Saturday 21 May 2022

Oh To Be Five Again - The Best of Both Worlds in Kindergarten

 When I accept occasional teaching jobs (substitute teaching), I often choose kindergarten classes. Here in Ontario, if it is a JK/SK (junior kindergarten and senior kindergarten in one class), there is an ECE person (early childhood education) who is basically like a second teacher, who knows the routine and is a great partner to work with in a class you are not familiar with. There are also SK / 1 classes (senior kindergarten and grade one in one class), but they don't qualify for an ECE. 

One class that I go to fairly often is at my previous school and it is a JK / SK class. Often it is only for a half day (a teacher may have an appointment, for example and only requires part of a day off). I am familiar with the students in that room and I have experienced it when I was masked and they had to sit in separate desks and play individually, rather than together (a wholly unnatural thing for little ones), to how it is now, where they can be seated in little groups and can interact with each other. 

Students in JK must be four years old by the end of December of their school year (which means some are only three years old when they begin in September), so at this time of the year the students in that class would be four, or five, or even six, depending on when their birthdays are. 

When I say that this class is the best of both worlds, they have traditional in class learning combined with "play" where they learn those all important social skills and fine motor skills, but they also have a wonderful opportunity to be immersed in nature for part of every day. 

 The school used to be a high school, then morphed into an elementary school. It is located in a small town, but in a very rural setting. In fact, the high school had a wonderful programme where grade 11 or 12 students could learn about agriculture combined with science. There is a small barn (which would have animals like cattle, pigs, chickens, and rabbits starting in the spring), a greenhouse, and a garden, and a small "forest" where they tapped maple trees and made syrup. In addition to the "maple forest", there is also a mixed small woodlot that can be accessed via a gate from the main playground. The kindergarten classes, as well as the grade one class, use both of these wooded areas. Wonderful rough trails have been created, bird feeders are hung, logs are strategically placed, picnic tables have been set in clearings, water runs through in a small stream, and it is a most wonderful programme. The parents are requested to provide good outdoor clothing and rubber boots for their children, as they go out to the "forest" in all kinds of weather. In the winter time, they have even managed to get to the point where students hold very still and quiet with bird feed in their hands and chickadees land to feed on their hands!

I had the chance to be with this class for the afternoon, just the other day and we spent some time in the maple "forest". The students are good bunch, who know the rules, know where they can and cannot go (for example, beyond the trees to a parking area), and play and create and use their imaginations freely. They take basic toys with them like plastic rakes, big tin cans, some little toy vehicles, etc., things that won't be damaged by water or dirt or snow. They mix up pretend soup in their cans using wood chips, water from the stream and a stick for stirring. They play tag in amongst the trees. They play the regular imaginary games that all children play, but in a wonderful setting. There are paths laid with wood chips, logs and boards to sit on, slopes to climb up and down. 

I took some pictures to give you an idea of what it looks like. It was a little tough making sure none of the students were captured in the shots.








I know that I would have loved something like this when I was that age. I spent a lot of time outside anyway, sitting in a willow tree, watching animals, collecting chestnuts, or just playing. I think absolutely every child would benefit from an outdoor classroom, but I know it's simply not possible everywhere. When I attended it was only one year of kindergarten, no junior and senior business. My older sister, who is five years older than me didn't even have the option of kindergarten. School began at grade one. What was your kindergarten like, if indeed you even had kindergarten?

33 comments:

  1. I actually don't remember kindergarten (if we had one). I know I attended first grade at St. Anthony's Catholic school in New Orleans, but I remember very little of it. I would have loved it if it had had a rural playground as you picture and describe. What a wonderful memory that must make for those kids.

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  2. What a great experience for the little ones! They are so fortunate to have access to this environment.

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    1. I’m just so happy when I get to teach these classes!

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  3. That's absolutely brilliant. I would have loved that, too. How imaginative and creative. That would be a lovely spot to teach!

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  4. I did have kindergarten. We socialized, played, colored. Now I understand they are teaching children the fundamentals of reading in kindergarten. My own daughter had my kindergarten teacher the last year Mrs. Pollock taught.

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    1. Oh wow! That’s quite a career span! Yes, letter names and sounds are the norm.

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  5. How. Lovely. A wonderful thing to expose children to that type of outdoor environment, especially when it might never have happened in their lives otherwise.

    I'm kind of amazed to think of it now, but when I was four (way back in 1947 . . . good grief, what a long time ago) the public school in our neighborhood offered a 4-year old kindergarten and a 5-year old kindergarten. My parents enrolled me in the 4-year old kindergarten. And I hated it. I was afraid of the teacher who was grouchy, strict and should never have been a teacher. (Why in the world would a woman like that end up teaching 4-year olds?) I was miserable and it wasn't too long before Miss Hatchet (!) recommended to my parents that I wait to start school until I was five. She said I was too immature at 4-years old. Okay then. I did start kindergarten the next year with another teacher and couldn't wait to get to school each day.

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  6. This kindergarten program sounds fantastic. I can see how most children would benefit greatly from this experience and the outdoor play opportunities in the woodlands are unique. I was sent to a private catholic kindergarten run by nuns. I recall it was all business. I have no specific fond memories.

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    1. Oh boy. I think the whole Catholic school / nun thing has often been portrayed as a bad thing in movies, etc. Hopefully yours was a good experience!

