[mdesi]

Whoa! A lot of you jumped on the preschool teacher. I don't think Kelcee's mom said that the teacher brought it up as a negative. I think the teacher was trying to tell her about a new phase in Kelcee's development. I would think that we would all want to know what our child does at this age when we are not there. Telling a parent of new behavior should not be considered a negative.

[kelceesmom]

mdesi you are correct in that I wasn't attacking the preschool teacher. She was letting me know that something has changed in Kelcee's behavior. I am just here to see if it is normal and hopefully a phase and maybe find some way to redirect her actions until she out grows this. I am a first time mom and these things are new to me so as usual I need your help in possibly finding a solution for my problem.

[One_Happy_Momma]

Hi Denice!

Welcome to the club! It only just began!


Christina is almost 3.4 yo. I swear, she went from the terrible twos straight into the horrible threes (j/k). She is defiant and wants things her way.

As much as she can be a little pain sometimes, I’m absolutely loving this stage, the sentences, the conversations, the imagination, the wanting to please, the wanting to help, the recollection of events and conversations, is all so wonderful.

She’s becoming a little person that speaks her mind, knows what she wants, and goes for it. She’s also aware that there are consequences for her actions and awaits it, but I’m trying to stay away from compensating her with attention for the bad behavior. Instead, I’ve taken to praising her A LOT when she’s sharing, helping with sister, etc..

I think Kelcee is asserting her independence and wants to see how far she can push the envelope before getting in trouble. I’m glad the teacher told you that she’s going thru a difference phase in her life. I would talk to the teacher and ask her what she's doing in the class to help Kelcee deal with this stage so the two of you can be on the same page and have a consistency for Kelcee.

As for the “Oh, mannn!” - I hope she didn’t get that from Christina when we had our get-together. She says that all the time, and I think is just so darn adorable.

I agree with Lorie, Kelcee is a great kiddo. She's a doll!!

Enjoy the phase!

[tomandcate]

Honestly I don't know where the "Ohhhh mannn" thing comes from but apparently it is the universal three-year-old all-purpose exclamation. Sam started saying it shortly after he started preschool last fall. (And by the way, Kelcee sounds completely normal based on my experience with Sam's first year in preschool!)

Here's a cute one...

The class sings their blessing before lunch, and it goes like this (sung to the tune of Frère Jacques):

God our Father, God our Father,
Once again, once again
Thank you for our blessings, thank you for our blessings,
Amen, Amen

So one night we are saying our family blessing and Sam says, "No! God our Father!" So we asked him to sing it for us. He sang it perfectly and then came to the last line, where he sang...

"Ohhhh mannn! Ohhhh mannn!"

Priceless.

[kelceesmom]

That is too cute tom.

[One_Happy_Momma]

Originally Posted by tomandcate

Here's a cute one...

The class sings their blessing before lunch, and it goes like this (sung to the tune of Frère Jacques):

God our Father, God our Father,
Once again, once again
Thank you for our blessings, thank you for our blessings,
Amen, Amen

So one night we are saying our family blessing and Sam says, "No! God our Father!" So we asked him to sing it for us. He sang it perfectly and then came to the last line, where he sang...

"Ohhhh mannn! Ohhhh mannn!"

Priceless.

That's too cute!!!


We always say grace before meals, but also after we finish eating, I ask the girl to say: "¡Gracias a Dios!" and both my daughters have done this: They waive their hand and say "¡Adios!"

[slugbug0930]

I have some experience with this as I taught in a two year-3 year old preschool classroom for a couple of years.

Everything you descibed is normal. Little ones at this age try to get away with everything they can...it is normal for them to stretch their boundaries while their parents aren't around.

Probably the biggest stress on the teacher is that he/she has several other children to watch as well. I know in my classroom it was a 7 children to 1 teacher ratio. That is a lot of little active 2-3 year olds to keep track of on your own. When one starts acting a bit difficult you have to try to modify the behavior of the one child while still watching the others and keeping them safe.

Most of these things work themselves out.

[One_Happy_Momma]

Denice-

Has Kelcee come home with "bad" words yet? Christina said one the other day, and I was mortified. Just what I needed.

Apparently a new kid in daycare has a foul mouth. Thankfully he has been suspended until his parents can clean up THEIR act.

[Mil]

I taught preschool for about 8 yrs. I taught 3 yr. olds for the last 5 yrs. Many kids go through this phase and it's perfectly normal. At our school we don't normally call it to the parent's attention unless it starts getting really out of hand. We have rules and we stick to them - consistently. Some conform to the rules right away and others take a while, lol. But the spirited ones are the ones I love! Especially when they're girls. I love to see them stand their ground - so long as they keep their language clean and don't get physical. We may have to issue a 'timeout', but at that age, most kids are easy to correct if you're firm about it. I think talking to her about it (since the teacher brought it up) is a good way to go. If you want to use a sticker chart for good behavior with a reward every so often, that would work well. I don't think of rewards as necessarily a 'bribe', but it works in many cases. I think your daughter is a perfectly normal 3 yr. old. Enjoy her - she sounds great!

[kelceesmom]

Lupe not to bad but she has learned the word "hate" and "stupid" which I am not happy about.

[maricela]

Hi Denise - I met her too & she's an ANGEL! She's just being 3 & testing what she can get away with!

At age 3, Daniella was fighting, and I mean full on fighting with Boys in her preschool! Can't tell you how many sad faces would come home from school!!

Anyhow - Like Lupe mentioned, I also think it's good that the preschool mentioned it that way you can work together.

It gets better!! Daniella is SO MUCH better compared to the terrible 3's!!

Good luck!

[kelceesmom]

Thanks everyone. When I picked Kelcee up from school today they said she a much better day. Hopefully if I keep talking to her and reinforcing that she needs to listen, help the teachers, and take turns things will continue to keep going in that direction.