Short and Sweet: Why Representation Matters (Part II)

African-American 3 year old brings me a copy of The Magic School Bus On The Ocean Floor to read to her. She opens the book to find Keesha on the third page with her hair in cornrows. She smiles, and pulls down the hood on her sweater to expose her own cornrows.

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Ceci n'est pas un Octopus

I don't need to rally against typical preschool crafts, many writers and satirists and educators have taken up that cry for me. I try to take a balanced view- what are we trying to teach? And what are the children learning? A search for "octopus craft preschool" turns up many results like these: (credit to iheartcraftythings.com) Many are billed as "fine motor practice", "letter O recognition", and "numeracy" either on the initial webpage or in the notes of Pinterest pinners. And these are worthwhile goals! But what do the children learn about octopuses? What did they do to get roped in here? They're cute and all... but they don't really have much in common with this fella; I would like to present you all with a wonderful gift I received recently. A hand made octopus that exercised fine motor skills, required understanding of numeracy, and involved some processing of what exactly an octopus IS: Okay, this doesn't l...

Play Based Curriculum

My program is play based. When I say this, people seem to think that it is Lord of the Flies. The mud-covered clothes the children tend to leave in don't do much to dispute this. So what exactly is a play based early childhood curriculum? My lesson plans revolve around materials, not instruction. For example, the math center currently has a set of Picasso Tiles, a measurement set with a variety of standardized measuring tools, counting beads, and a Counting Cars board game. Do my plans for the week involve standing in front of this group of 3-5 year olds and quizzing them on each shape in the tile set, the addition and subtraction facts in the board game, and the names of the units of measure found in the measuring set? They could, but there's not a 5 year old in the world who would sit still for that. Instead, we play together. When looking for a dress to fit a certain baby doll, we measure how many inches tall the baby is to find something that fits. When building a ro...

Their Favorite Question (Is Mine Too)

Why? Why? Why? If you've been around a child for any length of time, you've probably heard this more than you care to count. Toddlers and preschoolers use it when they're curious, testing limits, and just to extend a conversation. Just today, I've heard "why?" in response to: a request to pick up puzzle pieces, an announcement that it's almost time to put shoes on, a line from a story I was reading, a request to bring a glass of milk away from the edge of the table... and about 400 additional times. Sometimes the answer is obvious, sometimes less so. Sometimes it's because the child clearly wanted to contribute verbally but didn't know what else to say. So, why do I love it? It's a reminder to me, as their educator, to build intentionality into every action. If my goal is for them to understand phonics, why would I give them sight words rather than more letter sound practice? If my goal is for them to learn about spiders, why would I gi...

On Subsequent Inspection...

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