Tattling/telling on each other

[Serendipity]

I agree with daycarewhisperer. I think way too much focus and attention is placed on things our parents never even gave a second thought to. I think that if we give this much attention and time to tattling, we are setting the kids up to think tattling IS a big deal when really it is nothing more than a bid for attention and not a cue for a need. Children who are tattling, are seeking out atttention for something they think is wrong or amiss. I will allow a child to tell me when someone else is hurt or in danger but if they tell me so and so took their toy or said something they didn't like, I too will just say "Thanks for letting me know, now go play." 99.9% of the time kids who tattle are simply looking for validation and not necessarily any action on my part. I thank them and let them figure it out.

I too have a very closely supervised group so most the time I KNOW no one is coming to tell me someone hit someone or hurt another child as I would see that immediately and don't need a 3 yr old to come tell me that. If all they are looking for is validation, I give them that. The skills to figure it out amongst themselves is something I cannot facilitate. That is something they HAVE to learn to figure out on their own just like everyone else did during childhood. If I walk them through the entire process every time, they never learn to do it themselves and then we end up with a bunch of kids who can't take the initive and figure out how to manage things on their own.
I give kids massive amounts of attention for doing positive things and tattling is not one of those things I ever want them to believe is a positive social behavior because it simply isn't.

I like the idea of having the tattler go tell a younger kid. Many many early childhood centers in my community use a talking turtle or a giant paper ear on the wall and encourage kids to tattle to the turtle or the ear. I would think it has the same learning concept as telling the youngest kid.

[Skysue]

Not to be rude but give me a break ladies we are all in it for the money! This is our profession, it's how we make a living. If we weren't on this forum then it would mean we only care about the money.

Tattling drives me crazy and mostly because my tattler is my own daughter. LOL She really does have to learn to use her words and try and deal with the situation on her own. Too many people bubble rap kids these days and don't let them problem solve on there own plus why do we need to engage everything they do?

I tell my daughter that tattling is not nice and she needs to use her words and address the situation on her own. Then I drop the situation, and yes if she is coming to me to tell me that little Johnny is on the coffee table again you can bet I'm saying thank you.

They need to know that coming to us to talk about things is important but they also need to know what's important vs what's not really a big deal.

Being a great teacher cannot be taught or learned it is core values and character.

I don't have a piece of paper that says I'm a teacher but I am and I'm proud to say I'm really good at what I do. All of us are and don't ever let anyone say different because they have a piece of paper. PLUS we are all daycare providers, period.