Category Archives: Investigating Choice Time: Inquiry, Exploration, and Play

early childhood education, children, play

IT STARTED WITH A LEAKING SINK

My mantra to to early childhood educators has been to begin with the children. I’d like to share with you an example of how a teacher listened to his students and allowed their interests to lead the way to an inquiry investigation that naturally included math, science, literacy and higher order thinking.

How can the problem of a leaking sink lead to a fascinating prekindergarten investigation? Andy Yung, the prek teacher at P.S. 244 in Flushing, New York, with the support of his principal, Robert Groff, and assistant principal, Tu Harris, helped lead children into this investigation through their observations and their many wonderings.

The sink in the bathroom would not turn off and it bothered the children. Cayla announced that the sink is broken. Jonathan was worried that if the sink breaks there would be no water for the classroom and that there would be no sink. Anabel was more ecology-minded when she said, “The bathroom sink is wasting water!” Olivia seconded that thought, “The bathroom sink water keep(s) going…water (is) being wasted.”

Andy asked the children why it was important to save the water. Camilla said that we need it to wash our hands. Jonathan added, “We use to drink water. There’s water in the toilet.” Harsh was thinking beyond the classroom. “Sharks need water to live.” That made William add that all animals need water and Camilla joined in again by noting that “trees need water to grow.”

Brandon noted that the class Walking Sticks insects needed water to live.

Harsh observed that Tails, the leopard gecko, had a water dish in her tank.Raina noticed that the class fish lives in water and and Jonathan said the the plant-helper waters the plant every day.

When Andy began writing down what children knew about water, he realized that this was a perfect entree into a long-term investigation, the Water Project.There was a water table that hadn’t yet been opened and Andy decided that this would be an appropriate first step in the investigation. He brought it to the class meeting area, introduced it to the children, and asked them for suggestions on how to take care of the water table section. After many children contributed their ideas, William put them all together into three important water table rules:

Keep your body dry.

Do not throw water.

Do not splash water.

Andy brought out cups, funnels, pipes and buckets and the center was open for play and investigation.

OnOOO

One day, Raina’s mother visited to show the class a video of Raina doing her chores at home. The children decided that they should have the chore of washing dishes too, so the water table became a place to wash the dishes from their Pretend center.

Andy is almost a poster boy for donorschoose.org, a wonderful site that encourages teachers to write small, classroom grant proposals and share these with the public so that people can make contributions to help get materials into classrooms. What fun it is to see water squeezed out as a spinner is turned around and around.

He also purchased a hand-powered washing machine!

A class trip to the laundromat it being planned.

Back to the water table, bubbles were introduced. For some children it was easy to blow a bubble, but for others it was a bit more difficult. But how exciting it was to finally figure it out and to shout, “I did it!.”

Bubbles were fun to blow outdoors too.

Here’s some other ways of exploring water that has been taking place.
Color mixing
Colored ice
Pouring water
Making paper by hand and with a blender

Water Music
Building bridges over water

Then the bridges moved indoors into the block center.Andy read many books to the children and some of them inspired more inquiry into what happens when water mixes with other materials, when it freezes and when it evaporates. A lot of new vocabulary was incorporated into daily discussions.The children conducted water experiments.

They used drawings to record the steps in their experiments.

The plumber came to fix the sink and this provoked a new interest in tools. Will this lead to a take-apart center? I’m sure that Andy, an observant and sensitive teacher, will follow the lead of his children!

A Second-Grade Journey

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“The most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what’s in between, and they took great pleasure in doing just that.”
Norton Juster, The Phantom Toll Booth

Journeys have recently been on my mind. Perhaps it’s the onset of winter that is provoking my journey daydreams. More likely, though, it’s the observations that I’ve been making on days when I’m consulting at P.S. 244 in Flushing, New York. The fascinating journey that Angela Valco has been taking, along with her class of mostly English Language Learner second graders, is what I’d like to share here. Since last month, they have embarked on a very unexpected and child-initiated exploration, prompted by their interest in computers and robots.

Following an inquiry approach to Social Studies is a new mode of teaching for Angela. She first tried it out last year by exploring the NYC subway system and also picking up on the class’s fascination with two guinea pigs, their new class pets. Angela wrote the following to me, “ Inquiry work in the classroom has shifted my teaching approach, classroom culture and understanding of how children learn. …Being open and taking the time to listen to my students’ questions, ideas and wondering is the key to a successful inquiry. I enjoy being a part of the process of listening to my students share their curiosity and then working side by side with them in the inquiry process….My classroom has become a learning laboratory with the space and tools for my students to develop ideas and wonderings.”

