I had a conversation with Malinda today (March 10, 2023) and wanted to capture some of what we discussed as I feel we may have put into words/ action something that we have skirted around for years. This pretty much all pertains to Emily Reich, but will definitely be a positive approach for all of our preschool and Young Dragon students.
I feel Emily might not be keeping up and repeating what she is doing because she is slower to process what we are doing (this was my observation during the warmup on Thursday March 09, 2023)
We’ve thought she was just being defiant and just does what she likes over and over but Malinda saw something in her expression the other day when she wanted to bow in again, that gave the impression that Emily was puzzled about something. So if she is doing something a second time, we shouldn’t discourage her, however we do need to stay diligent so that it doesn’t get out of hand.
Malinda chatted with her briefly about the direction she jumps after the bow and told that her bow looks great, but asked if they could try jumping to face the windows for funzies to see what would happen. Emily smiled and thought it would be fun.
This positive reinforcement will go a long way if we can stay as patient as possible and consistent.
Something else that Malinda has tried that works, is to ask Emily to show her how to do something. “Emily, I need some help, can you show me…”. I think this will also work well for Derrick and other students that seem to be struggling. It will give them a sense of “I can do this!”, will boost their confidence and should lead to more discipline.