Tot School Co-op Looks Like...

They all look so cute & busy!

If it was my kid doing that, I would just ignore him. Sounds like he is wanting you to give him attention and maybe ignoring the situation will make him behave like you want.

We're only one class in and Ethan was seriously a terror during the class! It was like he never did Tot School before and was encouraging the other kids to throw trays, run up and down the halls, etc. The second everyone left, he sat down and did his Tot Trays for 2 hours. *grumble* I'm still trying to figure it all out and how to get it to work smoothly. I like your idea of work mats.

What a great idea! I would love to find so something similar to this in my area to do with my kids. Maybe I should start something. Thanks for the inspiration!

I would say it's a change in what was once 'his' space, maybe? That's my guess - it's the age old, 'company is here, so I'm going to see what I need to do to maintain some attention in my own space'. I hope that doesn't sound harsh - most all of my children STILL do that - sadly, I have to occasionally remind my oldest to be a gentle participant, not a 'everyone look at me' show off :) It's normal, and could possibly go away once he sees everyone is settling in and co-op doesn't feel quite so new. Although you've had four days and reality says it's been almost a month, really, that's not a full weeks' worth of the group setting, so it's still new. HOWEVER, I think you are doing a GREAT job and love hearing about the co-op :)

It looks amazing. I'm so glad to see it's going well for you. The noise level will lower with time. Sometimes I find that soft music helps. I have a singing bowl that I sound when the noise level is really crazy, and everyone is supposed to pause and raise a peace sign when they hear it. I ask everyone to use whisper voices for a few months after that ... totally a stolen idea from my old mentor teacher :)

Annabelle was my challenge last year, too. I think it was though for her to get used to seeing me divide my attention among so many other children. I agree with another commenter that it sounds like attention seeking, but I think attention is a totally legitimate need. My approach in those cases is usually to walk over, playfully put a hand on my hip and say, "Wait a second, that's not what we do at school. You must need a really big squeeze. Can I give you a squeeze, and then maybe we can find you an interesting work to do." Letting them know we see them and their need for reassurance can go a long way, I think. If it gives you any comfort, there has been hardly a trace of that behavior during our classes this year ... I think it's just growing pains :)

Excuse my typos. Phone commenting is a mess. That should say a few minutes, not months, and, well, hopefully you can read past the rest :)

We just started co-op (2 classes in), and that's been great. But I feel we are not settled yet. Could you share how you organized it? How do you share info in between the classes? How often do you meet (we meet once a week for 3 hrs.) Kids look happy and engage on the pictures! We have 5 two year olds and a baby.

If I may, it sounds like a rebellion to what he may consider an invasion in his personal space. In my classroom I've always had the saying there no such thing as a bad kid just a bored one. (Used to be a K teacher) If you haven't tried already, perhaps giving him task that will make him a "host" to his guest such as passing out or collecting materials with your assistance. Maybe before the other children arrive pump up his importance in being the helper cause he knows where everything is. Hope that helps. Btw, thank you soooo much for your blog. I'm starting Tot school next month with my one year old and, no offense to anyone, yours is the only one I've found to be realistic, simplistic yet appropriate and easy to follow. Thank you again!