To be sure, this has not been an easy switch in teaching style for Angela. Like many teachers, she previously followed a more teacher-directed thematic study approach. However, after seeing the success and excitement generated by various inquiry projects in the kindergarten classes, she decided to follow the direction taken by the kindergarten teachers and move towards experimenting with instruction that is less predictable and scripted. She also added Choice Time into her schedule. In an email to me, Angela wrote, “I am constantly stepping out of my comfort zone to make learning more engaging and to give more ownership to the kids. …Choice time and inquiry is a time where I see learning come alive! I watch and observe my kids in a way that makes me understand them more. It’s my favorite time. It’s worth all the extra time and all the uncomfortable risks.”

Let’s consider some aspects of going on personal journey, one that we might look forward to during our vacation from work. Of course we first must get the idea for the trip. What is it that sparks our interest in visiting a city or going on a climbing expedition? A trip might be inspired by discussions with friends who have taken this journey, an article in the newspaper or even a movie that we’ve seen. After making the decision to take this trip, we do some initial planning. Perhaps we consider what we already know about the place we want to visit. We might contact friends who have already been there to get additional ideas from them. We could jot down some ideas about what we might want to see on the trip and get new information by using a Google search. Then we plan our itinerary, book a flight and reserve hotel rooms. We’re ready for new experiences and discoveries! There are some places we know that we MUST visit but we also realize that we can get “off track” when something really interesting comes up. By keeping a diary we can keep track of our thoughts along the way and reflect on our experiences when we return home. After the trip, we might invite friends or family over so that we can share our photos and talk about our marvelous journey.

Angela and her class went on a journey – one of discovery and learning. This class journey followed very much the same trajectory as a trip that you or I might take on our vacation. It first began when Angela listened to her children as they worked and played and recorded her observations. At class meetings she brought to the children’s attention some of what she heard from them and this information provoked a class discussion focused on their interests. Since the major interest was on robots, together, they created a thinking map, showing what they already knew about robots and what they wanted to find out.

Angela began planning by thinking about questions children might have, materials she might need, possible trips, etc.

Then she began brainstorming with the children to see what they already knew.

The children also helped to plan for Choice Time by sharing their suggestions for different centers.

Just as our trip wanderings sometimes stay on track and other times take detours in unexpected directions, some Choice Time experiences connect to the robot investigation and others give children opportunities for exploring a variety of interests such as a sewing center and a Build-a Story center where children built a story with Legos, wrote about their story and shared it with the class.

He is building a story and writing about it. Angela noticed that this was a wonderful center for her English Language Learners.

Wondering about what allows the keyboard to work.

Checking it out by looking inside the keyboard.

Analyzing the Robot

Using an IPad to get directions for constructing a robot. Building a tent Sharing is an important part of project work.

A few weeks into the robot study, I encouraged Angela to ask the children if they could think of ways to use classroom resources to further their robot investigations and also to demonstrate what they already know. This will be a class discussion when the children return from the holiday break.

Similar to our trip diaries, the children write in their reflection journals after each Choice Time. Some children share journals each day, inviting their classmates to ask questions and make comments.

One day I visited the class during their meeting and I asked them if they thought that a robot would someday take the place of the classroom teacher. Angela told me that this idea opened up a “can of worms” and an intense discussion on this topic lasted for a few days. Perhaps this thought put the children a bit out of their comfort zone!

If I created a robot, it might…

…clean a car.

…sweep floors

…save people

This is still a study in progress. Where will it go? How much longer will it continue? Will it lead to another study, one of computers and coding? The answer is still to be discovered and I’ll most certainly share the progress of the journey that these second graders and their teacher are taking in a future blog post. Isn’t it refreshing to know that the direction of the study isn’t all worked out and that it is the power of the children’s interests and questions that will lead the way?

“It’s good to have an end to journey toward: but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
Ursula K. LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness

No fun in Kindergarten? We are in trouble!

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What has been happening to kindergarten, all over the oountry, is an absolute travesty. I’ve complained about this often, on this blog, on Facebook, and in presentations to teachers and administrators.

