A little help from our friends

GH is standing at the top of the stairs at the front porch.  "Help!" he says, looking down the stairs and then to me.  I walk over when I hear his help to see what's happening.
"Hi GH.  I heard you say help.  How can I help you?"  I say, standing near by watching him walk towards the edge of the steps, and then away again.  He's holding his beloved broom in one hand, but when I approach he drops it and reaches for me.
"Help."  he says again, reaching for me to hold his hands.
"It seems like you'd like to go down the steps.  I wonder how you can do it?" I say, remaining a safe distance away.  The thing I know about GH, is that he can do the steps all by himself.  He's been able to do them for a while, but still slips happen, and just over the weekend he took a spill at home.  Moments like that give us an opportunity to reassure the child that they can do it, even if sometimes we fall.

This time something special happened: two preschoolers noticed what was happening and came over.  GU asked me, "What's GH doing?"

"He wants to come down the stairs, I think." I say.  S joins quickly in, and the two older boys go over to GH.

"It's ok, " GU says.  "We'll hold your hands."  At first they try to simply pull GH off the stairs, and I quickly remind them that they can give GH tips on how they might go down the stairs, so that he can do it for himself with help.

"Look, just put your foot right here.  Like this!" GU says as S holds GH's hand.  GU moves GH's foot a bit, and soon he gets the feel for it and is walking down the steps.  T comes over to help as well, and soon the group of 4 children are walking together down to the asphalt. 

 

GH made it down the steps, and ever since then his confidence has been boosted.  There has been no more 'help's from the top of the steps.  I could have easily followed through the process myself, giving him a chance to try, then offer help as he needed it.  Instead this beautiful moment of social cohesion came to being, where the older children were self-motivated to not simply help but teach one of the younger children.  GU and S's awareness to the needs of others has also set a precedent in the social order among the children: we help when we can, we teach when we can.