KINDERGARTEN DAY

April 21st is "Kindergarten Day" in honor of Friedrich Froebel who started the first kindergarten in Germany in 1837. Kindergarten originated to help children adapt to learning and social interactions in a fun way. Froebel believed in self-directed play, singing, dancing, blocks…a “garden” where children could grow! He’d probably roll over in his grave now if he saw what was going on!!

As I write this I am remembering my kindergarten teacher Mrs. Myers. I LOVED her! I mean, I worshipped her! She was a fairy godmother and the center of my world. She seemed ancient to me at the time, but I’m probably way older now than she was when she taught me. Thank goodness for hair dye and make up!!!

Do you see me? I'm in the center front with the dress my mother

made me for my first day of kindergarten.

I remember playing “The Farmer in the Dell” and other circle games. I also remember the finger play “Here are grandma’s glasses…” We had sugar cookies with a hole in the middle that we would put on our finger as we ate and we also had orange kool-aid. (Oh, my goodness! The sugar police would get Mrs. Myers for sure!!!) My favorite activity was painting. I especially liked to paint princesses. Back in those days the only princess I knew about was Cinderella, but I longed to be like her. One day as I was at the easel I painted a stripe down my leg. It looked so good I painted another…and another…and another…until my legs had beautiful stripes all over them. Mrs. Myers could have squelched my creativity right then and there, but she just laughed and said, “Don’t do it again.”

Another memory I have is learning to tie my shoes. I wore corrective saddle oxfords I feared would come untied at school and then what would I do? Everyone would know that I couldn’t tie shoes!!! Well, one day they came untied and Mrs. Myers said, “You’re a smart girl. Now, you just sit down and figure it out.” And you know what? I did!!!! She knew when to coddle and when to push.

And incredible as it may seem, although all I did was PLAY in kindergarten I can actually read and write now!! I imagine most of the adults running our country, writing curriculum, and running schools actually PLAYED when they were in kindergarten and look at them now. It would be interesting to ask those who preach "rigor" and "instructional time" and "high test scores" what they remember about being in kindergarten.

WHAT’S THE POINT? By Dr. Jean

If you cover every objective in the curriculum, but don’t have time to play outside or take field trips—
What’s the point of kindergarten?

If you do every page in the workbook, but don’t have time to laugh, do show and tell, or sing a song—
What’s the point of kindergarten?

If you know all your letters and sounds and numbers and sight words, but don’t know how to be a friend or share—
What’s the point of kindergarten?

If you score high on the standardized test, but don’t like school—
What’s the point of kindergarten?

If you master every skill and have 2 hours of screen time, but don’t have time to play in the block center or housekeeping or do puzzles—
What’s the point of kindergarten?

If teachers are so overwhelmed by the demands, expectations, and assessments they are given that they don’t have time to hug, smile, read, cheer, cherish, and look in the eyes of those wonderful little children in their classroom---
Then what’s the point of being a kindergarten teacher?

But we know that five is a magical time, and children only have one chance in a lifetime to be five. SHUT YOUR DOOR and hold hands, sing, dance, paint, tell stories, make believe, play outside, and continue to give children happy memories! And only you can do that because YOU are a kindergarten teacher and YOU are SPECIAL and AMAZING just like the children you teach!

Here's what I think should be the KINDERGARTEN BILL OF RIGHTS!!

http://bit.ly/drjean_billofrights

My "kinderoos" in the 1980's. 

I'd love to know where they are now.

Michelle Lewis wrote this beautiful memoir that is perfect to share with you today! I know many of you feel the same way.

When I reflect on the 17 years I have been a teacher, I have definitely seen the pendulum swing back and forth in the field of public education.

Ever since I was in kindergarten, I knew I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. Every morning when I walk into my classroom, I still feel like I’m living my dream.

Even with all the challenges and changes in education, I still love being a teacher. I truly do not think there is much greater in life than looking into the eyes of a child and watching them grow, learn and discover the world around them.