I recently watched this video produced by Defending the Early Years. I can’t say anything better than Jim St. Clair says it here. Listen, ponder, share, rage and, hopefully, think of how we can do something to return Kindergarten to the joyful place that it once was.

If you want to read more about Choice Time, you might find my book on this topic of interest. https://www.amazon.com/Choice-Time-Learning-Through-Inquiry/dp/0325077657/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1545924774&sr=8-1&keywords=choice+time+how+to+deepen+learning+through+inquiry+and+play+prek-2

The Aviation Study: From Brooklyn to Hong Kong

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Five years ago, Dana Roth a marvelous kindergarten teacher at P.S. 10 in Brooklyn, came to my home to work on writing a chapter for Teaching Kindergarten: Learning-Centered Classrooms for the 21st Century with me. When we took a break in our writing, Dana asked me for some advice. The children in her class were particularly interested in airports and airplanes. She wanted to begin an inquiry project with them but she knew that it would, because of security rules, be impossible to make a class trip to the airport. Should she just see if there was something else that interested the children? I suggested that we put our heads together and create an anticipatory web. That might give her some direction to see if an airport/airplane investigation would make sense. This is what we came up with:

Dana thought that she would do some preliminary exploring with her children. She started by inviting children to draw pictures of what they knew about airports and airplanes.

The next day, instead of their regular “signing in,” Dana proposed a question to determine their past knowledge. We always build upon what children already know (schema theory) rather than introducing an exotic, unfamiliar exploration.

The children shared what they already knew about airports.

Then they went of, drew blueprints of how they thought an airport would look, based on their past experiences and they began building.

It took a lot of tape to hold up the tower and a lot of concentration to create the sign for it.

At class meeting, the children shared their “wonderings” and considered how and where they could find answers to their questions.

During Choice Time children children researched different airplanes and airlines, created airplanes in the art center and continued building.The class took a trip to the Saker Aviation Heliport but first they made a list of questions. Back in class…

The next trip was to Floyd Bennett Field

Back in class…I

It seemed to be the time to culminate the investigation.

SKIP AHEAD TO AUGUST, 2018. I WAS INVITED TO VISIT THE DALTON SCHOOL OF HONG KONG AND WORK WITH LARRY LEAVEN, NANCY DU, SHAuN PORTER, MATTHEW WHITE AND THE WONDERFUL TEACHING STAFF ON DEVELOPING INQUIRY-BASED CHOICE TIME AND CLASS INQUIRY PROJECTS.

Larry Leaven, Shaun Porter.

Nancy Du

Matthew White

The teachers!

I shared Dana’s Aviation Study with the staff from Datlton School and with teachers and administrators from two other Hong Kong school. First I projected the PowerPoint and we discussed different aspects of the study. Larry posted a photo of each page of the study on a wall adjacent to the presentation as a long time line or frieze. We invited the teachers to look at the study again along with copies of their teaching standards. When they saw an instance of a particular standard being addressed, they were asked to write a note on a post-it and stick it on the picture.

The discussion after this activity was lively, intense and illuminating. The gist of the discourse was that we DON’T begin with the standards when planning a long-term investigation. If we listen to children, value their knowledge and encourage questioning and investigating in many different modalities, then the standards will ultimately be covered, but in a more exciting and meaningful way than if we prepare a study that is pre-planned based on the teaching standards.

At the entrance to the Hong Kong Dalton School, there’s a plaque with the quote, “I’m not led. I lead.” That’s the important mantra to remember.

Children first!

COME LEARN WITH US

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There will be two days of wonderful professional development workshops and keynote talks at the JCC in Manhattan on August 29 and 30. I’ll be facilitating an all day workshop on August 30. Here’s the information:

A SUMMER LEARNING SERIES
FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS

Join us for the third annual Come Learn with Us conference. This two-day event will feature full- and half-day learning opportunities for early childhood educators. The conference is timed to reinvigorate, inspire, and challenge educators just before they go back for the start of the school year. Each workshop will include hands-on interactive components and highlight clear, actionable takeaways. New this year, participants will have an opportunity for ongoing learning or midyear check-in to extend their learning well past the conference is over. Click the link under each session title below to register for individual workshops or use the group form to register multiple teachers together.

