Overheard in Preschool

Kids from Sydney.

overheardinpreschool — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:36:59 +0000

I recently babysat a 3-year-old boy and a 6-year old girl, absolute gems from Australia.

The children were engrossed in a movie when the doorbell rang. I went to the door and came back with a pizza that had been ordered for them earlier. The boy asked me who was at the door. I explained that a delivery man had brought us pizza for dinner.

“Well, that’s very kind of him, don’t you think?” the boy said, not taking his eyes off the screen.

* * *

We were talking about the kids’ birthdays. I found out that the boy would turn 4 in several months. His sister moaned.

“I don’t want him to get one more. Every time he gets one more he gets even cheekier!”

Girl from Holland.

overheardinpreschool — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 04:00:34 +0000

I babysat a very sweet 5-year-old girl twice. The moment I arrived the second time, she whispered that she had something secret to show me. Judging by the tone of her voice, I knew it was something scandalous.

She pulled up her skirt and showed me her fancy new undies, complete with pink frills on the sides.

“Very cool,” I told her.

“I know,” she replied. “It’s like I’m in the circus or something!”

Day 58.

overheardinpreschool — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 23:36:12 +0000

The class is studying orcas. The children were recently given a homework assignment – which, by the way, is incredibly exciting – to learn two facts about orcas. One child’s “fact” was that people need to keep the oceans clean for the whales. This prompted a conversation about what we could do to keep the oceans clean.

A girl immediately raised her hand. “No smoking!” she exclaimed.

Boy from Last Year’s Class

overheardinpreschool — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 06:57:31 +0000

I ran into a boy who was in my class last year. Meaning I taught him until the end of June. And I also saw him two weeks ago.

“I missed you for years and years!” he told me when he saw me.

Girl from Texas.

overheardinpreschool — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 23:37:47 +0000

In preparation for my sportswriter father’s visit to my little sister’s school several years ago, she told her class that he’d written a book about the “Bacon Bills.”

Day 41.

overheardinpreschool — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 23:35:07 +0000

Today we had a conversation about what the children are thankful for.

“I’m thankful for the Beatles and the Mets,” one boy said.

“Me too,” I replied.

* * *

Later on, the kids drew pictures of the things they were thankful for. Mid-picture, one girl groaned:

“Ohhhhh, why did I just draw my dad wearing a dress??”

Day 38.

overheardinpreschool — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 01:37:51 +0000

A mother with a strong accent came into our class to talk to the children about what it was like to go to school in her native Spain.

She told the children that she was not from the United States and asked them to guess where she was from.

“England!”

“Queens!”

* * *

There is a “friendship tree” in our classroom, to which a child gets to add a leaf if they’ve done something nice for a friend. The catch, though, is that a kid cannot nominate himself for a leaf. Rather another friend has to nominate the kid for having done the good deed. The concept of recognizing others’ kindness is nearly impossible for egocentric five-year-olds to understand. Therefore, several times a day the teachers are told, “I did something nice for so-and-so,” and we have to explain repeatedly that “so-and-so” needs to tell a teacher that something nice was done for him in order for a leaf to be given out.

Other attempts to get leaves:

“I fell on the playground… And then I picked myself up! I should get a leaf!”

“I should get a friendship leaf because I picked Boy up after I pushed him to the ground!”

Day 36.

overheardinpreschool — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 01:23:55 +0000

I asked a group of children if they knew the five different boroughs of New York City. A boy replied:

“Yeah, Brooklyn… Connecticut… Pennsylvania…”

* * *

A girl entered the Book Nook, where several kids were reading. She flipped up her dress, exposing her underwear along with the fact that the waist of her tights was around her mid-thigh.

She unapologetically hiked up her tights, saying to a rapt crowd, “I’m sorry guys, but my tights are just too small!”

Girl from Texas.

overheardinpreschool — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 14:29:24 +0000

As soon as I arrived, a 3-year-old girl I was babysitting told me she had a present for me. She picked up a Bergdorf Goodman shopping bag and thrust it in my hands, insisting that the toddler-sized dress inside was meant for me.

* * *

The girl’s brother told me a bit about his family.

“I like my mom’s side of the family. They’re fun! But my dad’s side… They just have pretty houses.”

Day 31.

overheardinpreschool — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 23:40:43 +0000

Some kids and I were playing doctor again. I was the patient, as usual. After putting the stethoscope on my belly button and saying she could hear my stomach growl, a girl came to the conclusion that I must have swallowed a bear. Her cure?

“I’m going to give you chopsticks… Er, crunches. The kind you lean on to help you walk. Yes, two crunches.”