This poll over at edutopia has me thinking this morning. What are public schools emphasising? Haven't we already pushed first grade standards down into Kindergarten? When will public PreK classes start having "literacy block" and "math block" instead of play?
What do you think?
The disadvantages inherent in more formalised and structured programs for young children are that such programs are poorly suited the psychological and natural learning strategies of this age group. Unfortunately, this is the approach many parents seem to value.
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be no way around parents and administrators seemingly ignoring the fact that children learn through play, other than to stand firm and continually show them exactly how the children are learning through play.
A recent article in The Australian "Dangers at Play in Uniform Learning" warns parents and educators about the push down pressure of formalising early childhood education and the potential for negative impacting children. The article highlights five particular problems:
1. Wearing formal uniforms:
2. Following school routines that were originally developed for older children
3. The expectation of parents that children should be reading and writing before school:
4. Formalisation of preschool: Preschool is for learning through playful enterprise, not for a watered down first grade learning program.
5. Over rushed, over scheduled, stressed, anxious children
Jenny
Testing, Testing, Testing! My principal only concerns herself with test scores and compliance with NCLB.
ReplyDeleteSadly, imagination, creativity and instilling the joy of learning are not valued or encouraged at my school.
Our pre-k HAS a math and reading block, and it is very scripted!
Anonymous, what do you do? What ideas do you have to keep imagination and love of learning alive under these constraints?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous and Launa, I think that your concerns and ideas ring true in many schools. Preschool teachers are presented with standardized curriculum to follow, and there is little room for creativity. I think this is seen very very often in "theme" programs that also have formal literacy and math work for the children to do. Where is there space for children to explore what they want?
ReplyDeleteI myself have "units of inquiry" to teach, but they are child friendly, broad, and open for a bit of interpretation. Hhow are teachers dealing with the pressures of a standardized curriculum?