Why?

Sorry for the delay on a new post.. work and everything else has been keeping me busy!


Every student has been required, at some point during their schooling to write a how-to paper. It's a dull but tedious task, as every step  in the process you're writing about is crucial. I remember my freshman year of high school when I was assigned a how to paper, we could choose whatever topic we wanted. I chose the simple and boring, 'How-to Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwhich' topic; thought it would be easy to do. I wrote the essay in a matter of minutes and just knew I would get an A. Regretfully I was not thorough enough when explaining the steps to make the sandwich. I forgot to inform the reader to get the knife and spoon out of the silverware drawer in order to spread the peanut butter and jelly onto the bread. I simply went from the step of getting the bread to spreading the condiments. My teacher deducted ten points due to messy fingers as she spread the jelly and peanut butter with her fingers because of the lack of explanation on how to do it the right way with utensils.

Fortunately, this experience has made me skilled in the task of 'how-to' do things. Which is very useful when working with Ryan and Riley. Ryan is getting to the age where he can do some things on his own. Such as, put on his shoes, going potty, washing his hands, etc. Unfortunately the realization of how effective this skill would be didn't just come to me when it was time to start teaching Ryan how to do things on his own, it came to me because when he does things he isn't supposed to, for example, one day at play group, Ryan was hitting another little kid on the head with a stuffed animal. I said, "Ryan, don't hit him on the head with that, it is not a nice thing to do. You will get a time out if you don't stop." He replied with, "But Miss Megan, I am just bumping his head with it, I'm not hitting him." As I quickly scramble for the right thing to say, without laughing at how clever this little two year old can be, I finally say, "Well it isn't nice to bump his head either, don't hit, bump, or anything like that on anyone elses head or body with that stuffed animal, it will hurt them and it is not nice to hurt people. If you can't play nicely we will have to go home early." Once again he out-witted me, because he went and put down the stuffed animal and walked right over to the same child he was 'bumping' before and started 'bumping' the kids head again but this time with his hand. I said, "Ryan stop it! Now we have to go home because you aren't playing nicely and you aren't listening. I told you to stop hitting and bumping other people and you're still doing it." I'm sure you can guess what he's about to say, "But Miss Megan, I wasn't hitting him with the stuffed animal anymore?"

Do you see why it was necessary for me to implement the how-to skill in my work day?