In the beginning……
To be there at the beginning is always miraculous, to be given the honour and offered the privilege of being able to declare – I was there – yes I was there at the very start of his school career! I was there to witness him say ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex’ and ‘Diplodocus’ way before he ever said ‘soap’ or ‘toothpaste’. I was there when she loved her baby and gently rocked it to sleep before tucking it into its little crib. I held her hand as she pirouetted around the class in the dress-up skirt that dragged behind her on the floor and she sang, “I’m so pretty, I’m so pretty…” and she was.
As educators in ECD we have the greatest honour of all educators, for we are here at the start of each child’s school career. We are here to focus on assisting the child in establishing critical values, routines and daily rituals that will be the foundation of everything they do hereinafter.
The sheer bubbly delight of a two-year old tipping water from one container to another and marvelling at the water as it flows through their fingers and trickles between their toes.
The comical but ever-persistent attempts of a three year old taking on the challenge of a jungle gym that requires a myriad of gross motor skills to be integrated in order to successfully negotiate a balance beam, climb up a tyre tower and scramble down the tightly strung cargo netting – To be there when they declare “ Look teacher, look! I did it”.
The wonder of observing a four-year old deeply immersed in creating a world far more interesting than ours, by stacking empty cardboard boxes on top of one another as they take on the challenge of trying to reach the sky and beyond. Watching them participating, with a circle of four or five best friends, in exploring their own unique world, jointly challenging dragons and tigers and bears with cut-out cutlasses and Lego pistols, all in the corner of your classroom.
The impressive skills displayed by a five year old completing a 150-piece puzzle and moulding a three-dimensional representation of themselves that contains all the critical elements to be declared age-appropriate. One that is recognisable even to the parents as part of the hominid line rather than the amoeba family of the early years.
Being there to observe the child that has attained the pinnacle of ECD and is now engaged in incidental reading pointing out ‘Macdonald’s’ and ‘Spur’ in newspapers, at the shopping mall or on posters on the classroom wall. Children adding and subtracting items in the 1-10 range, using concrete objects and also working numerical operations out in an instant, in their heads – especially when sharing out smarties during a birthday ring.
Watching as a six year old rushes to the aid of a friend on the bicycle track and calls a teacher to deal with their friend’s grazed knee while they deal with their friend’s injured pride. Seeing a child taking responsibility at last, for their shoes and swimming costume and always remembering to put them in their own lockers.
Yes we were there at the start of their school career and we have the privilege of seeing them through three or four years of learning through play before we are compelled to say goodbye to them. We then let them go, so that they are able to move on to that great ‘big’ world beyond the boundaries of pre-school, a world which is no longer daunting to them – but just another exciting challenge to be conquered. After all, once you have fought with dragons and won you know that you can master your world – and we know beyond a doubt that they can.
Margot van Ryneveld
BA, B Ed(Ed Mngmnt) HDE(JP/PP), Dip Comp
Headmistress – Stepping Stones Pre-Primary
Past SAHISA National ECD representative.
