October 2

October 2

Dear Mom,

I can’t say that I’m having a good day.  It started off with my pregnant cook calling out for the week.  I really don’t mind cooking, but I am spreading myself too thin, and can feel it. What I need to be doing is spending time in the classroom.  Here’s what happened.

This last month was wonderful.  At least that's what I thought.  The teachers have been sharing stories of things going on in their rooms, so I assumed that they were on board.   

So, when some of the moms in Deirdre’s class asked for a conference, I was a bit surprised. It was then that I learned that Deirdre had told the parents “we aren’t doing letter of the week or letter pages this year”, but didn’t tell them what we were doing in place of letter pages.  She also told the parents that she isn’t using a curriculum this year, and that she was going to teach the children only what they wanted to learn.  Well, this explanation didn’t sit too well with my moms (can you blame them?) and they are panic stricken that their children will leave the fours room as illiterate hobos.  (My paraphrasing, but still…)

I understand that in this age of accountability, we are responsible for identifying specific goals and documenting growth in our children.  I also understand that letter sheets and projects appear to “prove” that something productive happened in the classroom.  But I also know and believe that it is the experience, not the capstone project,  that is most meaningful for children. Albert Einstein said it best: “The only thing that interfered with my learning was my education.”

What I can’t understand is why teachers and parents cannot make the shift from didactic teaching to the discovery zone?  Is it because they are scared of losing control of the children?  I don’t think so.    I once thought they maybe were scared to grow, that they didn’t want to change their ways.  But nowadays I believe that they just need some help.

You know when two year olds have an altercation; the teachers say to them, “use your words and tell her how you feel.”?  I always thought that was funny (as well as misleading), since two year olds don’t have a huge repertoire of feelings with which to refer.  However, when teachers learned to say, “tell her that you are mad (sad, angry, whatever),” they were giving the children the actual tools to use.   Once the teachers learned what to say to their children, the children learned what to do, and communication between two year olds became more productive.  Maybe what I need to do is give my teachers the tools, and help them feel comfortable using them, rather than just telling them “use your words.” 

September 7

SEPTEMBER 7

Dear Diary,

I heard a child crying in the hall this afternoon, and watched as Jacquie, the threes teacher (who should be teaching 5th grade in a military school), scolded Aaron for talking.  Really?  Talking? This little sweetheart of a boy is so shy, and he cries on a dime.  Finally he gets a  little courage to speak, and because “we don’t talk as we walk down the hall”, he gets in trouble.  What is wrong with this picture?  When I asked Aaron what happened, Jacquie spoke up, and started to tell me how “we are having a little problem keeping our bubbles in our mouth.” 

I asked her co-teacher Jennifer  to take the children back to their class and walked with Jacquie to my office to discuss this.  There are just some things I won’t stand for and stopping children from talking when there is no reason is one of them. I remember another  little guy crying during circle time in her class last week, too. 

Jacquie told me that the children here needed this kind of discipline (and the parents liked it, too), because she needed to get them ready for big school. Apparently this community has very high standards for their kindergarteners, and she is just trying to get them ready.  I chose not to explain that this was inappropriate for kindergarteners, too.  She is really just misinformed and needs some guidance.  I know I can help her get there, I just gotta figure out how.   I just told her that we were a place where children were able to be themselves, and if she felt like the talking was getting out of control she could suggest whispering.  I reminded her that social skills are formed during these years, and children need the opportunity to freely communicate with one another in order to practice these skills.  

 Can’t learn to walk if you’re strapped in a stroller.

November 10

November 10

Dear Staff, 

As we discussed during our summer professional development days, we are re-thinking how we celebrate each holiday.  Our plan for this Thanksgiving is for the children to contribute to their own FAMILY meal.  That means that you are cooking enough of your item for each child to take home on Wednesday.  Here is the food list and some suggestions.

Infants:  Only smiles 

Toddlers and Twos:  Mashed Potatoes.  The children can scrub the potatoes for a few days, and after they have boiled and cooled off, put them in the big ziplocks with butter for the mashing.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Threes: Cranberries and Applesauce.  This is a variation of my mom’s recipe. After preparing the whole cranberries, let them cool. Fill a big bowl with applesauce.  Into each quart size ziplock scoop a 2:1 ratio of cranberries to applesauce, and let the children mix it all together.

Fours:  Desserts!  After the mini pie shells are cooked, the children can add their desired fillings by spooning it into ziplocks, sealing the bags, and then snipping the corner, so they can pipe the mixture into each tart.  We are giving you at least 6 tarts per child, so there are plenty of treats.

No, I don’t work for the ziplock company. 

PLEASE SHARE THE CAMERA!  I would love to see the pictures of the children preparing the food, and would love to hear about their experiences.  If you are too busy to document, please run the tape recorder during the times that the cooking centers are open.  This way you can go back and listen to what was going on in the room. I can’t wait!

November 18

In case you missed yesterday's blog (and I highly recommend you go back and check it out!) I am posting bits and snippets from my book Monday Memo, due to come out soon.  Enjoy!


November  18   
Dear Staff, 

In Deirdre and Grant’s class, Abby and Sean were talking about the day they were born.  The conversation went something like this:

Abby:  I was born on a Tuesday from my mom.

Sean:  I was born on a Tuesday, too!

Abby: Oh, well, I was born on a Tuesday at the ‘Hopsital’.

Sean:  I was there too.

Abby:  No you weren’t. I don’t remember you there.

I love these conversations!  We learn so much about children when we take the time to listen.  In this case, we are being reminded that, yes,  young children are very concrete, but also that they are always looking for connections.  How do we connect?  We were both born on a Tuesday.  Really?  Prove it...

It never ceases to amaze me that these guys say it the way they see it.  I wish we could do that…

October 21

For the next few weeks I will be offering little excerpts from my book Monday Memo, due to come out sometime soon!  The book is a series of letters written by a preschool director.

October 21

Dear Teachers,

Last week at the Burlington Community Preschool Directors meeting we had a discussion about discipline and classroom management.  One of the directors reported that she made some changes in her program and has almost no discipline issues.  We all asked her secret.  She told us that she no longer had free play.  The children went from one teacher directed group activity to the next, and the children are “so busy they have no time to fight with each other.”

I almost flung a grape at her.  What was she thinking?  NO free time?  

Well, I’m pretty sure you can imagine what happened next.  The other directors started to take notes, wanting to try this when they got back to their schools.  A few of us, however, nipped that in the bud by sharing what recent research suggests.  We told them how creative free time increased cognitive thinking, and the how increased stress leads to the increase of cortisol to the brain, limiting the learning.  We spoke of substantial portion of the day and the value of unscheduled time.

I reminded them that children need time to play together in order to have some “problem solving opportunities,” like learning to share or taking turns at being the mommy.  They benefit if these experiences happen in preschool, since the teacher can offer support where needed.  By excluding free time, we exclude these experiences.

I couldn’t wait to come back here and write this letter to you all.  I am so proud of our team.  You guys “get” this, and are working hard to scale down your daily schedules in order to increase the children's free time.  Consider this memo one big group hug.