Little Bessie Bunny - Helping Pre-Schoolers Develop a Positive Self Image

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» left by Dianne Lehmann ^(3,031)
Dianne Lehmann (123 days 1 hour ago.)

Hi Patricia. Very cute and encouraging poem. I'm reminded of, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." (I seem to be in a mood to quote old sayings.)

Kids do need a lot of encouragement...failure comes so easily to them the first time they try something new. It can be frustrating and too easy to just think, "I can't do this."

Writing and writing well are like that. When I look back at my first articles, I want to cringe. But I've kept at it and I get better all the time. I actually had a lot of encouragement as a child to just keep trying and for this I am grateful.

Good work!

Dianne

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» left by Patricia Grace ⁽²⁷⁷⁾
Patricia Grace (122 days 22 hours ago.)

Hi Dianne,

Thank you for the kind words.  One of my challenges was to find a way to write that could help little ones feel better about themselves and to really believe that they could do pretty much whatever they really tried to do.  It was discouraging as a Kindergarten and First Grade teacher to have so many children come in feeling like failures at such an early age.  The number of such children increased greatly over the last few years.  So many of them now have an automatic " I can't " if they can't do something on the first try. 

 

You were blessed to have supportive parents who encouraged you to keep trying.  I am sure that contributed to your becoming a very good writer.  Keep up the good work.

 

Patricia

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» left by sue thom from nj (123 days 1 hour ago.)

hi patricia,

hmmm a teacher with a positive plan, now that's refreshing. i'm not putting down teachers, my sister is one, and i have always supported our schools, but my kids were just through middle school and high school, and it didn't seem like the higher level teachers were positively motivated, and therefore, neither were the kids. i applaud your efforts, and i'm sure they made a difference in every one of those adorable children's lives. thank you,

my best,

sue

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» left by Patricia Grace ⁽²⁷⁷⁾
Patricia Grace (122 days 21 hours ago.)

Hi Sue,

Thank you.  I like to think that I helped my little ones feel better about themselves and have something - like a little poem - they could fall back on as a reminder if things were not going well.  I find I still do that from time to time.  If I get stuck and tempted to quit a task, I still find the last lines of this poem going through my head!

 

In defense of the teachers you had to deal with---teaching is not as much fun as it was years ago.  There is hardly any room for creativity or for changing what you are doing to fit the needs of individual children.  It is all about test scores now.  Hopefully, the pendulum will swing back in the opposite direction,and teachers will have more choice in what - and how- they teach.  Having very little control over what you do in the classroom does a lot to take away the motivation and enthusiasm that led to many teachers becoming teachers in the first place. Best wishes to your sister!

 

Patricia

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