A Good Day for Lucy

One day, three year old Lucy went to a new child care program while her parents went to work. She was a little nervous but her new teacher, Miss Carol, had come to visit her last week at her house so she already knew what she looked and sounded like. She even remembers that she smelled good but still Lucy was nervous. Lucy had gone to Aunt Jane’s house before when her Mom had to go somewhere but Lucy knew the kids there and she didn’t know anyone at this new place.
The new child care place was called Kids Something but she didn’t remember what her mom had called it. When she got there that morning, she was feeling very shy. But she had her favorite pants on and a bow in her hair and a new back pack so she felt like she was good and strong so she could be brave.
When Lucy and Mom got to the front door and went in, Lucy didn’t see Miss Carol and she was confused and a little scared. But then Mommy and another lady walked her to the classroom and there was Miss Carol! But it was a very busy noisy room and Lucy was noticing all of that – even when she was relieved to see Miss Carol. This is not exactly what she had expected – so all of her senses turned on to try to find out if this was a good place.
Miss Carol helped her put her back pack in her new cubby with her name and picture on it. She was surprised to see her picture! Then they went back to the door together to say good bye to Mommy. Lucy did not like that part even though she knew her mother would come back. This was more than she thought she was ready for!
She said goodbye to Mommy with an extra hard and long hug and Miss Carol stood near them, waiting. When Mommy left, Lucy turned around and Miss Carol bent down and quietly asked her if she knew what she wanted to play, but Lucy could only shake her head no slowly. Miss Carol said that she wondered if Lucy liked dolls and when Lucy nodded yes, they went over to a part of the room where other children were playing in a pretend kitchen, wearing silly dress up clothes and there were dolls everywhere. Lucy saw dolls in play high chairs and in cradles and in blankets on the floor. She even saw one with brown hair like her hair, lying on a shelf, with no clothes on her at all! Lucy picked her up and looked around until she found doll clothes and started to dress her. Miss Carol said, “Lucy, you seem to have found something you like to play with so I will be over here if you need me.” Lucy hardly noticed Miss Carol walking across the room.
The rest of the day, Lucy cautiously followed the other children and all the directions she could understand from her teachers – there was another teacher there too, now. She knew what “clean up time” meant but she didn’t know where things went so she just did what she guessed was right. That seemed to be good enough. But she really wanted to hold on to her new doll baby so she kept her in her arms while she put other things away. No one seemed to mind.
Outside Time was another whole new thing! But Miss Carol walked alongside Lucy as they went outside and again she stood next to Lucy until Lucy found the sandbox. Whenever she looked around, Lucy could see Miss Carol and the other teacher on the playground. Now she started to really look at the other children playing next to her. She was curious but nervous and she wished she still had that baby doll with her. But the sandbox was fun and there were lots of things to dig with and fill up. She was a busy girl!
Why was this a good day for Lucy? How was that good day pre-planned by a thoughtful, professional teacher and program?
• Lucy had met her teacher beforehand.
• Her teacher greeted her at the door and stayed quietly observing while Lucy said goodbye to her Mom. Miss Carol learned a lot about Lucy and about her mom in those few moments.
• A cubby with a name and photo tells a child she is expected, valued and belongs.
• Carol bent down to Lucy’s eye level to talk to her and ask her what she want to do. And she followed up with a suggestion and made sure that idea was successful before she left Lucy. She knew Lucy needed a known adult nearby to stretch herself into new surroundings.
• Lucy was allowed to make choices right away so by the time there were routines to be implemented she was feeling pretty steady and reassured. Allowing her to hang onto her doll during clean up suggests her teacher valued emotional needs and relationships over the adult need for routines and gave Lucy the emotional tool she needed to do new things.
• All these strategies were repeated with another new experience – going outside was almost as big a transition as entering the classroom for the first time. Supporting Lucy through that and staying in Lucy’s “field” allowed Lucy to move into the next thing. Children move forward as they feel secure – just like adults.
Lucy was happy to go back the next day. And the next. Mom and Dad were so relieved.