Last month I had a wonderful visit with a day school principal. We were discussing theories about child development and pedagogy. This principal shared that her teachers can always tell when a student comes from XYZ preschool, because those children can identify letters and numbers, and have some reading under their belt.
I asked her how she felt about that. Her response was not surprising. At least not to me.
The children who have these skills prior to kindergarten are indeed aware of letters and numbers and words. They fare pretty well in kindergarten and first grade classes. However, once these children move to 3rd grade, the school begins to see a sad pattern. Many of these children have more melt downs and stuggles than their peers, and need some one on one guidance in the next phase of learning. Why?
Because they didn't get the foundation they needed to learn to cope with school and life.
Negotiation skills, problem solving skills, thinking out of the box and intentional creativity were not a part of their curriculum in their early years, so they didn't have strong experiences with these social/emotional pieces.
I am highlighting a wonderful post from an early childhood expert on learning through play. I think you'll like it. Feel free to share with your friends and families. More importantly, continue to seek programs that allow children ample time for play, and run away from those programs that promise to have your 4 year old reading. Really...there's many more valuable lessons one can learn in preschool.
Learning Through Play
No comments:
Post a Comment