Starting the Year off Right: Developing a Choreography of Practice

Our last post was way back in June and is worth a review as you start your year.
What do our children want and need as they start school this year? Somerville teachers brainstormed last spring and will be revisiting this list throughout the year as they begin to develop a curriculum approach and framework (with a generous grant from The Taly Foundation) that meets the needs of our diverse learners in Somerville. For the last few years I have been listening to teachers talk about the struggle of balancing academic content with the play they know children need.  It is tricky business and teachers work in an environment of competing interests - what they know children can do, what they need to do it, and what the curriculum demands ask them to do.  And things don't always match up. Here is their list:

Children can....Children want to...

• Talk about their home life and family
• Feel like they are part of a group
• Touch, explore, create, discover
• Be independent
• Think 
• Be challenged
• Be taken seriously
• Feel successful 
• Make connections
• Be seen and known
• Play

Children need....

• To feel loved by their community
• To use their imagination
• Language(s)
• Interesting materials & motivated by interesting experiences
• To repeat activities
• Time
• Choice
• Confidence
• To feel safe
• Respect
• To have leadership opportunities

This list is more than just the collective wisdom of experienced early childhood educators. An article last year in The Atlantic that has been making the Facebook rounds again is worth digging into and supports what our Somerville early childhood educators are trying to accomplish. 

"New research sounds a particularly disquieting note. A major evaluation of Tennessee’s publicly funded preschool system, published in September, found that although children who had attended preschool initially exhibited more “school readiness” skills when they entered kindergarten than did their non-preschool-attending peers, by the time they were in first grade their attitudes toward school were deteriorating. And by second grade they performed worse on tests measuring literacy, language, and math skills. The researchers told New York magazine that over-reliance on direct instruction and repetitive, poorly structured pedagogy were likely culprits; children who’d been subjected to the same insipid tasks year after year after year were understandably losing their enthusiasm for learning."

So what to do?  It seems there are some unintended consequences of a well-intentioned focus on readiness. We have to pay even more attention to the relationship between instruction, the materials & experiences offered to children, the environment we set up, and strong child-child and teacher-child connections.

Again from the Atlantic: "We neglect vital teacher-child interactions at our peril. Although the infusion of academics into preschool has been justified as a way to close the achievement gap between poor and well-off children, Robert Pianta, one of the country’s leading child-policy experts, cautions that there is “no evidence whatsoever” that our early-learning system is suited to that task. He estimates that the average preschool program “narrows the achievement gap by perhaps only 5 percent,” compared with the 30 to 50 percent that studies suggest would be possible with higher-quality programs. Contrasting the dismal results of Tennessee’s preschool system with the more promising results in places such as Boston, which promotes active, child-centered learning (and, spends more than twice the national average on preschool), lends further credence to the idea that preschool quality really does matter."

To be clear:
This is NOT a call for a "just let them play" free-for-all approach.  We know that children flourish when they have freedom within structure, and when teachers engage them in compelling, challenging curriculum.  This requires much choreography behind the scenes and micro-practices that need to become part of teacher education and professional development. The blog this year will focus on the practices required to do this dance of competing interests and create early childhood settings where children and teachers build relationships that promote learning. 

Here are links to some past posts that are particularly appropriate to this topic and to the start of the school year:

Boss of the Paints
Sensory Tables
Choice Time - Executive Function
Choice Time - Self Regulation
Save My Work

Hope your year is off to a good start!

Children can...Children want to....Children need.....

For many teachers the school year is winding down.  Others are gearing up for summer programming and still other teachers in childcare continue to support their children's growth all summer long. Whatever your context, it is always an insightful exercise to think about what our children can and want to do and link that to what children need.   Early childhood educators in Somerville, in preparation for conversations about curriculum and assessment, recently took some time to think about just this.   The teachers engaged in a Chalk Talk after doing some thinking about what children can and want to do.  It was a reminder for teachers about their deep-seated values related to teaching and learning.

Children can....Children want to...

