Setting up rules in a preschool classroom can be done in a variety of ways. The families at my school who have been in other programs as well comment on how much they love the way we set up our rules each year, so I thought I'd write a short post about it (since we just went through the process today for Friendship Week).
Listening and following rules are huge goals for 3-5 year olds :) When my preschoolers head off to kindergarten I hope to have helped prepare them in both areas...as a previous elementary school teacher I know that kids are expected to listen for long lengths of times in many kindergarten classrooms, and the list of school rules will be lengthy! Even more importantly, I hope to have helped them learn to be a good, and kind, friend. At my preschool I connect these together and instead of "school rules" we work together to create "friendship rules". I have done this the past four years and I find that it is wildly successful!
Listening and following rules are huge goals for 3-5 year olds :) When my preschoolers head off to kindergarten I hope to have helped prepare them in both areas...as a previous elementary school teacher I know that kids are expected to listen for long lengths of times in many kindergarten classrooms, and the list of school rules will be lengthy! Even more importantly, I hope to have helped them learn to be a good, and kind, friend. At my preschool I connect these together and instead of "school rules" we work together to create "friendship rules". I have done this the past four years and I find that it is wildly successful!
My Background with Classroom Management
I am highly trained in Positive Behavior Supports (PBS) which was developed at The University of Oregon, where I got both my B.S. and Masters in Elementary Education. While I do not use the reward system that is often associated with PBS, I do use a lot of the other aspects of this style of classroom management. By taking the bits and pieces that I think work well with preschoolers I find that my school is focused on the positives, what we "can do", gives immediate feedback to kids, and makes them feel good. It also gives them a lot of Autonomy in how we set up our school rules. Even at three, four, or five years old, the kids are excited to help create our school's atmosphere. I find that the preschoolers can relate to "friendship rules" a lot more than "school rules" because we work so much on being a good friend. That is the term I have chosen to use at my preschool :)
A Good Amount of Prep and Modeling
I spend an entire week talking about friendship, usually the second week of school! We model and practice being a good friend throughout our day. I make sure to provide group activities that promote teamwork and cooperation, we read books about sharing/taking turns/listening/being polite. We do a lot of fun friendship projects! It is a great week. And the whole time I make sure to point out and compliment the children when I see them being a good friend to someone else.
The Importance of Autonomy
After our week of studying friendship we spend Thursday morning sitting down to talk about all the things we think a good friend can do at our school. I bring out a big piece of paper and a lot of colored markers. I let the kids tell me what our Friendship Rules should be. They are VERY excited to share with me. This year the kids gave me more things than I could have fit on our chart! I write "exactly" what they say. I don't rephrase, although I do encourage things that we CAN do, instead of things that we CAN'T. This year, after all of our discussions about being a good friend the kids only suggested "can-do" things. It was very exciting!
Our 2013-2014 Friendship Rules
(created by the kids)
I have the kiddos sign the first letter of their name at the bottom, in a color of their choice, to show that they want to be a good friend at our school this year :) This is very empowering for them!
Wrap-Up Project
To finish up our rules the kids get to make a mini person (of themselves) to hang up under our friendship rules. I LOVE the Creatology Foam Kids Around The World set, available at Michaels. All the accessories are stickers so the kids can do it themselves. I just sort the pieces into bowls and let them get started. We talk about sharing, taking turns getting pieces, and asking people to pass the bowls around.
They always have so much fun making their person!
There you have it! I find that the kids reference our Friendship Rules all on their own all year. If someone does something that hurts their feelings I often see them pointing to our Friendship Rules and saying that they agreed to "share" or "take turns". It is pretty cute. While I was able to guide them all week with ideas about being a good friend, giving them the chance to say what our actual rules are gives them reason to follow them.
I would love to hear ideas about how others are setting up school rules in their classrooms!