Kindergarten. German for ‘children’s garden.’ Friedrich Fröbel’s goal was to create an environment of play and activity, singing and social interaction, all rooted in the belief that children should be taken care of and nourished like plants in a garden.
That’s been a successful approach since 1837. Or we can give them worksheets:
Thanks Scott. I just grabbed this terrific article from Tom Whitby’s tweet. It helps quantify your message – http://goo.gl/2Y5V9I
Keep up the good fight my friend.
Hi Scott,
I agree. I’ve been speaking a lot about bringing the classroom back to a play environment. I knew the importance of this, but after my son, Jacon (5), entered junior kinder, I truly understood the importance. As a teacher, I knew what a constructivist model called for. I wanted my classroom to reflect a playful and collaborative space. However, after Jacob entered school, I really understood not only the importance of this but the necessity of this.
Thanks for sharing,
Erin Klein
Kleinspiration
Great point, Scott! School is definately getting in the way of his education. Couldn’t the same statement be said about kids in any grade? But it really does make it tough for a little kid took get excited to go to a factory and make widgets, or in this case, bubbles.
learning should be challenging. This does not mean that it will be fun or entertaining. There is strong research to show that good learning requires engaged and motivated learners, but the fact that learners are engaged does not guarantee good learning. I agree that kindergarten is not the place for worksheets, but a time for exploration and play, but I think we get on to shaky ground when we start extrapolating this in to the senior schooling. This does not mean I am pro standardised testing and that I agree with the current assessment regimes, but I do get concerned when we think is not good learning if it is not entertaining and fun