Of course, like so many teachers out there, I find myself wishing so many things could be different in the world of early childhood education but I try to make the best of it and hope the pendulum swings back to a time when the focus becomes more about “what is truly best for kids.”

I hope somewhere down the road changes are made in education, especially in the realm of early childhood education to ensure ALL curriculum is developmentally appropriate. We are causing these young kiddos to feel anxious, defeated and as if “they can’t measure up.” Some of these kids truly feel stressed when they take assessments. Some already show signs of test anxiety.

In my classroom, I do my very best to meet all of the state standards and teach the provided curriculum but my main focus is always my students. I look to how they are doing, how they are feeling and what they need at any given moment.

I find ways to incorporate time for that “social- emotional learning” piece of the puzzle that is often missing in many curriculums. I practice/ teach Conscious Discipline by Dr Becky Bailey in my classroom and use “teachable moments” as opportunities for learning.

I want my students to understand the importance of showing empathy, kindness, compassion, etc. I want them to know they are loved. I want them to feel a sense of belonging at school and know they are a part of our school family. I want them to live with integrity and do the right thing, even when nobody is watching. I want them to know that they can aim for the stars, live their dreams and become whoever they want to be. I want them to know they can make a difference in this world .

As a teacher, I truly believe that teaching my kiddos the importance of being helpful, safe and kind is more important than teaching them their ABC’s and 123’s. Every day my 4K students recite our classroom mission statement in sign language.

“Today in 4K we will play together, learn together and work together. We are a school family. We will be helpful, safe and kind.”

In my classroom, I want my students to see “learning as fun” and I want them to truly want to come to school. Of course I want them to learn the academics they need to be successful in kindergarten and beyond but I also want to provide time for them to play, laugh, giggle, sing and dance.

I try to provide my students with the best possible learning experience every single day and I strive to take care of their social and emotional well-being.

One way I do this is by reserving the last 10 minutes on Thursdays (4K is only 4 days per week) for a DANCE PARTY, complete with colorful lights and songs the kids love to dance too. Obviously as teachers, we purchase items for our classroom “out of pocket” but I will say the disco ball laser light was without a doubt one of my best purchases for my classroom.

We dance to songs like “Gummy Bear,” “It’s Raining Tacos,” “The Hamster Dance,” “Happy” and the list goes on. It’s funny because I have taught my kids “The Locomotion” and we have made a train and danced around our classroom and even gone down the hallways and they absolutely LOVE IT! I often hear during our dance parties “Ms. Lewis, can we please do the train song?”

For 10 whole minutes, it is pure joy in my classroom. There is dancing and jumping and hand holding and laughing and I can guarantee, every child in my class walks out of my classroom with a smile! And guess what happens on Monday— they want a DANCE PARTY!

This blog I wrote wouldn’t be complete without personally thanking Greg Smedley-Warren. He is an absolutely AMAZING kindergarten teacher in Tennessee who prompted me to start having dance parties in my classroom after observing videos of his class having them.

“We end everyday with a dance party to celebrate all we accomplished that day. Even on the hard days, we end on a positive note so we all leave happy! “ Greg Smedley Warren

(If you do not follow him, you should :)

The Kindergarten Smorgasboard

https://thekindergartensmorgasboard.com

He is a BRIGHT LIGHT in the world of early childhood education. His heart is filled with love for kids. His classroom is filled with joy and smiles. He has made me a better teacher!

NATIONAL KINDERGARTEN DAY

April 21st is "Kindergarten Day" in honor of Friedrich Froebel who started the first kindergarten in Germany in 1837. Kindergarten originated to help children adapt to learning and social interactions in a fun way. Froebel believed in self-directed play, singing, dancing, blocks…a “garden” where children could grow! He’d probably roll over in his grave now if he saw what was going on!!

As I write this I am remembering my kindergarten teacher Mrs. Myers. I LOVED her! I mean, I worshipped her! She was a fairy godmother and the center of my world. She seemed ancient to me at the time, but I’m probably way older now than she was when she taught me. Thank goodness for hair dye and make up!!!

Do you see me? I'm in the center front with the dress my mother

made me for my first day of kindergarten.

