classroom rules?
We teach them that lunch will be served at lunch time, that we sit and listen in circle, that we play nicely during play time. We teach them to walk inside, to use quiet voices, to ask permission and wait their turn. All of this stuff actually has to be learned.
Their parents can't do it; they're at the office all day, they see their children for an hour in the morning and an hour or two at night. When can we expect them to make time to teach these things to their kids? During those precious two or three hours? Can we begrudge them a bit of coddling and spoiling in those few moments they get to see their children? No, I don't think we reasonably can.
We are the ones who see their children for six to eight hours every day; we are the ones with the luxury of time. The lessons might be small and simple, but we are the ones who have to teach them.
Still, it's a hard job. The kids are very difficult to handle at this age. It's termed the "terrible twos" for an excellent reason.
or,
My Job
I am an "Assistant Teacher" with a chain daycare company. I "teach" the 2-year old class. The class consists of 5-13 children between the ages of 22 months and 2.5 years old; some children come five days a week, while some come three or two, so the number of children depends on the day of the week.
Some Basic Facts About 2-Year-Olds
or
Things You Need To Know
Children this age generally aren't toilet trained. So, I change diapers. We change diapers every 2 hours or more. The head teacher and I swap diaper-changing duties, so we each change a minimum of 10 dirty diapers a day. I almost never have a day where I change the minimum, and that 10-diaper mark gets passed well before 11 o'clock in the morning.
Children this age have greatly varying abilities of speech. Some of them have mastered 3 and 4 word sentences. Most of them are still working on single words. We're still working on using forks and spoons; most of the children can't drink out of a regular cup; many of the children still need bibs. Psychologically, they won't be able to grasp the idea of "sharing" for another year or two, so we try to teach them to "take turns" and "ask nicely." They have very short memories, so they need constant reminders of simple things: "keep your feet on the floor," "walk, please," "gentle touch," "we eat food; crayons/dirt/bugs are not food."
Children this age, for the most part, simply do not understand negatives. This is probably the most difficult part about working with them. Saying "don't run" means nothing to them; what are they supposed to do, if they aren't running? An adult can make the leap of logic: don't run = do walk. Most two-year olds can't make that jump. To them, don't run = "?" They just don't know what to do. So you have to say everything in positive terms. "Don't run" becomes "use walking feet, please." Instead of telling them what they should not do, you remind them of what they should be doing. "Don't eat crayons" becomes "eat food, color with crayons," a reminder of what one should do with crayons, and of what one may put in one's mouth. "Don't hit" becomes "use gentle hands," and "don't climb" becomes "feet on the floor," and so on. It's all so very not how we're used to speaking.
I've gotten pretty good at it. My co-worker, the head teacher, isn't so good at it. She keeps saying "no" and "don't" and getting frustrated when they don't understand. Rather, when they don't obey her. Well, duh, most of them can't understand and obey yet, and it's not their fault. Tell them what they should be doing, and they'll usually do it! And be prepared to tell them often, because their memories aren't so good yet. And stop taking their childishness so personally; it's not like they're being purposefully disobedient! (Trust me. When they are being purposefully disobedient, you can tell. Toddlers have zero subtlety.) Frankly, I had expected better from a psychology major. (-.-)
How I Justify My Title
or
How Do You Teach Toddlers?
Anyway, all of this merits putting the word "teacher" in quotations; we do far more damage control than actual teaching.
We do have a curriculum, lesson plans, mapped out schedules, the whole nine yards, just like a Real School. You might think this is silly, giving two-year-olds a curriculum. Let me tell you, it's brilliant. Really, what do you do to occupy rambunctious toddlers all day? A curriculum and a schedule help answer that question. Without order and routine--not too much, mind you, but just enough--toddlers go a little bit crazy. No, scratch that. They bounce off the walls. They're out of control. You know that old bromide, "kids crave discipline"? It's true, I swear it. I'm not talking about a militaristic regiment, just a fairly ordered and predictable day. It turns a wild mob of savage, vicious little heathens into a semi-manageable mob of adorable, precocious little heathens.
The nice thing about the daycare chain I work for is that they've already got a comprehensive curriculum and teaching materials already set up for you. Every season, each class gets a box of curriculum materials and a bin of special toys. We have books that walk us through all of the lessons. Everything is there for you, you just have to read it and implement it. And with the basic lesson already handed to you, coming up with daily supplemental activities (art projects, song and story times, outdoor play) becomes a pleasant creative exercise instead of a burdensome chore.
While it's not rocket science, we are teaching them important lessons. These little things we're coaching them through are the foundations for the rest of their lives. Can you imagine the time a child would have if they went to kindergarten ignorant of the most basic classroom rules?
We teach them that lunch will be served at lunch time, that we sit and listen in circle, that we play nicely during play time. We teach them to walk inside, to use quiet voices, to ask permission and wait their turn. All of this stuff actually has to be learned.
Their parents can't do it; they're at the office all day, they see their children for an hour in the morning and an hour or two at night. When can we expect them to make time to teach these things to their kids? During those precious two or three hours? Can we begrudge them a bit of coddling and spoiling in those few moments they get to see their children? No, I don't think we reasonably can.
We are the ones who see their children for six to eight hours every day; we are the ones with the luxury of time. The lessons might be small and simple, but we are the ones who have to teach them.
Still, it's a hard job. The kids are very difficult to handle at this age. It's termed the "terrible twos" for an excellent reason.