You may be familiar with a group in our community called Alamance Citizens for Education (ACE). They are a citizen's group that looks at the issue of community involvement in our public schools. They spearhead many programs and projects, including the Classroom Closet which provides supplies for classroom teachers.
I am on their email list and so receive their online newsletter. You may be on that list too and if so, you may have read the recent article entitled "Playing to Learn", but if not, I encourage you to click on the link below and read it. It does a great job of describing the kinds of classrooms that our children need: www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/opinion/02engel.html?ref=opinion
For more information about ACE you can go their website: www.alamanceforeducation.org
Barbara
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Posted by Barbara Long on February 25, 2010 | Printer-Friendly
The weather and a terrible cold have kept me home for the last few days, doing some reading, writing and watching TV. During this time I saw a program on Frontline about how technology is affecting all of us, entitled "Digital Nation". If you missed it, you can watch it online at www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/view/ . I found two segments to be particularly interesting:
One had to do with multi-tasking, which many people consider an essential 21st century skill. A group of students at Stanford University were specially chosen to participate in a study, based on their high frequency of multi-tasking; for example, texting, looking at Facebook, listening to a classroom lecture and searching the internet, all at the same time, using multiple screens. These students underwent brain imaging to measure how quickly they were able to switch between tasks without losing focus. Even though the students were very confident in their multi-tasking abilities, the brain imaging showed that, in fact, they performed quite poorly.
Professors from several universities commented that the study reinforces what they have observed for themselves, that students today, while they are as bright as those of the past, are not able to focus for long periods of time. Mark Bauerlein from Emory University claims that English professors say they cannot assign a book of over 300 pages anymore, and in fact, one student who was interviewed boasted that he had not read a book in years. He relies on the internet equivalent of Cliff notes. (On the program they showed him "reading" Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", or rather an extremely shortened version of the play. He said it took him about fifteen minutes. Do you think Shakespeare is rolling over in his grave?) As someone who loves getting "lost" in a great book, I hate to think of a future generation not enjoying that same pleasure.
Professors also say that students demonstrate disorganized thinking. Their papers are often a series of unrelated paragraphs rather than written to build on a central thought. To keep their attention they need to be stimulated in ways that previous students did not. Sherry Turkle, a psychologist and director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, says that students have done themselves a disservice by "drinking the Kool-Aid", believing that constant distraction is good for them. This is certainly food for thought as we find ourselves being drawn into the culture of multi-tasking, and as we raise our children in this culture.
Another fascinating segment talked about the Asian game addiction problem. In Korea, game addiction is rampant and is officially regarded as a psychological illness. Young people in particular seem to be susceptible. They showed one young man going to an Internet Rescue Camp for treatment. The thing that was most interesting to me was that the treatment provided in these camps consists largely of having the kids go outside, interact with one another, and participate in physical, hands-on activities. The reporter for the story called it "recapturing the childhood they lost to computers". I don't know about you, but that is one of the saddest and scariest things I have heard in a long time.
Of course there are many, many positive things about technology. For one, it is the reason I can write this blog and you can read it. The question is not whether it is good or bad. It's not that simple. But as my mama used to say, "You can have too much of even a good thing." I think that is where the problem lies. Time spent with media is time that is not available for doing other things. This is a particular concern for children, because their brains are not yet fully developed, and in order to develop properly they have to have lots of something that digital media cannot provide; they need input from all of their senses.
I recently read about Swallowtail School, a private school in Hillsboro, Oregon, which postpones use of computer skills in the classroom until high school "to give them a break from the electronic impulses coming at them all the time, so their sensory abilities are more open to what's happening around them". What makes this especially interesting to me is that among the families who send their children to this school are several employees of Intel, the well-known technology company. The founder and faculty chair of the school says, "These parents value technology, but they understand that there are aspects of being a human that aren't inside a computer." We all know that, but unless we are intentional in acting on it we can all too easily find ourselves drawn into the lifestyle of distraction that digital media offers.
I am going to try to be more aware of this in my own life, and with my grandchildren. In fact, reading what I have written, I think it's time for me to turn off my computer, phones and television, and go for a walk!
Wishing you well,
Barbara
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Posted by Barbara Long on February 10, 2010 | Printer-Friendly
As the end of January approaches, bringing with it the start of registration for our 2010-11 classes, I have the opportunity to speak with lots of parents as they are making decisions about a preschool for their child. It is always an exciting and fascinating time for me, one of the perks of my job, meeting so many new people and telling them about our program. I have found that thinking about how to answer the questions they raise often causes me to reflect on what we do and how and why we do it. I would like to share some of those thoughts with you.
One of the things I am often asked is to explain the difference between a "playschool" and a "preschool". It's a little bit like being asked to explain the difference between a beagle and a dog. My answer is that we are both. We are a "preschool" by virtue of the fact that we work with children who are preschool age. We are a "playschool" because we chose that name as a way to describe our philosophy which is centered on the knowledge, well-documented by research, that children learn best through play.