I remember playing “The Farmer in the Dell” and other circle games. I also remember the finger play “Here are grandma’s glasses…” We had sugar cookies with a hole in the middle that we would put on our finger as we ate and we also had orange kool-aid. (Oh, my goodness! The sugar police would get Mrs. Myers for sure!!!) My favorite activity was painting. I especially liked to paint princesses. Back in those days the only princess I knew about was Cinderella, but I longed to be like her. One day as I was at the easel I painted a stripe down my leg. It looked so good I painted another…and another…and another…until my legs had beautiful stripes all over them. Mrs. Myers could have squelched my creativity right then and there, but she just laughed and said, “Don’t do it again.”

Another memory I have is learning to tie my shoes. I wore corrective saddle oxfords I feared would come untied at school and then what would I do? Everyone would know that I couldn’t tie shoes!!! Well, one day they came untied and Mrs. Myers said, “You’re a smart girl. Now, you just sit down and figure it out.” And you know what? I did!!!! She knew when to coddle and when to push.

And incredible as it may seem, although all I did was PLAY in kindergarten I can actually read and write now!! I imagine most of the adults running our country, writing curriculum, and running schools actually PLAYED when they were in kindergarten and look at them now. It would be interesting to ask those who preach "rigor" and "instructional time" and "high test scores" what they remember about being in kindergarten.

WHAT’S THE POINT? By Dr. Jean

If you cover every objective in the curriculum, but don’t have time to play outside or take field trips—
What’s the point of kindergarten?

If you do every page in the workbook, but don’t have time to laugh, do show and tell, or sing a song—
What’s the point of kindergarten?

If you know all your letters and sounds and numbers and sight words, but don’t know how to be a friend or share—
What’s the point of kindergarten?

If you score high on the standardized test, but don’t like school—
What’s the point of kindergarten?

If you master every skill and have 2 hours of screen time, but don’t have time to play in the block center or housekeeping or do puzzles—
What’s the point of kindergarten?

If teachers are so overwhelmed by the demands, expectations, and assessments they are given that they don’t have time to hug, smile, read, cheer, cherish, and look in the eyes of those wonderful little children in their classroom---
Then what’s the point of being a kindergarten teacher?

But we know that five is a magical time, and children only have one chance in a lifetime to be five. SHUT YOUR DOOR and hold hands, sing, dance, paint, tell stories, make believe, play outside, and continue to give children happy memories! And only you can do that because YOU are a kindergarten teacher and YOU are SPECIAL and AMAZING just like the children you teach!

Here's what I think should be the KINDERGARTEN BILL OF RIGHTS!!

http://bit.ly/drjean_billofrights

My "kinderoos" in the 1980's.
I'd love to know where they are now.

NATIONAL KINDERGARTEN DAY

THE WORLD KEEPS CHANGING, 

BUT CHILDREN ARE THE SAME! 

THEY WANT TO BE LOVED, 

THEY WANT TO PLAY AND HAVE FUN, 

AND THEY WANT TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES!

How many times have you heard me say that? Today is National Kindergarten Day and a perfect time to reflect on our own childhoods and kindergarten experiences. Do you remember wearing a mask and sitting in front of a computer? It just breaks my heart when I see pictures and hear your stories about what it's been like to teach during the pandemic. I wrote the poem below several years ago out of frustration for the "rigor" and "academic push" that had eroded our precious "kinder gardens." We need to make it our theme song in the future because we are going to have to give children OVERDOSES of PLAY and HANDS-ON and SONGS and FINGER PLAYS and HUGS.

My kindergarten class in 1953. Can you tell which one is me?

They’ve Taken Away Our Song
By Jean Feldman

We used to sing and play outside.
We’d hold hands and we’d dance.
Now we have to sit still and take tests.
They’ve taken away our song.

We used to build with blocks.
We’d finger paint and do puzzles.
Now we do worksheets.
They’ve taken away our song.

We used to dig in the sand,
Play circle games and play pretend.
Now we sit in front of a big screen.
They’ve taken away our song.

