Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Preschool Land! :)

It's All About Context...

In my morning class is a sweet little guy with Autism, I. He is just the happiest, funniest kid with Autism I've ever met. Despite being mostly non-verbal (he has distinctive noises he makes & occasionally will parrot a word we use) he definitely communicates what he wants through eye contact & body language. Plus he's a snuggler, which I love!

Today was PJ Day at school as it was the last day before Christmas Holidays. We were having popcorn for snack before sitting down to watch a short Mickey Mouse movie and I was requesting away, as usual, using his PECS (small pictures he gives us to tell us what he wants).

He decided he was thirsty & reached for his Juice pec. The velcro was really sticky & he was having a tough time pulling it off his book when, clear as a bell, he muttered,

"Aww, sh*t!"

My EA & I immediately locked eyes. "Did he just say...?"

We almost fell off our chairs laughing. Yes, it was inappropriate. No, a three year old shouldn't know that word. But know what, we were so proud! He used it in the right context!

The rest of the day I bragged to other staff about what I said. Yeah, it was also a funny story, but he used a two word phrase, spontaneously & in the appropriate context!

I've never been so happy to hear someone swear before.

More Snippets...

There's a particularly sweet little girl in my morning class, C, whose family is going through a very rough time right now. As a result she's often emotional and displaying classic physical symptoms of anxiety. Yesterday, however, she seemed much more relaxed and happy than usual, so great to see! So we had a chance for some fun little convos:

C: You're so funny, Mrs. R.

Me: I'm funny? What do I do that is funny?

C: You say funny things.

Me: What funny things?

C: "Be careful on the stairs so you don't trip!"

*Apparently safety tips are now "funny"!*

We were sitting at the table colouring together when out of the blue she announced with a sigh, "I just don't understand Chinese boys."

I was completely baffled what she might mean as we do not have anyone of Chinese descent in our classroom (other ethnicities, yes).

I asked her to repeat what she said to make sure I heard it right. I did. So I probed further.

Me: What do you mean, honey? What don't you understand?

C: Well they just talk in funny other words. I just don't understand.

*lightbulb*

Me: Oh! It IS hard to understand other languages, isn't it?

c: *big sigh again* Yeah.

Have I mentioned I love this kid? ;)

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

So we set up our trees in my classes this week. There was a few days of panic where I thought one of my classes wouldn't get a tree this year (I've never had to have TWO Christmas trees for school before). Thankfully one of the secretaries at one school stepped up & lent us a tree for the month! :)

Then it was just a mad scramble to find enough unbreakable ornaments for two trees! ;)

But it all worked out and the trees look great. The kids had SO much fun decorating them (as they do every year). It always makes me giggle to see the trees 3/4 decorated since they can't reach the top. So sweet!

I always love seeing how (particularly) the students with Autism love the tree. Every year my Autistic students will lay under it, looking up at the lights, walk around the tree for ages, rearrange the ornaments, etc. I remember being little and spending hours just staring at the tree daydreaming.

P.S. I apologize that part of this post appears to be underlined. I can't seem to fix it! I'm not exactly a techie!