DETAILS

Registration and workshop details will be available on this page in the spring
Participants can register for full- or half-day workshops on either or both days
Several workshops will be offered each day
Full-day workshops are $100, half-day workshops $50
Registration includes a kosher lunch from 1-2 pm both days
Group registration will be available
Discounts are available for schools sending their whole teaching staff, as well as for members of JECA
New this year, we are committed to providing a limited amount of scholarships for teachers who do not receive registration reimbursement from their schools
Please direct all questions to Aida Mehmeti at azaga@jccmanhattan.org

WED, AUG 29 + THU, AUG 30, 10 AM-5 PM
Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Avenue @76th Street

HERE’S A DESCRIPTION OF MY WORKSHOP

Come Learn With: Renée Dinnerstein (10 am-5 pm)
The Classroom Speaks: Transforming the Early Childhood Classroom into an Exciting Laboratory for Learning
REGISTER HERE

In this workshop, we will discuss how to transform a classroom into a place where children build things, conduct experiments, create innovative projects, read fascinating books, write original stories, use technology and texts to research for information, and feel free to try out possibilities. We will think carefully about how to create a space where children grow big ideas, make new friends, and dig deeply into exciting investigations. The workshop will address:

Arranging the furniture and materials to make the best use of classroom space
Considering the different centers that children will use at the beginning of the school year and creating dedicated areas that will be permanent throughout the year, as well as how to make trade-offs when space is limited
Looking at what materials will be necessary at the start of the school year and how this will change over the course of the school year
Creating a daily schedule that satisfies the demands of the administration yet doesn’t rush children through the day like a train keeping to a timetable
How kindergarten and first-grade children can use their Choice Time journals to reflect on what they did at Choice Time and what might have challenged them

We will have opportunities to work on Choice Time planning templates and also work together on interpreting choice time observations and using these interpretations to plan next steps. There will be time for questions and answers.

Renée Dinnerstein has over 50 years’ experience as an early childhood educator. She has taught both in Italy and the US and has spent 18 years as an early childhood teacher at PS 321, one of New York City’s leading elementary schools. She was the teacher-director of the Children’s School early childhood inclusion annex and worked also as an early childhood staff developer in the New York City Department of Education, Division of Instructional Support, where she wrote curriculum, led study groups and summer institutes, and helped write the New York City Prekindergarten Standards. Renée, a past member of the Teachers’ College Reading and Writing Project Early Childhood Reading “think tank,” taught in the project’s summer institutes and presented calendar days for kindergarten and first-grade teachers. She received the Bank Street Early Childhood Educator of the Year Award in 1999. Her book, Choice Time, How to Deepen Learning Through Inquiry and Play (Prekindergarten–Second Grade) was published by Heinemann in August, 2016.

Research and Play: Looking at Choice Time Centers

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Recently, I was asked if I could create a rubric to help teachers and other educators look critically at Choice Time centers in their classrooms. I didn’t feel entirely comfortable creating a document where teachers used a scale to rate themselves. However, I do think that it might be helpful for teachers and administrators who are new to inquiry-based centers and investigations to have some format for thinking about the why and how of Choice Time centers.

After I finished typing up a “Looking at Choice Time Centers” document, I received two interesting communications. I had shared the document with a kindergarten teacher in Michigan who is very commited to play-based learning so that I might get some helpful ideas and feedback. In her response, she wrote, “About the only thing your missing is a citation for research you used to show that these principles are “research based.” Very soon after that, I received an email from a teacher who asked if I could give her some support in helping families understand the importance of play in her prekindergarten classroom.

I came to realize that the document needed a reference to the research on the importance of play. I think that it’s important for teachers and administrators to be aware of some of the relevant research on young children and play. This is information for them to share with families. There might be a classroom binder containing a range of articles that parents can borrow. Workshops where parents are invited to experience some of the opportunities for explorations in different centers and also meetings where parents get to hear and question guest speakers might create a community that understands and supports play-based learning. I’ve often said that parents want what is best for their children. As educators, we should be helping families understand the research and see educators support children’s social, emotional and intellectual growth through their play.

Do you have articles or references about the importance of play that can be shared with other teachers and parents on this blog? Wouldn’t it be amazing if we all shared one or two of our favorite articles and then there would be a large menu of references for parents and teachers to choose from? Would you consider sharing with our community of readers? How exciting that would be!