We used to cook and go on field trips.
We had show and tell and rest time.
Now we have to stay on task.
They’ve taken away our song.

Our teacher used to have time
To sing us rhymes and tell us stories.
Now our teacher has to collect data.
They’ve taken away our song.

Give children back their song,
Laugh, and love, and play,
So when they’re all grown up
They’ll remember kindergarten in a special way.


Kindergarten Bill of Rights by Jean Feldman

• Kindergarten children have the right to the pursuit of happiness.

• Kindergarten children have the right to wooden blocks and a housekeeping center.

• Kindergarten children have the right to play dough and puzzles.

• Kindergarten children have the right to hold hands with their friends and play games.

• Kindergarten children have the right to free play outside.

• Kindergarten children have the right to sing and dance and be silly.

• Kindergarten children have the right to explore with paint, crayons, markers, glue, scissors and to make a mess!!!

• Kindergarten children have the right to have books read to them … many, many books.

• Kindergarten children have the right to go on field trips.

• Kindergarten children have a right to a quiet time every day so their brains can process information.

• Kindergarten children have the right to think school is the most wonderful place in their world.

• Kindergarten children have the right to think that they are capable and worthy.

• Kindergarten children have the right to hopes and dreams.

*Kindergarten children have the right to smiles and hugs and love, love, love!

My kinderoos back in the 1980's.

Every day was like giving a birthday party!

We had songs, games, snacks, stories, recess, and FUN!

We didn't know what check lists and standards were!

NATIONAL KINDERGARTEN DAY

THE WORLD KEEPS CHANGING, BUT CHILDREN ARE THE SAME!  

THEY WANT TO BE LOVED, 

THEY WANT TO PLAY AND HAVE FUN, 

AND THEY WANT TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES!

How many times have you heard me say that?  Today is National Kindergarten Day and a perfect time to reflect on our own childhoods and kindergarten experiences.  Do you remember wearing a mask and sitting in front of a computer?  It just breaks my heart when I see pictures and hear your stories about what it's been like to teach during the pandemic.  I wrote the poem below several years ago out of frustration for the "rigor" and "academic push" that had eroded our precious "kinder gardens."  We need to make it our theme song in the future because we are going to have to give children OVERDOSES of PLAY and HANDS-ON and SONGS and FINGER PLAYS and HUGS.  

My kindergarten class in 1953.  Can you tell which one is me?

Note!  If any administrator or parent gives you a hard time about singing or playing outside or blocks or centers or pretend play or anything that makes children smile or encourages them to hold hands with a friend in the future just let me know because I will take them on!!!!! 

They’ve Taken Away Our Song
By Jean Feldman

We used to sing and play outside.
We’d hold hands and we’d dance.
Now we have to sit still and take tests.
They’ve taken away our song.

We used to build with blocks.
We’d finger paint and do puzzles.
Now we do worksheets.
They’ve taken away our song.

We used to dig in the sand,
Play circle games and play pretend.
Now we sit in front of a big screen.
They’ve taken away our song.

We used to cook and go on field trips.
We had show and tell and rest time.
Now we have to stay on task.
They’ve taken away our song.

Our teacher used to have time
To sing us rhymes and tell us stories.
Now our teacher has to collect data.
They’ve taken away our song.

Give children back their song,
Laugh, and love, and play,
So when they’re all grown up
They’ll remember kindergarten in a special way.

Kindergarten Bill of Rights by Jean Feldman

• Kindergarten children have the right to the pursuit of happiness.

• Kindergarten children have the right to wooden blocks and a housekeeping center.

• Kindergarten children have the right to play dough and puzzles.

• Kindergarten children have the right to hold hands with their friends and play games.

• Kindergarten children have the right to free play outside.

• Kindergarten children have the right to sing and dance and be silly.

• Kindergarten children have the right to explore with paint, crayons, markers, glue, scissors and to make a mess!!!

• Kindergarten children have the right to have books read to them … many, many books.

• Kindergarten children have the right to go on field trips.

• Kindergarten children have a right to a quiet time every day so their brains can process information.

