.tak boleh makan siput ba alif ba ya.

last two days i was asked to relief one of the preschool classes. that was my first time interacting with those small kids even though their class was only opposite our year one classes.  i always have this impression that it is much more challenging dealing, teaching and educating preschoolers than seven-year-olds.

they notice more details. they observe their surrounding. they listen to every words. but they don't necessarily obey.

"okay, let's talk about animals. what do you want to talk about?"

"kura-kura"..."ular"..."beruang"

"ticer, kat rumah tok saye ade siput babi"

"ticer, cikgu kata tak boleh sebut babi"

"ye. tapi sebut siput babi takpe. tak elok sebut atau panggil kawan je tu."

"cikgu kata sebut bila-bila pun tak boleh"

"owh okay T___T.  let's talk about butterfly!"

baguih budak tu. ingat pesan cikgu.

hubby mentioned that his library applied a different approach to this, a reverse psychology. a better, non-condescending approach, i think. instead of putting up signs saying 'jangan' like...

jangan bising,

jangan buang sampah merata-rata,

jangan curi buku letak dalam baju,

they use

terima kasih kerana tidak membuat bising,

terima kasih kerana menggunakan tong sampah yang disediakan, 

Allah melihat apa yang anda lakukan.

ke ini lebih sarkastik?

so how would you teach your child not to swear or curse? some of them will get excited to use those words even (especially!) when you say no. macam jangan merokok, membahayakan kesihatan. lagi nak cuba kan? when i was a small chubby girl, i went only as far as 'gila' and got a good dizzying smack from abah.


i'll be dealing with this when i'm a parent too. eh bukan ke sekarang pun dah kene deal with this problem at school? takpe, practice makes perfect!

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thank you for reading!