Here is the document that I created. Of course just as we are always growing as educators, this document too is a work in progress!
******************************************************************************

Looking at Choice Time Centers

Before we look at how centers are set up, introduced and functioning, it’s probably important to personally clarify why we have centers in the first place. Here are some possible goals that you might have for your Choice Time centers.

Focus: We want children to become engaged in activities that will encourage extended focus and commitment.

Independence: Children should be able to use materials independently and creatively.

Language Growth: We would like centers to give children opportunities to develop an expanded vocabulary such as, “I’m building a huge tower that reaches all the way to outer space!” or “Look at the snail’s track of slime.”

Literacy: By providing children with appropriate books, paper and writing implements, they will have opportunities to practice emerging skills such as writing prescriptions in the pretend doctor’s office, making signs and maps in the block center, and drawing observations and diagrams in the science center, using books to research different self-portraits in the art center.

Metacognition: We are giving children opportunities to develop greater metacognition. If children were pretending that they were going on an airplane trip, and they were taking on different roles, they would have to consider: What does the pilot do? What should I do when I get on the plane with my baby? Who will be serving the food and drinks?

Perception and Play: We give children opportunities to explore their world. Children might use the experience of a trip to the firehouse to transform their pretend center into a fire station, using their memory of the trip, trip sketches and photographs.

Self-Regulation: We want to support children in developing self-regulation such as learning to take turns and to share materials. Children will be sharing in decision-making at centers and will have many opportunities for social interactions that might involve conflict resolution.

Symbolic Behavior: We will give children opportunities to use symbolic and problem-solving strategies such as figuring out how to use chairs, hollow blocks and paper to create an airplane for dramatic play.

Research: We base our work on research that highlights the importance of honoring play- based learning.This information is helpful to share with families who often have anxieties and confusion about the importance of play in school. ( i.e. “Children from Birth to Five: Academics Versus Play,” policy statement of the Alliance for Childhood (2003); “The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds”, Kenneth R. Ginsburg, MD, MSEd, and the Committee on Communications and the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health; ‘Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need Play in School”, Alliance for Childhood, Almon and Miller.)

Growth in Centers

Ask yourself if you see a potential for growth in each center? Look carefully at the centers and see how they might change over the course of time. (i.e. Water Table Center: Begin simply with a water table, move to an exploration of bubbles, floating and sinking, building boats, color mixing, etc.)

Observations, Comments and Goals:

Materials

Are there enough, but not too many, materials in the center to appeal to children with different interests and abilities? Are the materials appropriate for the explorations being done at a center? For example, if children were being encouraged to carefully observe and draw a snail in the science center, then crayons would be an inappropriate writing implement to use for this activity. If you would like children to begin exploring how to create various lines and colors in the art center, markers would be an inappropriate material to include at this center because the potential for exploration with this writing and drawing implement is limited.

Observations, Comments and Goals:

Time:

Do children have enough time for exploration?

Sometimes children need time to “mess around” with materials at a center before becoming engaged and focused. Once children become engaged and self-directed, they need enough time for their explorations.

Some teachers have children move to a new center after ten or twenty minutes. Children should never be required to rotate from one center to the other during a Choice Time period. This rotation defeats our goal of supporting focus and engagement.

Observations, Comments and Goals:

Choice:

Do children get to choose where they will be playing? Are there enough choices of centers available so that children are not “stuck” with a center that doesn’t engage him/her?

Are children’s suggestions for new centers discussed and, if appropriate, honored?

Observations, Comments and Goals:

Routines

Is there a consistent, predictable structure for Choice Time, such as a short pre-center discussion, extended time at centers, clean up and a share meeting?

Is there a chart that shows all of the choices available, with pictures and labels, so children can see what centers they can choose from?

Are there appropriate numbers of children that can play at each center? This number might be indicated on the choice chart. Consider letting children come up with numbers for centers based on their play experiences. (i.e. If children complain that It was too crowded in the Pretend Center and that there were too many children there, you might suggest “Perhaps this week we can think about whether it would be better to put a number that tells how many children can play there together. Let’s think about that this week and talk about it in a few days.”)

Is there a consistent, not random, method of calling on children to make choices? One idea is to have a list of students on a chart and have a paper clip that is lowered on the chart to a new name each day.

Are clean-up routines clear and consistent?

