Alderwood House School

I had a wonderful visit with Pamela and her staff in mid-July. I just got my film developed, so I'm having a nice time remembering my summer, including my visit to this lovely school.

I always love reading about the children's learning and explorations at Alderwood House School on the blog, leaves & branches, trunk & roots, which the teachers post on. I think its a wonderful way to share documentation and information with families and teachers around the world.

It made my summer when I got to meet snuggle puppy.

Oops.

It seems that I haven't been in this space for quite sometime. It seems like sometimes you can't quite catch up with yourself - and that has been this week for sure. Teaching, paperwork, presentations, mashed potatoes and apple pie for 12 people, French class, and sleeping (when possible) all came before writing this week.

And although I am here now, writing, it's because I'm telling you to go poke around another website with lovely archives while I'm getting my potato filled life back in order.

The CMA Blog is place for frequent updates from the Children's Museum of the Arts in Manhattan. I still feel so grateful that I did some of my student teaching there. I spent a semester planning and observing in the caregiver and child drop-in programs in the morning. I still vividly remember the giant collage table, and when I arrived with my coffee in the morning, we would be ripping pages out of some of the hundreds of wonderful magazines and donated books and other materials that were available for the children. It is a wonderful space to create in!

I'll be spending some time on their blog for sure, and dropping in next time I'm on the east coast. And if you're in the New York area, make it a point to do something there the next time you're in Manhattan.

There Was An Old Lady

I saw this post over at Book By Its Cover, and I just have to see this book in real life.

There are a few versions of "There Was An Old Lady" that I really like and keep in the classroom, but this new version, There Was an Old Lady by Jeremy Holmes, looks a little darker and takes a new spin on the classic tale. It seems inspired by Lemony Snickett!

Friday

The end of an interesting week.

Next week, on Tuesday, I'll be sharing my thoughts on my Reggio Emilia experience with faculty members here at my school. I'm looking forward to te discussion, and perhaps the changes, that will come out of it. There are teachers from the Early Childhood Center through the high school attending, and that is inspiring to me.

the children think...

Three children's perspective on things to do during rest time that are quiet:

Re: Snuggle up! With a toy - a dinosaur toy.I think a little bit of snuggling...that is quiet.

Al: Something to give me. Um, a play toy. A straight thing. Just play all by yourself. I like to play on my mat!

Me: Stuffed animals. I already have a unicorn that's quiet. She doesn't make any noise! How about colorful pencils? And books. We have books on the shelf, and books in the red cupboard.

I asked these children after rest time, "What can you do on your mat during rest time that is quiet? What can I give you?" The children's answers show that they are a bit confused by the question - and that I am proposing to allow them to play during rest time! I am asking the children with a full understanding of the English langugage to begin this process, also, because it is a bit abstract.

I have come up with my own list of my ideas, but the children's may be different. As more children become involved, and we implement these alternative activities, it will be interesting to see how the children's views change. Will they become more interested? Is this something that would be better to not share with the children in the planning stages? The interest didn't seem too piqued this afternoon when I posed the question.

As a next step, I will have the children in small groups of three, and ask them about rest time. What do they like? What do they not like? What do they like to do that is quiet?

Snore & Guzzle

I mentioned before that we were using Snore and Guzzle naptime radio hours during our rest time. As much as the whole idea of "rest time" is on the brink of complete reinvention in our classroom, those lovely mixes will be a staple.

I happened to put Snore and Guzzle into my google reader so I wouldn't miss the monthly update. My internet is moving at early nineties dial-up speeds right now, but I'm looking forward to hearing Radio Hour #16. The artists range from M. Ward to Danny and the Dreamers and Nina Simone and Bach; and it is described as "sounds good for ushering in hibernation". That sounds about par for the course here in rainy, windy, chilly Belgium.

It has 2 hours left to download here...I hope that your internet is working better wherever you are and you can make a cup of tea and enjoy the music!

Bakers and Astronauts Flickr Pool

Photos are a wonderful way to share about a learning environment. I take more photos than I use in the classroom. For the past 2 weeks, I have been fawning over the photographs that I purchased in Reggio Emilia (because I was so well behaved and I didn't take any!) as if they were photographs of my family.

A learning environment says so much about the educational process and philosophy of a place. The materials that you choose; the way children can move about the space; the things children are inspired to do; and how children and adults interact with the environment.

About a year ago, I started a Flickr Group to link with the content here on the blog. I have really been blown away by the wonderful writing an documentation people have been sharing on their own blogs; and perhaps we can share some photogaphs and discussion together. It's quick and easy to get a flickr membership if you don't have one already...so come over and add some photos to the pool!

Conversation Table

Can you imagine if there was a city that, with no mandates or laws or legislation from a higher authority, decided to commit part of their budget to Early Childhood Education? To open schools with a child centered focus for zero to six year olds?

And when federal and state legislation does get passed, mandating education for children from three to six, the city lets these federal schools open but continues their commitment to this child-centered education in their own schools? Although money is coming in from the state and the country, the city continues to commit money to its city-run preschools?

Oh, and the commitment from the city is 16% of the budget.

There is so much to be inspired by in Reggio Emilia, Italy; but the most inspiring thing for me is the commitment they have to high-quality early childhood education for every child in the city. We were lucky enough to hear about the history of education in Reggio Emilia from an array of people, from city officers to a man from the ministry of education and primary school teachers. The community respects what the municipal schools do, they have supported them for a long time, and continue to respect and support them. In fact, the community is interested in primary school children being able to get the same research-based, emergent education experience in primary school.

