Henry and I started AWANA Cubbies at church together this year. This preschool program has been directed by the same person for the last 15 years and she decided to step down, so I took over the director's role. It's only an hour and a half commitment (plus prep) once/week, and I was sort of itching to teach again, so I thought it would be a good fit for me. And it is a good fit. However, I feel a bit like a fish out of water working with preschoolers. I taught 5th graders for four years and had really grown to love that age. I had developed a wide variety of tricks and strategies to keep their attention and motivate them (not that they always worked, but I could usually do pretty well).
But my goodness, preschoolers are a completely different animal. My 5th grade strategies...yeah, they pretty much don't work with 3 and 4 year olds. And all of those cute little jingles that preschool teachers sing to transition from one activity to another...I don't really know any of them. And sharing a Bible story with a group of 3 and 4 year olds who are at or past bedtime...not doing so well at that either! Whew, I have a LOT to learn. It's good to learn new things though, so I'm seeing myself as a huge work in progress this year. I'm asking lots of questions of preschool teachers and am trying to absorb as much as I can about how to lead these sweet little people. I'll find my groove eventually :)
**The picture above is horrible (I look so matriarchal in that chair!), but I never have time to take a picture with Henry before Cubbies, so after Cubbies is better than not taking a picture at all :)