Observations, Comments and Goals:

Space

Is the allotted space appropriate for each center? Blocks and Dramatic Play need a great deal of space. Science needs a smaller space. Art needs enough table space so that children can work on big projects.

Remember that space for centers should be fluid and will probably change over the course of the year. Some centers might not need much space at the start of the year but at some point in the year will need more space. There might be new centers added and centers taken away either temporarily or permanently. Follow the lead of the children and their play patterns.

Observations, Comments and Goals:

Assessment and Planning

Choice Time observations are qualitative. Observations can inform future work in a particular center. They also can focus on what children are accomplishing at a center.

It helps to do an observation with a question in mind. Your initial observation notes should be value-free. Only write what you see. Transcripts are helpful. Later in the day you can reread your observations and record your reflections. Think of what you’re learning about the center or the interactions of the children at the center?

You can then use this information to plan your next instructional steps. It might mean introducing new, challenging provocations to the center.

Your next instructional steps will be based on your initial observations and your reflections.

Observations, Comments and Goals:

Teachers MUST speak out!

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In 1976 my husband and I, along with our 4-year-old daughter and 12-year-old dog, moved to Rome, Italy. Our stay, courtesy of the American Academy in Rome, was originally to be for one year but, happily, it lasted almost three years.

We enrolled Simone, my daughter, in a wonderful Montessori School. Lemon and olive trees were sprinkled about the garden, sunlight poured into classrooms, and an abundance of play, investigations and singing filled each day.

Alas, then the year was over and we had to look for a kindergarten. The school only went through pre-k. Simone started reading quite fluently when she was four years old but she mainly got her joy from running, climbing in the schoolyard, taking part in class impromptu dramas such as a wonderful free-spirited production of the Bremen Town Musicians, and singing, singing, singing. This was a tough act to follow and we came up with no new possibilities. The various schools that we visited (and we went to many including the local state school) had rigid, unimaginative, workbook-filled days for five-year olds. We didn’t know what to do.

Out of desperation, we reached out to the director of the Montessori School and entreated her to allow Simone another year in the school. After much discussion, she agreed. When other parents of kindergarten-age children, heard about our decision, they too decided to keep their children in the school. It all worked out perfectly. Or so we thought.

After the first week of the next school year Simone, with tears trickling down her face, sadly told us that she didn’t like school anymore. We wondered if we made the wrong decision but we asked her to explain why she no longer liked going to school. “It’s boring. Too much work.” Hmm, what was going on?

I went back to the school to speak with her teachers and discovered that they were giving her “schoolwork” to do each day. While the other children were happily splashing about at the water table or painting murals in the art studio, she was sitting alone with paper and pencil, filling in worksheets. The teachers, to their defense, thought that they needed to challenge Simone with academic work because she was already reading and writing, We told them that we were not interested in her doing “school work” and that we would like her to spend her days with all of the other children.

The problem was solved. Simone was once more a happy, bubbly, curious and creative five year old.

Now I sadly think about all of the many kindergarten children who are having the joy of learning through play and exploration drained from their school experiences.

Today the Defending the Early Years Project is launching its 2-minute documentary series #TeachersSpeakOut. You can share this blog post and also share on social media and with friends the video of Bianca Tanis discussing the corporate hijacking of early education at https://www.deyproject.org/dey-2-minute-documentary-series.html

From the #EarlyEd front lines: Now is the time to share our stories. Now is the time to reclaim our voices as experts.
#TeachersSpeakOut https://www.deyproject.org/dey-2-minute-documentary-series.html

The Opt Out Movement and Kindergarten

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It is not unusual to overhear observations such as “ kindergarten looks like the new first or second grade” or “What happened to play in kindergarten?” In a growing number of schools across the country we haven’t moved past these observations to take action. So what does this all have to do with the boycotting of high-stakes standardized tests? And why should parents and teachers support what is now well known as the Opt Out movement?

The assessments that third, fourth and fifth graders are subjected to each year are more about crunching data and less about helping children become stronger, inquisitive and active learners. Teachers usually do not see the results of the tests until it is too late for any information to be helpful for instruction. The exams seem to be designed in ways that do not relate to what children in each grade need to learn. Because there is so much pressure for schools to reach high test score numbers, much class time is spent in teaching to the test.