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  7. I would have loved to play in that "forest" too as a child! I'm so old that when I was a pre-schooler in Manitoba, there was no kindergarten as part of the school system. There was a privately-run "kindergarten" for which parents had to pay if they sent their kids (my parents couldn't afford to so I never went). But it was really just what we would call a "daycare" today. The kids weren't taught anything at all. My first encounter with the school system started when I was six and started Grade 1. That was the happiest day of my life. I was dying to go to school!

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    1. There are some kids who are definitely ready for school! Some still need a little time to be at home and nurtured by a mom or similar figure. My sister is now sixty ( I think!!) so maybe similar to you. There just wasn’t kindergarten for her.

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  8. Three is so young! It sounds just like the French system. I first went to pre-school, a separate and standalone school for tots around 3-4 and a couple of my earliest memories are from there. Kindergarten here is for roughly 5-year-olds and I was 4 going on when I started. Mrs Krumpultz with buck teeth and cat's eye specs (according to the class photo). She seemed ancient but was probably barely 40 but very kind and patient. I was very shy but did love it.

    I remember funny little things like the animal-shaped pegs for our bags, and miniature loos, and naps, and sitting around during story-time slyly pulling our ties undone on our winter uniforms so Mrs K could knot it back up for us while she continued to read, and three to a seat on the school bus home. I could already read and wrote a bit but I loved the exercise books for the proper lessons. We didn't have a fabulous forest to play in like your lucky kids but a couple of years later some fathers built an adventure playground for the infants' school, so got to enjoy that.

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  9. I liked reading your memories! Also your description of your teacher!

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  10. I was born in 1932 and started school a year early because I could already read. Iwent into a class of 4 to 7 year olds, We had some toys like a rocking horse but I remember things like chalks and slates to write on - I really don't think we had any creative play at all. I finally ended up as Senior Mistress in a large Comprehensive School.

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    1. Thank you for sharing this! I think you might be surprised at all the various toys and learning activities that are in a present day kindergarten room - plenty of building/ stacking / connecting toys, “ house centres” with pretend stoves and sinks, puzzles, counting toys, painting and drawing centres, lots of books of various reading levels, toy vehicles, magnets… This particular classroom also had four ducklings in a very large pen complete with food, water, and a heat lamp.

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  11. I did go to kindergarten but only half days. First half of the year I went in the mornings and the second half I went in the afternoons. I really loved it. In fact, I adored going to school throughout my elementary school years. I grew up in a big city, so we didn't have immediate access to many nature areas. But we were always playing outdoors. No one wanted to be inside unless they had to be.

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    1. I grew up in the country and my kindergarten was every other day rather than half days. That’s because of bussing - they didn’t send out busses half way through the day. Now kindergarten children go all day, every day. I think it’s pretty tiring for the very young ones until they get used to it. Thanks for commenting, Martha!

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  12. My grandson is in his second year of pre-K and I wish there was space like that for him and his classmates. Very nice!
    I did not attend kindergarten as we weren't permitted to ride the school bus so had to wait until grade 1. We lived too far from town for my parents to drive each day. But I did have the woods to play in, with a slough where we caught tadpoles and picked pussy willows when I was young.

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  13. Oh nice- tadpoles and pussy willows!

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  14. What a lovely setting for a kindergarden class. I wish that my kindergarden would have been like that.

    God bless.

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  15. I remember mine, like looking through a key hole: some things are clear, there are a few things right off the periphery, and lots I don't remember. I remember we had nap rugs. I remember too the coat rack room. I don't remember the teacher.

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    1. We had nap blankets, too! Pink for girls, blue for boys. Children don’t get nap time anymore.

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  16. What a wonderful opportunity for those children. I was lucky enough to spend my first 5 years in a wooded area where we could roam, explore and play. But then we moved to town and a completely different environment. There was no kindergarten for me, but the first school I attended was actually one room in a convent, the beginning of our Catholic school, and there was 21 children in the school, 14 in kindergarten and 7 in first grade. Around the convent were lawns and trees, and a grotto to the Virgin Mary that was absolutely lovely, and my favorite place, although we only got to go in there occasionally.

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    1. Thanks for sharing your beginning school experiences. The grotto sounds like a very special place!

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  17. I started at an inner city school, so there were few nature excursions for us in the mid50s. Our local school has a swampy area at the bottom of it's long gently sloping yard. . In the past 30 years, trees have been planted where once there were none. The staff have made such a wonderful area for the children to experience natural life.

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    1. Playgrounds are always made better by adding trees (providing some shade as well!).

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  18. My kindergarten was a trailer house surrounded by mud next to our reservation housing. Luckily I grew up on a huge ranch and had the whole world to explore. I am in love with your school. Especially how the high school was. At our school, I have a greenhouse, chickens ( no more mean roosters), and fruit trees. We partner with the Forest Service for fire, trail projects, fuel projects, and the occasional horse corral. Students learn by doing, seeing, experiencing, failing (mink getting the chickens), and learning responsibility. I love what you described for the little ones and older students. I would love to see it. If you ever want to sub here let me know!

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  19. Ha, it might be a bit of a commute! I love the sound of what your students get to do as well!

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  20. This sounds like a great day outside. I started in grade one. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.

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