Author: Shao Zuodi, a teacher of Xueshan Preschool in Longling County

In winter, the children all bundle up, which makes them look like little penguins, walking with a rolling gait. They are very lovely.

But as long as the activities curriculum were carried out, children felt that it was difficult to stretch their limbs when they were wearing too much clothes. Also, if they didn't take off their clothes, they would sweat a lot in a short time, so everyone liked to take off their coats in the activity curriculum. But the problem was that when they leave the preschool, the children needed to spend a long time to put on their clothes by themselves.

At the beginning, in order to save time, I would take the initiative to help each child get dressed. But over time, they gradually developed the habit of waiting for me to help them with everything they meet, and they were unwilling to finish their own things by themselves.

"Teacher, help me zip up!"

"Teacher, my shoelaces are loose. Please help me to fasten them!"

“Teacher, would you feed me?”

What's worse, they directly asked me to dress them after lunch break or activity class, leaving all their own things to me.

The children always asked me to do their own things from time to time, making me realize that it is my improper teaching method that promoted their bad habits-- "they waited on hand and foot".

In order to help them learn to do their own things by themselves, I decided to change the teaching method.

In a team building activity class, I read the picture book "Do Your Own Things by Yourself" together with the children. Dingding, the hero of this story, often dresses himself, washes his socks, eats by himself...... Even though he often wears his clothes inside out or spits rice on the ground, Dingding happily insists on doing his own things every day.

By this chance, I asked the children, "Boys and girls, who can do your own things by yourself like Dingding?”

"I~I can do it..." The children scrambled to raise their hands and said they could, and they could wash the dishes, wash their socks, and dress themselves...

In fact, the children in the preschool can complete their own things. Maybe some of the details are not good enough, but they can try their best to do it. In the end, they will do things better and better. In order to strengthen the children's confidence and encourage them to do their own things, I required them to ask about whether their parents could not do many things perfectly when the parents were at the same age.

From then on, Dingding became a model for children. No matter what they do, children will learn from Dingding: putting on their own clothes, tying their shoelaces, washing the dishes and making the bed.

Although they sometimes didn’t do very well--the coat was wrongly buttoned, the bowl was not clean, the quilt was not so neat. But I feel extremely gratified and happy to see their positive efforts and perseverance.

Project introduction:

Nonggang preschool project in Longling County is funded by China Charities Aid Foundation For Children. The purpose of the community preschool education project is to help children in need get rid of poverty: preschools are set up in natural villages in remote and poor areas, and classrooms are transformed from various kinds of rooms. The project team recruits and trains preschool teachers locally and sets up parent committees. In addition to, traditional teaching subjects, children will also learn about nature, animals, nutrition, health and how to express themselves through art and music. These children are usually 3 to 6 years old and can be well prepared for primary school by participating in pre-school education.

This project is funded by China Charities Aid Foundation For Children.

This article is the author's personal opinion, is not the opinion or position of the donor.