As a preschool nap teacher, I know how important it is to connect with children and their families heart to heart. It is also important to be open with the understanding that learning happens both ways in teacher-child interactions. When teachers take in the learning experiences that a child or a family brings to them, they can connect in a more altruistic and spiritual way. I have had many experiences in which connecting with the child and the child’s family have helped me become more effective in providing children with a nurturing and peaceful napping environment.
As an example, not too long ago, a parent approached me to let me know that her child was showing anxiety every morning because she did not like to nap at school, and it was becoming very difficult and disrupting to come to school every morning. She said that she was even considering withdrawing her from the nap program. I spoke with the lead teacher and we agreed on a meeting with the parent.
During our meeting, we suggested that she tell the child pedagogical stories at night before going to bed. This can help a child see her own struggles to go sleep personified by other characters, perhaps an animal in the forest that was having trouble falling asleep. We also mentioned our certainty that meeting, connecting, and putting together our intentions would help.
The next morning the mother shared that indeed, just putting our intentions together and closing the circle really helped; the child did not have any problem in getting ready to come to school. Later that day as we were getting ready for nap, the child told me, “Today I am very tired, and I really want to nap. Can you please tell me a story?”
To support the child’s mother with the rhythm of pedagogical stories, I made up a story about a caterpillar that could not metamorphose into a butterfly because she was too busy eating and playing and forgot to go to rest and build a shed around herself. I emphasized how sad the caterpillar felt for not being able to develop a pair of beautiful wings and fly just like her friends and neighbors did. As I finished the story, I told the child that the caterpillar could not wait until the next season to rest and become the most colorful and beautiful butterfly. With this, the child said, “I really want to rest every day because I want to grow up big and tall like my mom and my dad!” From that day on the child did not have any anxiety about coming to school or taking a nap.
To conclude, it takes communication, connection, and action to work with children heart to heart. It takes giving them and their families that little extra time that will make a difference in their lives. It takes listening to their cues and being open and willing to learn from them as well as to understand that as teachers our way is not the only way. It is true that the work of a teacher is constantly influencing and shaping the future of children, but it is also true that children influence teacher’s lives in a very enlivening and spiritual way when we are able to connect with other than words; when we connect soul to soul and heart to heart.