I wish I could think of somewhere in the states that did something like this. I'm not sure if I have expressed this here before, but for me, Head Start is not a commitment to high quality education for EVERY child - it is a commitment to children from low-income families in places where there is a Head Start facility. I student taught in a Head Start classroom on the Lower East Side in Manhattan, with knowledgable teachers. Just because a family has money and can send their child to Preschool doesn't mean they will; and just because they send their child to preschool doesn't mean it is a high-quality one. I appreciate the city of Reggio Emilia's real, true commitment to education. They are a mixed community -- 20% of the population are non-Italians. But the children and their families are welcomed into the schools with open arms, and a promise for a free education that will help children to be independent thinkers and problem solvers.

The fact that no one is in a "fancy" preschool in this city also tells us that children are more mixed in the classrooms - economically, culturally, socially. I think this is always a positive. In the states, you might not go to PreK, or you might go to a Head Start program, or you might go to daycare, or you might go to a private preschool, or you might go to public PreK. There are differences in who will be in those environments; and because of a commitment the city of Reggio Emilia made when they were small, each child gets an equal education, starting at birth.

I think that all children in the US are entitled to high quality education, but the problem comes from our lack of a definition for "high quality". I could continue to go on about the ideas that I believe make up high quality education, but perhaps that should be shared. I hope you will all contribute, no matter where you teach or what you believe. I think it is also interesting to hear from people who are not early childhood educators. What do you believe? What are we commiting to when we say "high quality"?

I'll start. Please use the comments to continue!

Rest Time

I am now in my sixth year of teaching. I have been at numerous schools, read many books on teaching and learning, and have begun to connect with teachers all over the globe. Writing here has been a wonderful thing for me - I'm able to reflect on my job, share the learning and exploration of my students, and organize my own thoughts. And by reading other teachers' blogs, I can learn about other classrooms, other approaches, other challenges, and see the changing community of early childhood education.

But you want to know something that no one is an expert in?

Rest time.

As I sit here, I am at a table in a darkened room, listening to a lullatone curated nap time mix (that you can find over at snore and guzzle). It is right after lunchtime, so there is the inevitable parade to the bathroom. And there are tissues. And there are cups of water. And there is the throwing away of tissues. And there is the readjusting of blankets, which always involves standing up and waving the blanket in the air between ten and twelve times.

There are two children who always fall asleep, after trying desperately to keep themselves awake for 30 minutes. On a Monday or a Friday, about half the class sleeps.

We listen to quiet music sometimes; other times we listen to stories. This group seems to be excited by storytelling -- there is more moving and joining in and excitement.

These children are all four years old now. Some have clearly outgrown their naps. Last year, towards the end of the year, we started a book time for the first 15 minutes, and that ended up lasting for the whole rest time by the end of the year. So many more children slept last year - this was not an issue at all in November.

They are staying on their mats for the most part, and being quiet. But some children do not need this rest; some need to move. These children are desperately trying to find something to do to keep themselves entertained.

So here is the question I pose : How do we balance? I am interested in giving the children on their mats something to do, but I don't want the sleepers to become so distracted they do not get the rest they need. I'm interested in the children having something to do - but the "look at a book" thing seems like it works with children who are engaged by books for 45 minutes.

Some things that come to mind:

• nap totes with a naptime sketchbook, a book of the child's choice, something else quiet?
• A few small mp3 players or portable CD players for children to listen to individual music and stories on, perhaps in native languages
• small sewing bags (simple embroidery, after we have done it a few more times in class)

I'm sure there are more options - I suppose I'm reaching out to our community, here. I imagine I could make the children part of this process, as well. The girl who is making cat noises in the corner and the boy trying to throw and catch his pillow with his feet may have some interesting insights. It is their rest time, anyway.

What do you do? Would you change anything? Do you have any cutting edge ideas for this timeless dilemma?

{more coming on Reggio soon, I promise...}

Reflections 1

Where to begin? Logistics? Facts? Assumptions? I'm still not sure how to organize my thoughts and ideas about my week in Reggio Emilia. As a result, my reflections here may be scattered and (not surprisingly) a bit rambling. But stick with me - I hope these posts will be a place for more conversation on the topics.

I'll start by saying that there is a part of me that is relieved. I have read about and seen photos of and listened to people speak about the Reggio Approach so many times since I began teaching. And because of what I saw and heard, I began to consider myself "Reggio-Inspired", which is a pretty safe place to be in. I do not work in a school that uses the Reggio Approach - I am fortunate enough to have a flexible curriculum that allows me to create the environment and the general teaching approach.

I am relieved because it is a real place, with real people. Children attend the school who have Disney/Pixar lunchboxes, the kids play Uno sometimes, they have challenges with parents sometimes, children have behavior problems - it is not a utopia. Or does that make it more of one? I'm not sure. There are things that I saw that I wasn't interested in, or wouldn't use in my classroom.

I guess that point is, I'm now able to stop asking myself "Would They Do This in Reggio?" when I'm planning or changing the environment or thinking about next steps in a project. Because I have seen Reggio, I have listened to their teachers, and it comes down to this : passion and knowledge. Know your community and their needs, and love what you do. This was the most inspirational professional development I have ever done - I still consider myself an advocate of the Reggio Approach. But I really noticed that it has so much to do with your community and their values and priorities, and your own passion for advocating a positive image of the child.

to be continued...