• Talk about their home life and family
• Feel like they are part of a group
• Touch, explore, create, discover
• Be independent
• Think 
• Be challenged
• Be taken seriously
• Feel successful 
• Make connections
• Be seen and known
• Play

It is a powerful list. Imagine classrooms where this happens all the time.  How might our teaching support this image of the child"?  Loris Malaguzzi, the education pioneer behind the Reggio Emilia approach spoke often of the importance of building strong images of children:

What we have to do now is draw out the image of the child, draw the child out of the desperate situations that many children find themselves in. If we redeem the child from these difficult situations, we redeem ourselves. Children have a right to a good school — a good building, good teachers, right time, good activities. This is the right of ALL children.

At the same time that teachers generated their ideas about what children can and want to do, they also made connections to what children need in order to learn - beyond of course the basic needs of food, shelter, etc.

Children need....

• To feel loved by their community
• To use their imagination
• Language(s)
• Interesting materials & motivated by interesting experiences
• To repeat activities
• Time
• Choice
• Confidence
• To feel safe
• Respect
• To have leadership opportunities

This equally powerful list speaks to children's need to feel their power as learners. This is cultivated by compelling and interesting provocations and the list begins to address some practices that support children's learning experiences and their evolution as learners.  

Teachers in Somerville will be thinking about this as they work on curriculum and assessment development in the coming year with generous support from The Taly Foundation, an organization committed to making sure every child has access to high quality preschool education.

Whether you are winding up your year and thinking ahead to the fall, or continuing to teach this summer, consider what you think children can and want to do, and what they need to do it.  Do you provide the space for the things you believe in?  Why or why not?  What would need to change for you to have your teaching experiences reflect these lists?  

We will continue to blog this summer share ideas and practices - what would you add to these lists? How would your colleagues or staff respond?   Might you wind up or kick off your school year with this exercise?  We would love to hear about your images of children!

Engaging With City Hall

On Wednesday, April 13 the children of Somerville and their teachers filled the Aldermanic Chamber at City Hall with their bodies, voices, and spirit.  They were there to celebrate the Week of the Young Child, a National Association for the Education of Young Children sponsored week that raises awareness of early education and care. Children from Somerville Public Schools and local childcare centers, as well as families from Somerville Family Learning Collaborative playgroups and English classes joined to honor our community helpers in response to a letter Mayor Joe Curtatone wrote to children asking, Who are the helpers in our city and what makes them special? 

An important component of this event was to engage children with City Hall.  Teachers in the Kindergarten Readiness Group (a professional learning community that brings public school teachers and center-based teachers together) read the article, Engaging City Hall (Krechevsky, Mardell, & Romans, 2014), and this inspired the group to ask the Mayor to write a letter to children. Many classrooms embarked upon research and created projects to answer this question.

Children from the Capuano Early Childhood Center, the YMCA Preschool, the Somerville Childcare Center, Bright Horizon's Teele Square, and Pooh and Friends Childcare Center were among those who participated. Children from the Community Action Agency of Somerville Head Start received a visit from the Mayor.

This inspiring day showcased Mayor Curtatone's commitment to developing a high quality early education system that meets the needs of our diverse community.  In its second year, our Week of the Young Child celebration is now a tradition and we look forward to next year!

Children sang with Maura Mendoza and Guillermo Ortiz in multiple languages including a song written especially for the occasion Hola to the Mayor, voted, made art with the Beautiful Stuff Project, and interacted with police, fire fighters, and other city workers. Our high school students from the Child Development Program in our Career and Technical program read Children's Rights and student musicians heralded the Mayor with their trumpets! 

Children brought the Mayor their projects about the community and they are on display in City Hall now. Children made books about community helpers, places to play in Somerville, life-sized workers, and a model of the city.  One child even came dressed as the Mayor! 

Mayor Curtatone greets a potential future mayor and firefighter!

   

Children voted for what kind of playground feature they like best.
The vintage ballot boxes "ding" when the ballot goes in.

Children at Pooh and Friends Childcare Center created a model of their neighborhood.  They are right down the street from City Hall and walk by in as they visit area playgrounds. 

Children engaged with members of the police force, department of public works, and fire fighters.

