Welcome back to Early Childhood Physical Education. I hope everyone had a "happy, healthy, and active" summer. I'm excited to be back for my 46th year of teaching at Wichita Collegiate School. What an exciting journey this has been and I know it will continue as we venture through this school year together. I look forward to it.
I generally spend the first weeks of school getting acquainted with the children and letting them get comfortable with me. The first few days of PE, I visit children in their classrooms and introduce myself as the "Mama Duck", explaining that they are my ducklings. I dress up with a duck hat, shirt, and quacker, and read the story "Come Along Daisy" by Jane Simmons. This story reminds children that baby ducks must listen and follow the directions of the mama duck if she is to keep them safe. Children enjoy this simple story and it drives home an important point.
After listening to the story, students learned sign language for the terms "stop, look, and listen." The class then moved about the room in various ways and listened for my quacker. Upon hearing it, they froze, signed "stop, look, and listen" and came to the mama duck so I could give directions. All classes did a wonderful job. Next week we will go over many more rules and procedures. Taking the time to do this assures that children are comfortable with the expectations for Physical Education.
Sign language for "Stop."
Sign language for "Look."
Sign language for "Listen."
This class, and their teacher, walk around the room waiting for the Mama Duck's call.
This class liked to follow the Mama Duck in a line.
They moved in various ways like walk, march, and tiptoe.
