It was fabulous fun yesterday when Beve arrived to take pictures. She set up my classroom and stretched out a long white sheet and everyone had to take off their shoes and socks. The kids all wanted the same thing: the girls wanted Faith's yellow dress and boa and they all wanted the big brimmed white hat with the big red flower. So pictures were easier than we thought. They all borrowed the dress and Faith was so sweet to lend it.
This shoot was for them, and we wanted them to dress up but we wanted them to participate and choose what they wanted to wear, and they did. Lots of kid chose a plain picture - no costume. Some kids, like Mateo, wanted real character shots, so he's Dracula complete with top hat, cape and teeth. It's hilarious.
Participation is important to children, and these kinds of choices healthy and fun. They are not choices made from spoiled, but from planning. We told them in advance what we were doing, we showed them the props and we let them try on the hats in front of a mirror.
Lots of the kids stayed around the shoot scene to watch the photography and fell in love with it. We're going to let some of the kids take pictures today when we go to the zoo. We discussed photography as a job, and we mentioned that Taylor's dad is a photographer. This is where careers are built. The preschool years are where lots of people begin to be interested in something that lasts a lifetime.
We are getting serious about those puzzles, and the big children are helping the little children build the frame and work on obvious color schemes.
We watched Shirley Temple yesterday, and I thought the kids would take one look and run for their lives, but they watched two shorts and enjoyed the hour. They asked a lot of questions and laughed at the silliness. It was interesting to observe them.
I can't tell you how well behaved the kids have been this summer. It's been a great week.
I'm putting together a series of short books on childcare for a publisher up in MA. What topics would you pick up if you saw 10 to choose from?
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