WF, 3/18/2021 | Wee Friends Early Childhood Program LLC

Good Afternoon!

I stumbled across a Teacher Tom blog post today and several parts within the post struck a cord. We implemented our new MACK (Mindful Attention with Curiosity and Kindness Curriculum) curriculum two years ago. We use a variety of techniques, resources, and literature to help us attend to the emotional and social development of children. While it’s stuff we’ve ‘always done’, it’s a wonderful way to pinpoint various topics each week.

This week, our MACK is: Children will learn everyone has a gift they give to the world and even small children can contribute. Children will be able to name gifts they contribute to our community.

Children show mindfulness in many ways throughout the day: kindergarteners problem solving with younger peers without being asked or doing an individual activity that requires focus even though the environment can be on the louder side.

Teacher Tom shared, “I see it being practiced wherever there are young children engaged in self-selected activities. A child bent over a puzzle in the midst of a noisy classroom is not just working a puzzle, she is the puzzle. Children negotiating their way through their games of princesses and super heroes are fully there in the moment, intellectually, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. And the younger the children are, the more mindful they tend to be: a baby staring off into the middle distance is, in that moment, the entire universe.”

We as teachers try to set a mindful example. I’ll set the stage of an example. A five year old is building the most creative structure using building materials. Teacher Tom states, “We insert ourselves, uninvited, into their play with our ideas and concerns and scaffolding and witticisms, drawing their attention away from the present moment, often in a jarring manner.” I can definitely say I’m guilty of this! But, if I were to switch to a more mindful state, I would take a step back and watch while waiting to see if the child approaches me to share their creation instead of interrupting their play which usually is more for my benefit than theirs.

Hope you enjoy this short article as much as I did!

http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2021/03/we-cant-teach-mindfulness-to-experts.html