What does this have to do with kindergarten? Five year olds don’t (yet!) take these tests. Alhough research shows that young children learn through play, not through early academic pressure, administrators, pressured by the demands of standards-based accountability, impose inappropriate curricula that early childhood teachers must implement. Young, new teachers, many of whom have not experienced play-based learning themselves, are often at a loss, caught between early childhood’s solid research base and expectations.

In the 2009 report, Crisis in the Kindergarten, Edward Miller and Joan Almon cite the following findings from Linda Darling-Hammond and Jon Snyder’s research on German kindergartens found in their article “Curriculum Studies and the Traditions of Inquiry”

Long-term research casts doubt on the assumption that starting earlier on the teaching of phonics and other discrete skills leads to better results. For example, most of the play-based kindergartens in Germany were changed into centers for cognitive achievement during a wave of educational “reform” in the 1970s. But research comparing 50 play-based classes with 50 early-learning centers found that by age ten the children who had played in kindergarten excelled over the others in a host of ways. They were more advanced in reading and mathematics and they were better adjusted socially and emotionally in school. They excelled in creativity and intelligence, oral expression, and “industry.” As a result of this study German kindergartens returned to being play-based again.

In the United States, however, evidence seems to be thrown out the window or ignored and kindergartens continue to eliminate most , if not all, opportunities for children to play.

Recently, as I was walking down the hallway of a New York City public school, I passed a kindergarten class with this weekly schedule posted on the door of the classroom.

I wondered if this school day for five- year old children, like the one shown in this schedule, was becoming more common throughout the city. I’ve often seen similiar schedules where children get “free play” or “Choice Time” for a half-hour at the end of the day. Why aren’t educators and parents connecting the dots between a grueling school day in kindergarten and the increase in diagnoses of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)?

Isn’t it obvious that this schedule and others like it are so closely connected to the hysteria over high test scores and the pressure to meet the Common Core Standards? Isn’t it obvious why all parents, not those only of third through fifth grade students, should be vocally supporting the Opt Out movement?

If we, parents, grandparents and educators, do not speak up and put pressure on politicians and high-up powers in the education department, then it certainly will be our children who suffer.

CASDA- A Wonderful Early Childhood Conference April 30

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Here’s some information about a wonderful early childhood conference that will be held in Albany, NY this April 30.

Anna Allanbrook, the inspiring principal of the Brooklyn New School will give the keynote address and some of the teachers from her school will be presenting workshops. It sounds like it will be a day not to be missed!

Here’s a link to register www.mylearningplan.com/WebReg/ActivityProfile.asp?I=2654581&D=13206

If you’re anywhere on the east coast, don’t miss this wonderful opportunity !

The Bach Invasion!

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“Music makes your kid interesting and happy, and smart will come later. It enriches his or her appetite for things that bring you pleasure and for the friends you meet.” Dr. Kyle Pruett, Clinical Professor of Child Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine

On March 21, 2018, a public school in Brooklyn was invaded by the music of Johann Sebastian Bach in celebration of his 333rd birthday. Forty musicians spent a day visiting every P.S. 321 classroom. The rooms and the halls of the school were filled with music. This wasn’t the first year that the school was invaded by musicians playing classical music but each “invasion” brings excitement and new experiences to the children from kindergarten through fifth grade.

This is a huge school. There are almost 1500 students. How many principals would be as open to dedicating a school day to music as Liz Phillips, She has welcomed each “invasion” with open arms and anticipation. I taught at P.S. 321 for many years, my daughter and grandson were students there and my son-in-law, Jeremy Greensmith, now teaches there. It’s truly an important part of the life of my family. Now, Simone Dinnerstein, my daughter, has organized community concerts at the school and also made a personal commitment to bringing classical music into the lives of all the children and their teachers.

Here’s a glimpse into some of the classrooms.

Here’s a jazz musician introducing children to his improvising on Bach’s music.

Kelly Howard and her students played for the children in Jeremy Greensmith’s class.

Even the squirmy kindergarten students were visited by a high school student who played her cello for them.

My former first grade student, Corinne Bennett, returned to P.S. 321 to perform for a class of second-graders. What a wonderful teacher she has become!

I wonder if this experience will be the inspiration for a chid to learn to play the violin?

For some time there has been talk of the “graying” of the classical music audience. Somehow, I think that the exciting introduction to classical music that these children are experiencing is creating many future concert-goers!

Here is a television program that highlighted a past “invasion”