As you step in through the Kindy gates, you are entering a very special space. As teachers we consciously slow down, take a breath and leave behind our busy morning. We prepare ourselves with a shared morning verse, ready to receive the children with warmth and love.
Taking these moments strengthens us as teachers and carers to maintain our equilibrium as the children arrive. This is an important task, as we ask the children to do just this every day. We ask them to be kind, forgiving and centred and of course this is an important lesson to take into the world, however, how can we ask this of our children if we, as adults are not able to achieve it for ourselves?
This has been particularly true with the recent weather. No matter how big the room, little children will always be on top of each other. There will never be enough of a certain colour cloth, toy or book, and yet we are asking them to “share with a friend” and “make the cubby bigger”. I constantly marvel at the ability of the children to do just this.
I have been watching the beauty of the older child teaching the younger child how to finger knit or offering to thread a needle. At rest time, even on the busiest mattress, they can squeeze up to add another friend. And it catches my breath! What a kindness to take into this world. Even as adults we cannot foresee what changes this world will offer up to our children, but we can fill them with experiences of feeling useful, of choosing kindness (even if it takes a little longer and more effort), or stepping around the delicate spider web, so as not to harm it.
This is our true learning in Kindy. As a Kindy teacher, my hope is to help send them into the world with reverence and gratitude, for their friends, for the carer at home who makes their lunch each day and even for the tiny ant that crosses their path.
Kirsty has completed Studies of Anthroposophy and Rudolf Steiner Education (Early Childhood) at the Sydney Rudolf Steiner College, and a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) from James Cook University. She joined Kindlehill in 2008 as a Kindergarten assistant and has been Kindergarten Teacher since 2013.
“As the Kindergarten teacher, I nurture the young child as they begin their journey at Kindlehill. I enjoy creating an environment that is rich in imagination, beauty and wonder, supporting and guiding the development of the whole child”.