Children from the YMCA Preschool, Bright Horizons Teele Square, and Ms Jouvelakis' SPS Kindergarten Class made class books about the community and local parks.

Children from Annemarie Cameron's Kindergarten Class made life size community helpers.

It's.....a Baby!: An Intergenerational Baby Shower in Somerville.

Somerville Family Learning Collaborative/Council on Aging Intergenerational Baby Shower!

Eager voices filled the community room at the Somerville Council on Aging on Tuesday, April 5.  Joint planning between Somerville Family Learning Collaborative of the Somerville Public Schools (SFLC) and Cindy Hickey, Director of the Council on Aging led the first intergenerational baby shower that was enjoyed by over 60 city residents. This event brought together new or expectant parents and older adults in the community to celebrate the journey of parenthood, build community, connect generations, and provide information about community resources.  Attendees represented a microcosm of Somerville, ranging in age from infants to octogenarians, coming from countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas, sharing stories about coming to the United States and living in Somerville. 

The new Somerbaby Project was introduced by David Blumsack from the Somerville Kiwanis Club, which provided start-up funding.  This new initiative focuses on welcoming Somerville newborns by providing their parents with welcome bags full of information, resources and connections. Elders made or donated baby clothing and supplies, and brought wonderful food to share. The Council on Aging provided a generous, hot meal for everyone.  Liza Kitchell entertained the crowd with songs to sing and move to.  The Beautiful Stuff Project supplied blank books and collage materials for young and old guests to design and create their own memory books. Katey Duchin, a graduate student at the SFLC from the Boston University School of Social work, organized and solicited donations to provide multiple gifts, from diapers and clothing to toys, for each family. Representatives from the Cambridge Health Alliance and Women Infants and Children (WIC) distributed resources and materials.  

We hope this becomes a tradition in Somerville and look forward to the next shower!

Finding Early Education and Care: Voices from the Community

Preschool Registration is upon us in Somerville.  Parents file into our Parent Information Center for a streamlined process with lots of attention to parents' needs. It is a model for helping families to enter the public school system.

Interpreters give individualized attention to those who need help filling out forms. The Somerville Family Learning Collaborative is on hand with information about parent education and family engagement activities.  The public health nurses make sure children's health records and exams are up to date.  The district's after school program, Community Schools is on hand. And for the first time, the Head Start enrollment specialist is there to help income eligible families know what comprehensive programming is available to them through our collaboration

As parents file in we offer them a short survey to assess their needs for full day care, after school programming, summer options, and support they may need with housing, food, services for children with developmental needs, etc.

Turns out the need for full day care is great.  Even dire.

We hear their stories:

"I am a single mother with two children.  Most of my salary goes to rent and full time childcare so I am excited about the public school which are free.  But I don't know what I am going to do after 1:45 (when the preschool programming ends).  I know I have to pay a little for after school but will I get a spot?"  

"I would like to go back to work soon, I need to go back, but I have no place for my son after 1:45.  I couldn't find care I could afford so I brought my aunt from Mexico to take care of my kids."

And this story:  A teen couple paying $1500 a month for rent with little left over for anything else - makes the choice to tag team their work hours to take care of their child before school and after 1:45 rather than finish their high school education because they don't have childcare they can afford and the school schedule for preschool doesn't allow them to attend their classes.  What is available to them? 

Two families in line:  Reading the survey they ponder: "Does my child have problems with speech? We went to Cambridge Health Alliance and they really helped us."  Another family listening in said, "Oh maybe we need to go there and find out. We didn't realize that was something we should think about - who helped you?"

Somerville is working to not only help families register for school, but to understand the range of needs so that we can be responsive to family needs.

Preschool registration continues through April 28 at the Parent Information Center at 42 Prescott Street.  The lottery is May 4.  Please visit the The Somerville Hub for information on schools and centers in Somerville.  Please call the Somerville Family Learning Collaborative at 617-625-6600 x6965 if you need help finding education and care and other programs, family services, and family-friendly places in the city.

"Save my work!"