That speaks to another common question: "Do the children just play, or do they learn things?" Children in our program do learn, and as previously mentioned they learn in the best way possible, through play. As one of our parents once told me, "They learn so much without even realizing that they're learning. They just think they're having fun!" Our goal is not just for children to learn specific concepts (although they do learn those), but also to help children develop a lifelong love of learning, to believe that learning and fun are synonymous.
Another question I am sometimes asked is, "Why does my child need to go to a preschool? I stay home with her. She already knows her colors, can count to 300, sings the "ABC" song and is reading War and Peace." Okay, I am kidding about War and Peace, but you get the picture. Obviously this is a very bright child, with parents who have been able to spend quality time with him/her and provide many forms of enrichment. How will Playschool benefit this child?
I think that a part of the answer to this question has to do with changes in our world, neighborhoods and families. First, we are very much a mobile society. Many of us do not live near family members. Our children don't have the experience of playing with cousins, being "baby-sat" by grandparents, aunts or uncles on any kind of regular basis, and their parents may not have the wisdom of those elders, who have already experienced the challenges of raising children, to rely on as a resource when they need support. Secondly, in many families (the majority in some areas), both parents work away from home. Most of the children in those families go to some kind of out-of-home care during the work day. That limits the availability of daytime playmates in the neighborhood. Playschool can serve the role of extended family, providing peer play for children and a support system for parents.
The children in each class learn so much from each other. Many of those things can only be learned by the experience of interacting with children of a similar age. They learn how to share, to use words to get their needs met, to be neither a bully nor a victim, to negotiate, compromise and resolve conflicts with peers, to tolerate and even come to appreciate different personalities. These are the skills that will give them a head start in life over and beyond their academic knowledge.
We strive to create a warm nurturing environment where a child can learn that, in addition to his parents, there are other caring adults he can trust. That gives the child the security to face other separations from parents, such as the first day of kindergarten, with greater self-confidence.
Which brings me to the last of the questions I am most often asked: "Will playschool prepare my child for kindergarten?" We get excellent feedback from kindergarten teachers in our community as to how well prepared our students are, both academically and socially. Not a year goes by without a parent of a former student telling me, "My child's teacher said she was the most prepared student in her class." That being said, if you have read any of my previous posts you know that I have deep concerns about the direction in which our kindergartens seem to be headed and the inappropriate expectations that many of them have for young children. For that reason, the question becomes not "Will my child be prepared for kindergarten?" but also, "Will kindergarten be appropriate for my child?" Unless the answer is "Yes", I cannot promise that your child will love kindergarten. However, one of the biggest indicators of how well a child will do in school is his/her ability to self-regulate, and that is one of the skills we work hard to develop in our students. Interestingly, research shows that dramatic play is the single best activity for developing self-regulation and we provide many, many opportunities for that. Children who have good self-regulation handle frustration, whether from boredom or from being expected to master skills beyond their developmental level, better than those with poor self-regulation. That alone helps them be prepared for whatever challenges lie ahead.
I have written all of this in reference to the program I direct, Front Street Playschool, the only one of which I have intimate knowledge, but to anyone reading this who for reasons of geography or other circumstance can't or won't be affiliated with us, I can safely say that a child who has participated in some type of high quality preschool experience, wherever that might be, will be better prepared as a result of that experience than if he/she had no group experience prior to kindergarten.
Wishing you well,
Miss Barbara
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Posted by Barbara Long on January 24, 2010 | Printer-Friendly
As we celebrate this holiday season, I hope that each of you can take the time to truly enjoy being with your families. The magic and wonder that young children bring to this holy season lasts for just a few short years, but their experiences during these years will define how they think about Christmas for a lifetime. Too often what our children will remember most is a blur of hectic activity, stressed and harried parents, and an over-abundance of food and presents. What a wonderful gift we can give our children by modeling the true spirit of Christmas.
Almost compulsively we ask every child we see, "What do you want for Christmas?" Then we bemoan the commercialization of Christmas. But we have the opportunity to be part of the solution to the problems of materialism and greed in the world. We can help our own children experience the joy of giving, which each of us knows in our hearts is more gratifying and more lasting than the short-term thrill of receiving. Let your child make a card and pick out a bag of fruit to take to an older person, or count out change to put in the Salvation Army kettles outside of Walmart. Tell the story of Jesus' birth, not once, but many times. Tell the history behind each ornament as you decorate your tree. Pray together. Let your child see the joy of Christmas in the things you say and do. That is the best gift you can give.
My Christmas wish for your family:
May you taste the love in every Christmas cookie,
Hear the joy in every song,
Feel the warmth in every present,
And in the midst of all the celebration
May you make room for peace.
