So, how was your weekend?

Posted on by EC3 Staff

We’ve all asked and answered that question dozens, if not hundreds, of times. Sometimes a perfunctory pleasantry, sometimes genuine curiosity.

You’ve probably heard it out of your child’s teachers here at EC3, too. And on a harried Monday morning, a “fine, thanks” might be all there’s time for. But the brilliant thing is: while your co-workers don’t reallllly want to hear about the diaper blow-out escapades, and your boss isn’t truly interested in your preschooler’s terrors at the store’s Halloween display, or your travel delays when you visited your family for Hanukkah—your child’s teachers ARE interested.

Toddler teacher Ada put it really well in a brainstorming session last week. She said, “When we ask about a family’s weekend, we’re gathering clues about what the child learned or what challenges she might be facing. We can also learn about things that are important to the family, and use those as learning experiences for the whole class.”

Well said, Ada. The diaper blow-out? That might indicate slowing the introduction of new foods to a baby’s diet for a few days. Fear about Halloween costumes might lead to a conversation about pretend and make-believe and spur a teacher to pull out a book on the topic, such as The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Forest. (Spoiler alert: Papa dresses up as a ghost to scare the kids, but then he gets tricked himself.) And the travel delays could explain away a cranky Monday, while exploring Hanukkah allows the classroom to count the nine candles or talk about the different customs our families celebrate.

So the good news—you can bring us all your gory, messy, smelly, silly, delightful stories. We love them, as they help us to build a picture of your child’s whole world. Not to mention, that allows you to simply smile at the co-workers, say “fine, thanks,” and get down to business.

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