Back to School: The OTHER 3 R’s – Rules, Routines, Relationships

Hey Reader!

The first few weeks of school are some of the most stressful (I mean, who can blame those littles for crying a little in such a “strange” place!) and also some of the most critical in setting the trajectory of your year.

We often want to jump quickly into curriculum and “teaching”. Afterall, we’ve got 26 letters to teach and about 500 great ideas for crafts, math games and read-alouds ready to go! Stop for a moment and take a breath. We’re giving you permission (actually, we’re encouraging you) to forgo teaching those letters and numbers and colors these first few weeks! Focus instead on helping children gain a sense of belonging and a sense of predictability. Once those basic needs are met…well, the classroom environment will actually be conducive to learning the other skills!

Rules – keep “rules” to a minimum because you’re always going to have a loop-hole-finder. “You said don’t hit; you didn’t say don’t slap.” At ECCN, we’re a fan of having just a few broad rules/guidelines:

1. Take care of yourself. (clean up after yourself, manage your emotions, etc)
2. Take care of others. (respect their space, respect their stuff, take turns, etc)
3. Take care of our environment. (protect our materials, stay safe, clean up, etc)

Review the rules every day, multiple times each day. Include chants, motions, talk about what each one means and how it applies to their actions.

Routines – Children thrive in predictable environments. When you reduce uncertainty, the brain stem settles down and a calm state rules! Create and teach (aka practice) routines for everything in the classroom these first few weeks.

1. Create class books for routines that might be a challenge. Help children see themselves following the routines successfully.
2. Practice makes progress! Practice how to line up when you’re not in a hurry to go anywhere. Practice how to clean up each center appropriately multiple times these first few weeks! Practice how to wash hands, clean up your snack spot, come to the circle, put away your backpack, open your lunchbox, ask for a turn, respond to a timer. Practice it ALL. Over and over and over and over and…..more than you think you need to!

Relationships – THis is the time to get to KNOW these children and to help them gain a sense of belonging in your classroom

1. Build a relationship with YOU: Sit on the floor and play with them, ask questions about what they like, take notes about their favorite color, toys, friends, notice their dislikes and triggers.
2. Help them build relationship with each other. Start with learning each other’s names. Play games, notice personality compatibility and nurture those connections, encourage teamwork and collaboration.

When children feel like they belong and they know what to expect, their brains will be ready to accumulate knowledge too! Teaching will be exponentially easier if you focus on these 3 R’s (rules, routines, relationships) before you focus on those 3 R’s (reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic).

Cheering you on this week!

-Your ECCN team

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Listen to this podcast episode with host Monica Healer now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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