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 In Tips & Treasures & Thoughts

by Leslie

As parents, we are sometimes bombarded by messages that our children will not “measure up” in some way when they enter kindergarten. Will they be reading? Will software make them brighter? Why isn’t my child reciting the planets and adding with a calculator like her cousin? I share your concerns for all of our children, and sometimes get caught up in the pressure myself! I receive glossy marketing materials from state of the art preschools. Should I run out and enroll my kids in the summer spaceploration camp with 100 other kids? What do young children really need and want? I take a breath and remember what I have learned from children, as someone whose career has involved observing and teaching them. I have learned that above all else, for high-level learning to occur, children need to be in a relaxed environment surrounded by materials and curriculum that are open-ended and real, and they need to really matter to the adults and children in their lives. Perhaps the greatest challenge we face is actually slowing down and preserving the wonder of childhood.

Environment
I look back with the most fondness to my years spent connected to smaller schools. Not unlike the children I worked with, larger schools with bright fluorescent lights and a couple hundred children completely overwhelmed me—even in “orderly” schools. Prior to opening The Good Earth Day School, my daughters were students wherever I worked, and I always noted their visceral response to classrooms where the walls were covered with a million pictures, letters, and bulletin boards with loud designs. Those same classrooms could be structured or not, but put more than 10—12 children in any early childhood classroom, no matter the quality of the teaching, and it does suggest “party” to a small child.

I always encourage adults to consider how they feel during professional development workshops. How does it feel to sit arm to arm in a brightly lit conference room with other adults for hours, waiting for the instructor to announce that it is break time? Imagine that you are a three year old child, waffling between the maturity of a toddler and of a “big kid” preschooler. Imagine a nervous system not as mature as yours spending an 8—10 hour day in close proximity to 20-24 other children. Could you keep it together in such a large group several days, or every day of the work week?

Materials and Curriculum
Now, imagine what you enjoyed as a child. What could you do forever? Wash dishes or toys, make mud pies, color, or build towers with blocks? Children ages three to five really want to mimic adult activities, and quite frankly, most schools find it easier to do things for children rather than make time for children to be part of the messy, gooey process. You don’t usually prepare any of the food you eat—it just appears. Sticks and mud are the enemy—and don’t even ask if you can divert from the school-wide schedule. Our weekly rhythm of painting, drawing, baking, crafting, and cleaning allows for those critical hands-on experiences. Besides these routine experiences, we follow both the interests of the children and what is occurring in their environment. For instance, studying insects and spiders as they emerge in the spring is real. Studying bears for a week may not have much relevance to a young city kid who has no real contact with a bear!

Open-ended materials allow for experimentation and creativity. The child must use his/her body and mind to drive the wooden car, make the dinosaur figurine roar, or to cook felt pancakes in a miniature pan. A long silk scarf becomes a tent, and a belt becomes a leash (around the belly) of your friend, “Puppy Boy”. Toys that make noises or have predictable outcomes are usually left behind for the simpler things, anyway. Outdoor time is critical to gross motor development—children need to have connections with the “wild” around us, for they themselves are wild without it! In large schools, there are so many classrooms to coordinate, and outdoor time is usually severely limited.

Creating a School Family
Unfortunately, in the field of early childhood education, staffing is perhaps the greatest challenge—burnout rates are high, salaries are often low, and training can take a very long time to translate to practice. Turnover can be the undoing of an otherwise great program. Children really need to be known and understood, and constantly changing adult faces throughout the day or over time is not comfortable to children. Where staff are constantly changing, enrollment is never settled. Friends coming and going constantly is also unsettling to children, and makes a teacher’s job very difficult.

In most schools, preschool children are artificially grouped with children the same age, with little opportunity to mix with infants, toddlers, or school age children. This grouping misses a wonderful opportunity for mentoring. Children enjoy helping a younger friend and learning from an older friend. Families are a great resource to children because there is a mix of young and old—so much behavior to observe and integrate! Both experiences build confidence and are stimulating to a young child.

A Curricular Model
My personal beliefs aside, I feel that the Lifeways North America organization best aligns the economic and cultural need of families for childcare with the developmental needs of young children. If your child can’t be with you, what they really want is something like you. Somewhere to explore freely. Somewhere to experiment with their thoughts and ideas. Somewhere to dabble in the routine of “big kid” school with the freedom to be a little guy. Please take some time to review the articles “What do children need above all things?” and “Basic Practices in the Care of Young Children” They best describe the curriculum we seek to provide the children in our care.

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