• Kindergarten children have the right to think school is the most wonderful place in their world.

• Kindergarten children have the right to think that they are capable and worthy.

• Kindergarten children have the right to hopes and dreams.

Kindergarten children have the right to smiles and hugs and love, love, love!

My kinder kids from 1980. It was a happy time to be a kindergarten teacher!

CENTER SIGNS

I mentioned these center signs in one of the virtual conferences I spoke at this summer.  Several teachers have emailed asking for these.  Although many of you won't need them when school begins this year, keep them in your pocket and keep on believing that you'll use them one day soon.

I used this idea years ago in my kindergarten to help parents, administrators, and visitors understand the value of active learning. All of my centers had signs that described what children were learning as they played. Below you’ll find some of the captions that I used.

Good teaching is good children and children are children!  Although I used these over 20 years ago before I retired, the meaning is just as valuable today!

Dramatic Play – It looks like I’m playing, but I’m developing social skills, emotional skills, independence, oral language, my imagination, responsibility, and the executive function. I may use these skills as a mother, father, safety officer, or politician one day. 

Blocks - It looks like I’m playing, but I’m developing motor skills, math concepts (number, size, shape, space), oral language, social skills. eye-hand coordination, self control, and my imagination. I may be a builder or architect when I’m grown. 

Art – It looks like I’m playing, but I’m developing my creativity, small motor skills, problem solving, sharing, cooperation, independence and responsibility. I may use these skills as an artist, illustrator, or designer one day. 

Math - It looks like I’m playing, but I’m developing oral language, social skills, small motor skills, concepts about quantity, shape, size, pattern, and an interest in math. I may use these tools as a computer programmer, accountant, or mathematician in the future. 

Library - It looks like I’m playing, but I’m developing alphabet knowledge, oral language, print knowledge, listening skills, eye-hand coordination, concepts about the world, and the desire to read. Maybe I’ll be a publisher, author, or librarian when I grow up. 

Science - It looks like I’m playing, but I’m developing a curiosity about the world, sensory skills, problem solving, language skills, and experience with the scientific process (observing, predicting, experimenting, recording, reporting). If I’m a doctor, lab technician, pharmacist, or landscaper I will utilize these skills. 

Small Motor - It looks like I’m playing, but I’m developing small muscles, eye-hand coordination, attention span, social skills, and concepts about size, shape, color pattern. I might use these skills as a chef or dentist one day. 

Language – It looks like I’m playing, but I’m developing oral language, alphabet knowledge, print connections, phonological awareness, visual skills, book knowledge, phonics, motivation to read. No matter what I become when I grow it, it will be important to know how to read. 

Writing - It looks like I’m playing, but I’m developing eye-hand coordination, small motor skills, alphabet knowledge, self confidence, vocabulary, and an interest in print. I might use these skills one day as a journalist, administrative assistant, or poet. 

Embrace the curiosity, enthusiasm, energy, and JOY of young children and let it be the momentum and springboard for developing skills and meeting standards! Play can be just as “rigorous” as a worksheet. 

                                 LET’S MAKE IT PLAYFUL AND CHALLENGING! 
                              
Hint! You could also make a book with the descriptions and photos of your students working in the centers. Let one child take the book home each evening to share with their families. 

            

EXTRA! EXTRA! LET'S SAVE KINDERGARTEN!

Phyllis Doerr is a veteran kindergarten teacher in Newark, who is sick of the status quo. In this WASHINGTON POST article that came out this week, she writes about why so many kids “are doomed right out of the gate,” and she provides a road map to remedy the problem and make early learning joyful again. 

PLEASE SHARE WITH PARENTS, ADMINISTRATORS, AND ANYONE WHO BELIEVES IN CHILDHOOD!

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/05/08/kindergarten-teacher-why-our-youngest-learners-are-doomed-right-out-gate-road-map-fix-it/?utm_term=.ef39c6e500d7 

I once watched a kindergarten teacher pass by my classroom door, struggling to move a large wooden play kitchen toward the exit of our school building in New Jersey.

