As a teacher in the Haifa class, almost all of my students will be moving on to kindergarten next year. The teaching staff here at TBSCC try to foster a growing, educational, playful community in which the students will gain confidence in themselves and their abilities, learning from every experience along the way. That is all fine and dandy in preschool, but what about kindergarten? What happens there? Today, Melissa and I were lucky enough to find out!
With the help of one of the mothers at the preschool, we were able to set up a few observation times at the Broad Meadow kindergarten. We were welcomed into the class to observe and participate, as well as ask the teacher and the students any questions we wanted. We were able to observe a large class art project done in the way of Eric Carle books, as well as circle and choice time. Above is a small groups' work showing an interpretation of A House for Hermit Crab. I saw the students listening to one another, sharing supplies, brainstorming on how they were going to create their picture, and work off the creations of others.
With the main wave of conferences over for the spring, it seems that the question on the minds of many parents is "Is my child ready for kindergarten?" When I asked the kindergarten teacher about her philosophy on teaching, she told me that she believes that kindergarten is an essential building block in how to work in social spaces and groups. There are academics included in the curriculum obviously, but that one of the largest takeaways should be how to be successful with others. While learning letters, math, and science are important as well, if a child does not know how to work with others respectfully, it's going to make things a lot harder down the line.
It put a smile on my face to know that the philosophy that we keep at the Temple Beth Shalom Childrens' Center rings true with what is being taught in the Needham school system kindergarten!
-Alison
1) I love that TBSCC teachers are so invested that they are visiting kindergarten classes to make sure they are teaching our children what they need to know.
ReplyDelete2) I am so thrilled our preschool is so ahead of the game in what it is teaching kids. As years pass and I watch as students go through, I am astounded at some of the skills they are lacking. As I read more and see more and talk to more educators, I am quickly becoming a firm believer that our kids in preschool need those foundational skills because so much of elementary school has become rushing kids through the academics in order to prepare for a test. As a parent and as an educator I am thrilled at what TBSCC is doing for our children. We need more preschools and kindergartens (thank you Needham) to do that!