Wishing you well,
Barbara
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Posted by Barbara Long on December 16, 2009 | Printer-Friendly
 Halloween is Not so Scary
Almost every year someone asks me how I feel about celebrating Halloween with young children, especially in a church setting. My personal feeling is that Halloween is much like many other things in life; it's all about how you look at it. I look at it as a learning opportunity.
At our school we tell the story of why being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. Many of you have heard it, but in case you haven't, here is the short version:
Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. First, God picks you from the patch, brings you in and washes all the dirt off of you. Then, He goes in and scoops out all the yucky stuff inside, like hate, mean thoughts, and greed. Next, He gives you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you for all the world to see.
This is a great story to tell as you carve your Jack o'lantern. There is also a wonderful book version, called The Pumpkin Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs.
If we teach children to see every Jack o'lantern as a reminder of God's love, they will remember that image throughout their lives, and be reminded of it every Halloween. How powerful an opportunity is that?
There are scary things in the world. We protect our children from them as best we can, but even very young children have fears. Halloween offers a wonderful opportunity to talk with children about fear and what we can do when we feel afraid. My childhood nighttime fear was that there were crocodiles living under my bed at night, who would grab any part of my body that I was careless enough to let dangle off of the bed. Obviously that was a totally irrational fear, but I have spoken with other people with very similar fears. What was yours? There's a wonderful book that many of our teachers use, called There's a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer, which deals with just those kinds of fears. Two more good books are Go Away Big Green Monster, by Ed Emberley and The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, by Jill Tomlinson and Paul Howard. I love the way these books empower children.
One of the reasons children are fearful is that in a big world that is filled with many people, most of whom are larger than they are, preschoolers may feel very small and powerless. Dressing up as a superhero or someone with magical powers makes them feel more powerful. They can pretend to be that invincible person, and "pretend" is what children do best. It is how they make sense of the world, how they deal with issues that may feel too big for them to talk about, how they try out different strategies for solving problems, how they "try on" different personalities.
Also, by pretending, children learn what is real. They come to know that putting on a costume does not truly change a person. If I put on a costume, I can also take it off. If I see someone else in a costume, there is a person underneath. A special note: Some children have a really hard time with this. If your child is truly terrified by people in costumes, always remove the child from those situations, but do give him/her many opportunities to dress up. Through the years we have had a few children with this kind of fear. That is why we ask that parents in our program always check with us before inviting any costumed visitors to playschool. Clowns seem to be especially upsetting, but we also had a bad experience once with Clifford the Big Red Dog, so we are always cautious! If your child has this kind of fear, it is best to skip Halloween parties altogether until the child is older, but do try some "bibliotherapy" with the books above and others in the same vein.
So, while I do not care for the explicit gruesomeness sometimes associated with Halloween, I don't believe it is necessary to shun Halloween altogether either. There are many things in the world scarier than Halloween, things like child abuse, hunger, cancer, poverty, war, bigotry, illiteracy, sexual exploitation, greed and the examples we see on the news every night of man's inhumanity to man. We can handle Halloween. I believe we can even use it to teach our children positive things.
And on that note ....
If you are looking for a wholesome way to celebrate October 31st with your young child, come to the Front Street Playschool Truck or Treat fundraiser in the parking lot between Front and Davis Streets in downtown Burlington, immediately in front of Front Street UMC.
Parking is available behind our church, as well as in both the Macedonia Lutheran Church lot and the First Christian United Church of Christ lot.
Admission is $5 per person with a family cap of $20.
Children can "truck or treat" at a huge assortment of vehicles - a concrete mixer, limo bus, school bus, fire truck, numerous law enforcement vehicles, dirt bikes, limousine and leaf truck, to name only a few.
We will also have games for 25 cents a ticket, and construction centers, face painting and temporary tattoos for the children to enjoy for FREE, with the price of admission.
Hours are 10:00 am until 1 pm.
Tell your friends.
Miss Barbara
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Posted by Barbara Long on October 11, 2009 | Printer-Friendly
We closed our playschool last Friday so that our staff could attend the North Carolina Association of Educators of Young Children conference in Raleigh, and what an awesome experience it was.
We don't go to this conference every year, because of the cost, but when I heard that the keynote speaker was Dr. Becky Bailey, I was determined to take as many of the staff as could go this year.
I have been hearing great things about her work in social and emotional learning for a couple of years now, and last year we sent two of our staff members to a two day workshop she led in Winston-Salem. They both came back saying that it was a life altering experience. Fifteen of us were able to hear her speak last Thursday and Friday, and I think we all agree with that description.
Through her keynote address and two workshops, we learned some wonderful new techniques and attitudes that we are excited to begin incorporating into our program over the course of the school year. I know that I speak for all those who were able to go in saying how grateful we are for the opportunity to continue learning about how best to meet the needs of the children we teach.
To find out more about what we learned from Dr. Bailey, you can visit her website: www.consciousdiscipline.com.
I particularly recommend reading "Becky's top ten things to do".
Miss Barbara
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Posted by Barbara Long on October 9, 2009 | Printer-Friendly
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