“What are you doing?” I asked my colleague.

“Moving this out of my room — we have no time for play!”

My heart sank.

To all who love and care about kindergartners

Dear parents of young children, kindergarten teachers, elementary school principals, district and state superintendents, university education program professors and administrators, and any person who cares about the education and well-being of our youngest learners:

Have you ever watched a 5- or 6-year-old child play? Have you seen a little boy cradle a baby doll, pretending to be a daddy? Or watched a team put together a giant floor puzzle? Or observed a pair of students work together creating a magnificent cityscape with blocks that includes a bridge? Or seen a little girl don a chef’s hat and apron and happily serve pizza to her customers.

Kindergartners should love and be excited about school. Their first year of formal education should be … maybe even a magical year. Early education expert Dorothy Strickland, a Rutgers University professor and researcher, said that a child’s first learning experience determines a child’s attitude toward school for years to come. She maintains that the primary focus of kindergarten should be executive functions such as problem-solving, organizing, sequencing, conflict resolution, decision-making, and reasoning.

There is an important debate taking place over questions such as: What is age-appropriate to teach in kindergarten? What are the most appropriate teaching practices in the kindergarten classroom?

As kindergarten registration gets underway in the United States for the 2019-20 school year, let’s consider these questions: Which methods are working to achieve the goal of best educating young children? And which are not serving our goals for the education of our youngest learners?

These days, words that you will hear some educators and decision-makers use when discussing the question of what should be taught and how in kindergarten are: rigor, stamina, technology and standardized testing. Oh, and data.

I would argue that joy, character-building, social emotional learning, recess, multi-sensory/hands-on/interactive learning and multiple intelligences are more appropriate terms when it comes to discussing the kindergarten learner. Integrating these methods into instruction in the kindergarten classroom will result in better “outcomes.“

Things are not going well

As a kindergarten teacher for 10 years, I am surrounded by teachers both in my school and other schools. And I talk to parents in and out of my school. I am finding out that things are not going well for many kindergartners.

·      Recently on a plane, a kindergarten mom sat next to me. She lamented that she was pulling her child out of the expensive, private school her daughter was attending. The mom was upset that the school planned to hold the child back in kindergarten another year because she was not reading sentences.

•  A friend who is a mom of twins in kindergarten is panicked because her son is not reading proficiently, and the teacher has discussed keeping the child back. She instructed the parent to work harder with this child at home so they could bring him up to speed.

•  A fellow teacher is very concerned because her son is losing interest in school. In kindergarten!

•  A worried parent on an advice blog geared at helping parents raise their kids wrote: “My son is having a really rough year and it’s breaking my heart. He went to preschool for two years and did awesome! The teachers thought he would do great and I never had any behavior complaints. Kindergarten has been a nightmare. This year he’s having a hard time reading and writing. He says he hates school and he’s totally uninterested. I’m constantly getting phone calls that he’s distracting the class and acting out.”

The truth is, it is not that hard to do things right in kindergarten; to do things in such a way that optimal learning is accomplished and the child experiences joy, growth and even wonder.

Thanks to hundreds of child psychologists, researchers and experts in the field of early-childhood education, we have always known what makes a kindergartner flourish. John Dewey, Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky pointed the way in the past, and more recently, early-childhood education experts such as Strickland, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Pasi Sahlberg and James F. Christie have added to our knowledge.

This has not changed over time because the brains of 5- and 6-year-old children have not changed. Psychologists, researchers and educators who have done the work for a very long time point to the same conclusion.

Kindergartners will not thrive as long as we continue to push developmentally inappropriate concepts, like: 

•  Reading too soon.

•  Writing too soon. (They have been out of the womb five years and many of their little fingers cannot yet grasp a pencil.)

•  Making them sit for long periods of time. (Kindergartners can typically attend to a task that is of interest for 10-15 minutes, according to most reputable sources.)

•  Forcing so much time engaged in academic areas that no time is left for creativity, building, constructing, pretending, imagination, music and movement, social skills practice and so many other activities essential to the healthy development of the young child.

