Deep Thoughts

One of my favorite parts of teaching kindergarten where I currently work is that I have the opportunity to give my students ample time to play. During play centers, children frequently work with blocks. I’m referring to those big, wooden floor blocks that are also known as unit blocks. Unfortunately, the block corner in my classroom is not very big. Typically only three children can work in it at a time, and they have to be flexible in terms of sharing the space.

The other day, two children were having a particularly heated disagreement over who could build where. Both had claimed a coveted corner of the corner as their own, and neither was willing to move to another available parcel of floor nearby. I had only become aware of their argument because their voices had gotten so loud that I could hear them clear across the room. Neither had come to me for help, but of course I went over to investigate what was wrong.

My first instinct was to put a stop to it by directing one of the children to move over just a little bit–it seemed like such a reasonable and simple thing for them to do. But as I approached them, I stopped myself from telling them how to resolve this conflict. After all, forcing one child to move would probably not have worked anyway.

Instead, I listened to both as they voiced their positions on why they should be able to build in that particular spot. They each felt very entitled to working there, and totally unwilling to compromise. I pointed out that there was much more space just a few feet, if not inches away, and I encouraged either one of them to consider moving there. However, neither child budged. If anything, it only made them more determined to hunker down and hold onto the territory in question. After one of the children became so upset that it drove him to tears, I decided that the best thing for me to do was to actually step away for a few moments and see if they could sort it out on their own.

Lo and behold, when I came back to them about five minutes later, I was happily surprised to find them working and building together. The tears were gone, their smiles were restored, and instead of trying to protect their precious land, they had somehow found a way to compromise, to be conciliatory, and to gain some common ground.

We can learn so much from children, and this was a reminder of that for me.