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School Days and Preschool Days, Too:
A treasury of anecdotes culled from my work and play as a preschool worker and an elementary school after- school activities supervisor
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  YOUNG IRONY

     Many young children express themselves with a total innocence that adults can only marvel at. And yet irony, usually the hallmark of a sophisticated mind, can make its appearance early.
      A case in point is a bright first-grader who complained recently about the behavior of a boy in his class who is well known for being very "young" in his understanding of boundaries. The more grown-up boy definitely had a point, and yet I was a bit uncomfortable about what seemed to me his condescending dismissal of the other child. So I said to him, "I want you to think of one positive thing about Reggie.. Of one thing he's good at. "
      The boy's face went blank for a minute, as though I'd asked him to do something completely unfair and in fact impossible. He began walking away.
      In a minute, though, he returned, the light back in his eyes. With a characteristic, mischievous twinkle, he told me, " Reggie is very good at being mean to me!"

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