First off, shout out to all the incredible teachers out there who teach 3 year olds! Y’all deserve gold medals and hugs and chocolate and massages and every good thing in this world because your job is tough! If you know someone who teaches 3 year olds, give them a hug or a high five or something!
Anyway, this month, I am teaching English at Good News International School in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I have an awesome class of four 4th graders who are fun and love to learn. Then, I teach a class of 3 year olds… Needless to say it is a PARTY every day.
Here are an assortment of stories, moments, laughs, and “wait what?” moments from my class of 3 year olds who I lovingly refer to as my “anklebiters.”
I made a child cry because I took away his “toy.” It was a lighter.
Most days I stand at the front of the room singing and dancing like a fool while 1-4 kids are staring at me, two are fighting with each other, another two are drawing or playing their own game, and the rest, along with the teacher, have magically disappeared.
I cannot draw to save my life and these children enjoy requesting very difficult drawings like a fire truck or a helicopter. I drew a cat on one boy’s paper and he very confidentially said “dog!” I’m still not sure if he was insulting my drawing abilities or genuinely confused. I know for sure I could never be a full time teacher for kids this age solely becasue I cannot draw.
We like to go around and act out different animals and emotions. I always say “show me happy! Show me sad. Show me a lion. ROAR. Show me a cat. Meow, meow.” And one child keeps naming the different animals we can act out. Then he says, with a very high level of confidence, “vegetable.” As if I, the foreign English teacher possess the ability to teach him how to act like a vegetable.
One of my students knows all of the letters of the alphabet and the type of truck associated with each. I love saying “D is for…” And hearing the rest of the class recite “dog” while he yells “dump truck.” My personal favorite is “S is for… Street sweeper!” Or for the normal kids “sun.”
There is no such thing as a day in my class without tears. Honestly, there’s no such thing as an hour without tears. I’m only with them for an hour and fifteen minutes a day! A child will cry. It is inevitable.
We can count to 10 and we count to 10 a lot. But, point at a number out of order: nothing. We aren’t quite to the recognizing numbers stage yet. Keep in mind that these kids speak Khmer not English and they have their own written numbers that are not the same as ours so I’m still impressed with what they do know at only three years old.
One of my student’s favorite thing to do is tell me “no!” when I ask for 10 (meaning I want a high five with both hands aka 10 fingers). I also like to say “can we do…” followed by the name of a song or game and he usually says no in those instances as well. He’s so cute though and has a little bit of a lazy eye so even when he says no, it is adorable.
We love singing songs and by we, I mean they love singing little pieces of a song to convince me that they want to sing it and then they just stare at me while I sing it. They do, however, enjoy screaming so in “If You’re Happy and You Know it,” the “say amen” verse is typically successful.
If I didn’t have my Bluetooth speaker, I don’t think I would survive this class. I play “Let it Go” at least twice a day- typically when I’ve run out of ideas and need three minutes to occupy the anklebiters while I frantically try to come up with a new way of saying the alphabet, colors, or numbers.
The size disparity between some of the kids is actually crazy. Some of them might weigh about 20 pounds while a few are definitely pushing 50. One child in particular is likely a direct descendent of Clark Kent (aka Superman). He was in that “I sort of just hit a kid but I’m about to really hit them in a second” phase and I intervened and said “hands are for high fives not hitting” to redirect him (not gonna lie, I’m a little proud of that statement- came up with it myself). Post-high five, he is holding both of my hands and starts twisting them and I was essentially in a game of mercy with the strongest toddler in existence. But, don’t worry, I know his Kryptonite. He LOVES the Chicken Dance and it always brings a huge smile to his face.
Even if it is about the Plague, Ring Around the Rosie is a hit. In my class, there seems to be nothing more enjoyable than throwing one’s self to the ground. True confession: I accidentally fell on a girl in my class… She was okay- no tears surprisingly.
I got to hang out with the no-kid I mentioned earlier after class one day while waiting for our ride home. He is really smart and went through his notebook of letters and numbers with me. Then he handed me his Khmer notebook and expected me to do the same… I just pointed at what I think were letters and he made sounds and I just said “good job!” Whoops.
If you think songs get annoying when they are played repetitively on the radio, try singing “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” or “My God is so Big” on repeat for two weeks. Then talk to me about annoying. I have nightmares featuring these songs.
A little girl in my class runs away from cameras/pictures.
Many of my students get really excited about things and tell me all about them in Khmer and I just listen, smile, and say “I have no idea what you’re saying to me” in my happy and excited voice.
I have absolutely loved getting to teach my anklebiters for the last two weeks and it is going to be hard to say goodbye to them next week. I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing some of the craziness and fun that ensues in my class!