 "It is time to clean up."  For some children these words evoke excitement - a signal that it is time to move onto something new.  For other children, clean up is something they dread.  Stopping something you are enjoying or engrossed in can be difficult.  Part of this difficulty is related to a child's ability to self-regulate, but for many children, especially those with attachment issues, letting go of work and play experiences can be wrenching.   And yet, we must move on to lunch, to recess, to the next activity.

 

Having a way for children to save their work helps children to move on, knowing that they can return to an activity later in the day or the following day. This predictability, knowing that their efforts were worth it and the chance to return is calming for many children.

A basket of name cards with children's photos is always available
 in this classroom so children can save their work. (Eliot-Pearson Children's School)

These name blocks have Velcro on them and can be
moved to various places in the classroom where there is a
Velcro piece. (Capuano Early Childhood Center)

These gallery spaces are a place for children to save work
that is either finished or in progress. (West Somerville Neighborhood School)

In some classrooms saving work becomes part of the learning experience.   In a preschool classroom at the Capuano Early Childhood Center a teacher created a Save My Work book.

The directions in the box are:

1. Print my name on the cover.

2. Make something first.

3. Draw a picture of what I made.

4. Put the book in my white box (a box each child has, but could go in a folder or communal basket).

5. Show to my teacher when on the last page.

 

Save My Work books available in the classroom.



Drawing or Recording her efforts, this child saves her work.



Children often want to save playdough, but drawing or
 photographing is a way to save it.
  

We try to remember to save our work on our computers, find places to put projects in process at home, and recognize the comfort of returning to something we found enjoyable.  Let's find ways to extend this same experience to children!

Using Provocations to Inspire Learning

Somerville preschool teachers just finished some professional development related to the Building Blocks math curriculum.  Questions came up about how to extend learning experiences for children who "get it", children who need more help, and how to make some learning experiences in the teachers' guide more interesting and sustained.  Central to this conversation is what can be referred to as a kind of improvisation - taking advantage of teachable moments and having things "in your back pocket".

A professional learning community of Somerville early childhood educators is working with the The Beautiful Stuff Project and has also been thinking about this idea, but is using the word provocation in their conversations about intentional teaching. This term, often used by those who follow a Reggio Emilia approach, puts a different spin on what and how we offer learning experiences.  This link to a website on the power of art has a good definition of provocation - here it is:
Provocations: deliberate and thoughtful decisions made by the teacher to extend the ideas of the children. Teachers provide materials, media, and general direction as needed, but the children take the ideas where they want. This allows children to develop skills of creativity, inventiveness and flexibility in thinking, planning and reflecting.
And the dictionary definition:
Something that provokes, arouses, or stimulates.
Synonyms for provoke:  excite, stimulate, pique, quicken, impassion, incite....and the first cousin of all these word - inspire.

From East Somerville Community School Kindergarten

The question also arises:  What is the difference between a provocation and a center?  A provocation is intrinsically child-directed.  The adult offers the provocation and then observes carefully to see what the child will do, and this in turn informs future practices. There certainly can be scaffolding and directions for a provocation - it isn't only exploration - but a center often has a more finite goal and children may come and go from a center without the possibility of extended and varying learning experiences over time.

Sometimes a provocation is a material or tool - it could be something familiar that is then used in a new way, like the popsicle sticks below. Sometimes a provocation is a question:

 

The kindergarteners at East Somerville Community School grappled with some very intentional questions posed by teachers to expand children's thinking and inspire problem solving and experimentation.

Preschoolers are learning to choose their own
activities during center time at Capuano Early Childhood Center.

Sometimes provocations are planned, other times more improvisational - and teachers need provocations in their back pockets. Children in a Somerville preschool classroom choose their own work during a center time block. Then a teacher dropped in the provocation of white boards when she noticed children counting while using the tong transfer activity.  Suddenly addition was happening and children were representing quantity in multiple ways without being told to do so.

Transferring pompoms with tongs becomes addition.

And sometimes teachers need provocation too. Getting inspired by new ideas like this Facebook Page from Loose Parts and Intelligent Playthings, or the Somerville Early Education (SEE) Pinterest site are ways for educations to breathe new life into their work.