#childadvocate

First off, it is a common misconception to think that children are expected to sit down and learn their ABC’s and 123′s, read, write, do math all BEFORE kindergarten. Not sure where this all stems from, but I always tell families, that is what KINDERGARTEN and grade-school is for. As a pre-k teacher, it is my job to make sure they are developing the skills to be ABLE to learn in a kindergarten/grade-school setting. Children need to learn how to self regulate, problem solve, focus & engage, persevere through challenges, be confident in trying, ask questions, reflect, SOCIAL SKILLS and overall be independent. Not only that, children need to develop certain muscles, fine and gross motor muscles, to even hold a pencil or cut with scissors correctly, button, zip, tie shoes, etc. Without these skills, how can we expect children to learn more difficult subjects if they can’t sit still, concentrate, work with peers on projects, or calm themselves down without a teacher to hold their hand? (As i am typing this right now, I am watching “girls incarcerated, young and locked up” on netflix and it is a very good example of what happens to children who do not fully develop these important life skills. Side-note, it is an entertaining show.) 

Allowing a generous chunk of free play will help develop these skills in a very organic and relevant way for children. When something is personal or relevant to them, the information is internalized and learned much faster. Free play invites curiosity, exploration, experimenting, making predictions, finding conclusions. It creates the opportunity for cooperative play, conflict-resolution, problem solving, thus developing social skills and the ability to recognize emotions, creating situations to develop self regulation and moral sense. It isn’t that ABC’s and 123′s are NOT being taught in class, rather it is being learned organically on their own terms through play. I am there to observe, and scaffold their learning, constantly asking them open ended questions to help them think, reflect and come to their own answers. That being said, I try to turn situations into a learning experience any chance I get and reinforce their knowledge of numbers, counting, simple math, letter and phonetic recognition, reading etc. 

Believe it or not, I do have one student who can legitimately read whole books to me. Its funny because I can’t hide things by spelling words out to teachers because he can sound out the letters and figure out what I am saying. He can also tell when I skip words or sentences in a book and does not let me off the hook! It is amazing to see their knowledge grow significantly when they are in control of their learning and because of that, they grow their self confidence and feel competent. This is what I would hope to foster in every child I work with before they move on to kindergarten.