bathroom

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Home : 2001 : September : 9

bathroom
By Carolyn

I agree with the above post: A child typically asks to go to the restroom to get out of the classroom for awhile. Also, as soon as you let one go, then you have a bunch of other hands shoot up and ask to go. One teacher
I work with has a cute comeback for this. She tells them that the need to use the bathroom isn't contagious.
I agree that if we let kids go whenever they want to, we would have a steady stream of kids leaving the classroom! One way to eliminate this problem of bathroomitis is to have scheduled bathroom breaks--always at the same times each day. My kids know that they will go every

day after reading, after lunch, and once in the afternoon (if they need it, but most won't ask then). My favorite is when they ask to go to the bathroom the moment after we come inside from recess. I nipped that in the bud by telling them that if they had to go that badly, they would have gone when they were out on the playground. When my kids ask to go outside of our scheduled bathroom time, I will simply say, "Not right now." Or: "We will go soon." If the child persists, I will allow him, and only him, go. I don't want any accidents, embarrassed children, or angry parents.

My favorite is when I ask the class a question and hands shoot up. It always seems that the child I call on asks to go to the bathroom rather than having an answer for the question.