I was fortunate to be
invited to the California Kindergarten Conference last weekend in Santa Clara,
and it was like a revival!!! I
think we all left feeling reaffirmed and inspired to create “kinder” gardens
where children can grow and learn in happy, meaningful, age appropriate ways.
Make New Friends But
Keep the Old
Teachers motivate me with
their passion, enthusiasm, and new ideas!
I was reminded of a song I learned when I was a Brownie. “Make new friends, but keep the
old. One is silver and the other
gold.” Technology is the new
friend, but we must hold on to our old friends (play, centers, games, music,
stories, finger plays, nursery rhymes) as well!
Losing the War
One teacher repeated a
comment he had heard from a (very wise) administrator: “We might be winning battles, but we
are losing the war.” WOW! Test scores might be improving, but
what about children’s love of learning?
What about creativity and problem solving? What about social skills and learning to care for others?
Groundhog Extravaganza!
Don’t you love it? Some teachers said that they call
everything an “extravaganza” and it motivates the children and gets them
excited. “Oh, we’re going to have
a math extravaganza after lunch!”
(I might try having a Martha Stewart extravaganza next time I have to
clean!)
Bubblegum Learning
I was visiting with one
teacher and he explained that teaching kindergarten was like bubblegum. You have to give children real,
concrete, hands-on experiences so that what they learn will STICK!
Transitional
Kindergarten
California is moving back
the starting date for kindergarten from December to September. Yeah! They are going to offer a “transitional kindergarten” for
children as they make the change.
Ozma Ferren wrote this song to the tune of “Tiny Tim” to celebrate the
change:
Transitional kindergarten where
we work and play.
Transitional kindergarten,
hip, hip, hip, hooray!
Transitional kindergarten,
celebrate the day.
Transitional kindergarten,
hip, hip, hip, hooray!
Blogger Buddies
There was a lot of buzz
about the internet, websites, blogs, and the big, new WWW frontier. I’m sure everyone who reads my blog has
already leaped into the WWW and is familiar with pinterest and the
pinboard. Did you know there’s a
free pinterest app? Another good
alphabet site someone suggested was abcya.com.
It was fun to put blogs
and faces together when we met one afternoon. Here’s Camille Johnson from
