Spring in the Fall

I was struck by an extraordinary thought the other day as I was raking up leaves. We go somewhat overboard with our yard, so every fall we must clean up the falling leaves and dying plants. It's like a right of passage into winter (whether we want winter to come or not). As I was raking, I thought about how much of our yard will 'sleep' for the winter and come alive again in the spring. Each perennial plant will have another chance to grow and flourish, trying to surpass the previous year. I was thinking about how wonderful it would be for children who suffer an emotional or developmental setback to have a spring, where they could have another chance to flourish. Maybe this time, with the right light, water and nourishment, he just might flourish. Then it hit me that every fall when we begin a another school year, a child may have a new 'spring' in learning. If a teacher works hard to provide the right amount of nourishment, the child can flourish, even more than the previous year. Even as I watch the new trees I planted begin to grow and spread, that same anticipation should be occurring each school year as we watch our students grow and spread their wings.

The Human Family

I was having a conversation with a coworker recently about supporting children who come from different family configurations. I told him that I really enjoyed using multicultural play sets, or block people, to allow the child the opportunity to build a model of his own family in dramatic play. Even though many of the play people produced commercially come in racial family compositions, I like to get them all and allow the child to mix and match and create her family as close as she can. The make-up of the American family in 2009 has no one model. Families may have a father and mother, bi-racial members, single-parent households, gay parents, grandparents, foster parents, and the list could go on. Our job as early childhood educators is to validate and support every child in our care. Regardless of our own background or value system, we must realize that the child is the most important part of our classroom. Our support and validation is critical to help the child become well-adjusted and resilient.

Building Brain Connections

I was traveling on an airplane this week and I had the privilege of sitting next to a mechanical engineer. He was traveling for work on his latest project, a new medical device for heart patients. I was fascinated by the new procedures he was explaining, but he seemed just as fascinated with my early childhood knowledge. He has two small children and admitted that he and his wife don't always know the best approach for teaching their little ones. Our conversation evolved to a discussion about building capacities in the brain. I told him how critical it was to give young children as many experiences and support as possible so they can build as many brain connections as possible (check out Dr. Jean's information). We know that the connections formed during early childhood will have life long effects. We discussed how his new device might help patients avoid a heart bypass operation, but there was no shortcut to providing young children with positive, supportive experiences during these critical years. Early childhood is the time to build strong brain connections. I continue to admire all of the wonderful people in the world that devote their lives to young children.

I Need to be Twins

I went to my granddaughter's class for grandparents day this past week. We had a great time. I have another little friend in my granddaughter's room. The school is year-round and my granddaugher has changed schedules (tracks) this year. With all of the that, this little friend has been in her class every year since kindergarten (they are in 2nd grade this year). I was immediately drawn to this little guy in kindergarten because he was struggling with all the basic skills. I was a bit concerned when I asked the teacher about him. Her response was that he, "just didn't know anything," as she rolled her eyes. I took offense to how flippantly she dismissed the situation. I went back to my son's home and told my daughter-in-law that I would love to live closer so that I could tutor this struggling boy in reading.

Not much has changed in two years. He was the only child in the class without a grandparent or parent with him last week. Of course, with my granddaughter's permission, he became part of our family for the activity. We played bingo and I was distressed as my granddaughter read every word on the card and he could not decode even the simplest word.

I went home and looked at my schedule to see if I had 3 hours (travel time and tutor time) to devote several times a week to this child. Unfortunately, with supervising student teachers this year, I just can't find that amount of time.

I feel the same distress I felt when one of my grandchildren had a very poor teacher a couple of years ago. It shouldn't be this way. We must support the children while they are in these crucial early childhood years. I think I need a clone...or maybe several.

The Open Classroom

I have the opportunity to supervise student teachers this school year. I've always wanted that assignment. I thought I was well-suited for it since I had numerous student teachers when I was a classroom teacher and I have supervised classroom teachers several times. One of my assignments is a school called The Open Classroom. When I visited for the first time last week, I was thrilled. Talk about using early childhood strategies! The entire school is built around hands-on experiences, working together, parent participation and creating a learning environment throughout the school. It was wonderful to walk into a fourth grade classroom and see tables instead of desks!! There were also several parents as well as the teacher and the student teacher. The school was friendly and inviting. Even the children in the hallway greeted me with a smile and a hello. The principal was just returning from outside where they were making the most of the learning environment while out at recess. The principal told me, "Every situation is a learning opportunity. Whether we are outside, in the hallway, or actually in the classroom. Anywhere the student might be is a teaching moment."

I'm so excited to visit this school this year. It reflects my personal philosophy about education and educational settings. This is how I ran my kindergarten and first grade classrooms. What a joy to see these basic child development strategies embedded throughout an elementary school. I have always been convinced that a child will always learn more when he enjoys the environment and is met on his developmental level.

Time...

I was asking my 'brand new second grader' granddaughter the other day how things were going in second grade. "Good," was her response. I asked what she had been doing the past week in her new class. "Well, we made visors the first day, with our names on them." I inquired about the rest of the week. She shrugged and said, "I don't know. Stuff." Somehow, there was only one stand-out memory from the week. I began to think about how time seems to pass much quicker for me than it did when I was younger. It becomes a challenge to create memories that stand out while time is whizzing by rapidly.
I also recently had dinner with a former kindergarten student, who is an adult now. I was taken back by what he remembered from my kindergarten class. He recalled our hillbilly band, learning how to read (yeah!) and the one time he got into trouble for talking too much. I don't even remember ever talking to him about behavior. He was a wonderful student. I think I was shocked that one of his first memories was one isolated time he was corrected.

Salvador Dali's "Persistence of Time" picture always makes me feel that we need to be more effective with our time, before it melts away. Particularly, when we work with small children whose brains are building life-long skills and memories. I'm committed to making myself create more positive memories for myself and those around me.

Beauty in Getting Along

I just finished watching my grandchildren for several days while their parents were out of town. I guess I had more energy when I was younger. :-) Caring for young children takes a lot of energy. I remember the comedian, Bill Cosby, once said, "People with only one child aren't real parents. They never had to hear, 'She's looking at me.' or 'He touched me.'" It takes effort to keep the peace when you have small children or are in charge of young children. Several years ago I was involved with a grant that concentrated on using social emotional strategies to avoid negative behaviors in the preschool classroom. It was great to watch teachers set up their classrooms and organize the day in ways that encouraged positive behaviors. I am so lucky that my grandchildren are well-behaved. However, I tried one strategy with them while they were staying at my house. I made a visual schedule for the day. It was funny how that seemed to please the kids and help them understand how the day was going to progress. Hmmm...it even worked at home. As my granddaughter said about the flowers in our yard, "It is beautiful when everything in a plant gets along." It is beautiful when a group of children get along.

It Tastes Ymmy

We have three new little turtles in the pond in our yard. It has taken a month or so for us to train the little ones to come to the surface (not swim away) and eat the food we throw on top of the water. The real trick is to encourage them to eat the TURTLE food, not the fish food we distribute for the school of fish which shares their pond. I suppose they might get nourishment from the fish food, but I know the turtle food is healthier for them in the long run.
It makes me think of beginning a school year with a new group of children. We carefully need to teach them to come to the surface to eat the right food. Of course, the teacher or caregiver must provide the right food. Sometimes that doesn't happen. Just like the little turtles, I suppose children may get some benefit out of inappropriate practices in the classroom. But, when teachers use appropriate teaching strategies, it is much more nourishing and beneficial for the child's entire life. I hope we early childhood educators will do our best to provide turtle food to help growth and development.