So what should we do?

Based on my experience (and lots of research done by passionate, dedicated professionals) kindergartners will thrive and love school when we:

•  Integrate instruction based on multisensory learning.

              Kindergartners learn with their five senses — exploring, creating, building, testing, sorting, organizing, pretending, moving, singing, chanting. Sitting still and listening for long periods of time is not how they learn. In fact, it is the opposite of how to best teach a kindergartner and is guaranteed to shut them down to learning.

       

•  Stop over-testing and teach with the premise in mind that testing is not teaching.(The curriculum my school uses includes a test on singing “Old MacDonald.” You read that correctly. A TEST. The child is to be given a SCORE on how they sing the song.)

•  Teach foundational skills in kindergarten in math and language arts,not complicated, developmentally inappropriate concepts that are largely beyond a 6-year-old’s reach. By all means, expose them to lots and lots of books!

            

•  In literacy, teach letters and sounds and pre-reading skills.With some exceptions, the brain of a young child opens the door for more proficient reading in first and second grade — not in kindergarten!

•  Stop making 5- and 6-year-old children take tests on computers.For many, the results are completely inaccurate because of the vehicle. Young fingers don’t work well on the keypad yet due to small-motor immaturity.

•  Bring back a balanced approach to teaching kindergarten.Learning through play in kindergarten should be a primary method of learning. Play is a child’s work.

•  Include an hour of outdoor play in the school day.Children are meant to be outside. Watch how they blossom in the classroom when they have enough time outside.

Major research spells it out

According to a major 2018 study by the American Academy of Pediatrics:

The most powerful way children learn is on playgrounds and in playrooms…Play is brain building, a central part of healthy child development, a key to executive function skills and a buffer against the negative impacts of stress.

It is mind-boggling that in our current climate, major research had to be conducted to reiterate what 100 years of research has concluded and recorded in papers, textbooks, and articles by the thousands. Kindergarten-age children learn best through action-based, hands-on activities that engage their five senses.

Yet we continue to push practices that have been proven ineffective and counterproductive for most students. If Strickland is right, and I believe she is, our youngest learners are doomed right out of the gate.

What could be driving this trend in American early-childhood education? Why are we administering instructional practices that have been proven by every bit of research for years to be the WRONG way to teach kindergartners? Why on earth have, as Carlsson-Paige asked, teachers and other professionals who are concerned about poorly designed standards and an over-focus on academic skills been shouting into deaf ears for years?

One can only guess.

A road map to kindergarten success

To best illustrate what will most definitely open the kindergartner to learning and set the tone for their entire educational experience, I would like to borrow a profoundly important document from brilliant teacher, child specialist and pre-eminent teacher trainer, Jean Feldman.

I believe that when we adhere to the Kindergarten Bill of Rights, which is in effect a plea for a balanced and developmentally appropriate approach to teaching kindergarten, we will no longer hear that our youngsters are disinterested, hating kindergarten, acting out and “failing” because they are not yet reading. We will instead see excited, happy children, whose minds are open and fertile for learning and who enthusiastically look forward to school. Should it be any other way in kindergarten?

Kindergarten Bill of Rights by Jean Feldman

•  Kindergarten children have the right to the pursuit of happiness.

•  Kindergarten children have the right to wooden blocks and a housekeeping center.

•  Kindergarten children have the right to play dough and puzzles.

•  Kindergarten children have the right to hold hands with their friends and play games.

•  Kindergarten children have the right to free play outside.

•  Kindergarten children have the right to sing and dance and be silly.

•  Kindergarten children have the right to explore with paint, crayons, markers, glue, scissors and to make a mess!!!

•  Kindergarten children have the right to have books read to them … many, many books.

•  Kindergarten children have the right to go on field trips.

•  Kindergarten children have a right to a quiet time every day so their brains can process information.

  

•  Kindergarten children have the right to think school is the most wonderful place in their world.

•  Kindergarten children have the right to think that they are capable and worthy.

•  Kindergarten children have the right to hopes and dreams.

Kindergarten children have the right to smiles and hugs.