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Its that time again...report card time! While the assessment system that DC public schools uses is comprehensive and gives an accurate picture of where the child is I sometimes feel it a bit overkill for three year olds. Each quarter we go over physical movement exercises to evaluate and document the students abilities. Following our skipping we evaluatedthe difference between hopping like a frog or a bunny and galloping like a horse or running on all fours likea lion or a cheetah. The surprise was how tired this physical activity made these children. We'll be doing this more often, that's for sure!

Choosing Boards and Center Wheels

While reading in Serious Players in the Primary Classroom Selma Wassermann talked about a classroom procedure that she used along with her classroom co-teacher, choosing boards. During their 90 minute center time students are allowed to use the choosing board to self regulate and choose their "centers"although they call this choosing time.  I just love this idea! This gives students such a sense of responsibility and allows a sense of independence for them while their "choices" are all teacher driven. In my classroom of preschoolers I use a center wheel to choose centers. Students pick a clothespin that corresponds to a specific center and stay in that center for our 45 minute play block. Once the initial procedure was implemented students began recognizing immediately when their classmates were in the wrong area...and calling them on it! Whether it is choosing boards or center wheels choice is an integral part of student development.

PLAY ON!

I myself am very fortunate that the curriculum implemented in my classroom directly supports play in a very realistic way. We "play" for about 40 minutes each day where children are set loose into centers and expected to delve into roles as they are appropriate. Each center is in turn changed from the traditional block center, art center and dramatic play to incorporate pretend play themes such as the post office, the fire station and the newborn nursery. In the article Chopsticks and Counting chips the authors reference a change in play. Play has certainly changed in the 20 or so years since I was a child, yes I played outside and yes I played in forts and created far away worlds in my treehouse, and no I did not go to preschool and yes I did attend a half day of kindergarten. All of these factors may be true for children of this generation but are clearly not the norm. Several of my students arrive at school before I do, attending before care and getting to school at 7:15 am and are at school long after I leave the building often times staying until 6:30 pm. This is not middle school or high school folks, these children are three years old! In scenarios such as this, who are we to tell teachers and children that school is a place for learning and home is a place for play? It is quite clear that school during the early childhood years has become a safe haven for children to develop into learners and students this process must be embraced on a developmentally appropriate level.