Date: Fri 12-Sep-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: MICHEL

Quick Words:

preschool-kindergarten

Full Text:

Preschool: What's In It For The Kids?

( NOTE: THIS STORY HAS A SIDEBAR; key words: preschool-programs)

BY MICHELE HOGAN

With school-age friends and siblings off at school now, many parents are

thinking about preschool programs for their three- or four-year-old children.

How important is preschool, and what can you expect from one of the local

programs?

Janet Vollmer, kindergarten teacher at Sandy Hook School, says that "any group

learning experience - day care, nursery school, home day care or a preschool

program - helps a child to become more comfortable in groups, to learn to

share, and can help children develop fine motor skills.

"These programs generally make the transition into kindergarten easier.

"The child learns to accept being one of 20 children, and not having a

one-on-one with a parent all the time." Most of the children entering her

class have had one or two years of group care.

Mrs Vollmer notes, however, that kindergarten teachers are used to working

with children from "where they are."

"Some will be beginning to read, others have never seen a pencil or number

before. Some are used to sharing, some learn that here."

Parents want their children to learn to read and write well because they know

that good communication skills are central to academic success. This will

sometimes lead parents into pushing their children to try to write before they

are ready.

Rose Luizzi of Trinity Day School commented that "the frustration that is

caused by a child trying to write before they are ready, will actually be

detrimental to their educational development. If a child lacks the fine motor

control to guide a pencil, writing will be an exercise in frustration."

Mrs Luizzi further commented that "nothing breeds success like success," so

early childhood educators find ways children can feel successful while

developing the fine motor skills needed to write.

Throughout Newtown, the preschools offer children many activities such as

sculpting in playdough, moving small things with tweezers, cutting out

pictures and pasting and drawing - activities that will, among other benefits,

give the children the pre-writing skills that they will want for kindergarten.

Preschools help children make the transition from home to school by getting

them accustomed to spending short periods of time away from home in a

school-like environment. All the preschool programs will also help children

with social skills such as learning to share, waiting their turn, and

following a routine.

Comparison Shopping

Each of the local programs has a distinctive atmosphere, determined in part by

the size of the place, the relationship between staff, children and parents,

and the degree to which enriching activities are encouraged. Visit several

programs you are considering and think about how your child might adapt now,

and how they might develop over the year in that environment.

When you are comparing preschools, think of some questions. Are the teachers

warm, friendly and caring toward the children? To what extent are parents

involved in the program? How do teachers encourage a child's creativity,

independent thinking, imagination and inquiry into their surroundings, through

art, music, science and story telling? How do teachers encourage children in

pre-reading and pre-writing activities, such as letter recognition, drawing,

cutting, working with puzzles, and hearing stories from children's books? Do

the children seem generally bright-eyed and involved in what they are doing?

Do the values and philosophy of the program meet with your approval?

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC:

800/424-2460) distributes a guide to "How to Choose a Good Early Childhood

Program" for a more thorough treatment of the subject.

Accredited Schools

NAEYC offers accreditation to preschool programs that offer exceptional care.

The NAEYC runs a thorough testing of preschool programs that decide to apply.

Accreditation gives a program a certain recognition for its excellence.

Trinity Day School is the only accredited preschool locally, although

Merryhill is currently applying for accreditation.

Trinity Day School offers enrichment activities including weekly lessons in

science and music. A science teacher comes in for a half hour with topical

hands-on activities in science.

When three-year-old David Schiffer made national news with his discovery of a

real fossilized dinosaur egg shell in New Mexico, the preschool class hunted

for fossils and made pretend fossils. At other times, children studied the

wind using balloons and bubbles, explored prisms and light, and lifted levers,

weights and made measurements - all fun hands-on learning.

In Touch With Kindergarten

Teachers at Merryhill recently discussed child development with the

kindergarten staff at Sandy Hook School and have geared their program

accordingly.

The group of kindergarten teachers agreed that they wanted socially strong,

independent and eager learners, and commented that it is not necessary that

the child know specific skills such as how to grip a pencil. A good attitude

toward learning, a strong interest in finding out about anything is more

important in the long run.

At Merryhill, curiosity is enhanced by new toys and activities based on a

variety of themes, every week. (There is a huge storage area, so toys are

rotated weekly. Children can also bring in any books and other items related

to their weekly themes.)

One might think that this practice would result in kids fighting over the new

toys, but at Merryhill, such a strong emphasis is placed on "catching the

child being good," that this rarely happens. According to director Therese

Hychko, the teachers do not use "time-outs" to remove disruptive students from

a group, rather they act as facilitators in conflict resolution. They

encourage each child involved in the conflict to express their needs and try

to come up with a solution that will work for everyone, under the close

supervision of staff.

The Flow Of Children

Veronica Boyce, director of The Country Nursery School, runs a small program

with a home-like atmosphere that places an emphasis on "letting the child lead

the learning" and "going with the flow of the children."

This "flow" has taken them to puppet shows, to the fire department, to the

pasta shop and various other local businesses as she helps the young children

expand their horizons.

Sequential Learning

Unlike most programs, the Montessori program has mixed age groups. Children

aged three to five play in the same area. Miriam Woods, director of the

program, remarked that "co-operative play happens spontaneously when age

groups are mixed. The interaction between five-year-olds and three-year-olds

help both learn. The five-year-olds become accustomed to having to think

through and explain themselves in terms that a younger child will understand,

and the three-year-olds find they can talk longer to five-year-olds, than

other three-year-olds." (Developmentally, three-year-olds tend to do "parallel

play." They play beside other kids their age, but not really with them much.)

Five-year-olds can carry a conversation much further.

The idea of sequential learning is developed most fully in the Montessori

program. Children choose an area to play in and will follow a series of

activities to develop skills in that area. Most activities are laid out from

left to right in order of increasing complexity. At Montessori, play has a

definite educational purpose, laid out ahead of time by the teachers.

Spontaneous Play

Wesley Learning Center emphasizes multi-culturalism and a playful spontaneous

attitude toward learning. Director Rahnna Peck commented, "The language of

play is universal, and that is what we do - we learn to play."

A playful attitude sometimes means a change of plans, as it did the day Mrs

Peck had prepared loads of activities to do with trucks, then `boom!' - a back

hoe arrives in front and a new topic - `big tractors' spontaneously gets

center stage.

This year the program is welcoming a young girl from Russia, and several

children with special needs.

The Gifted Child

The first day care program in Newtown was the Children's Adventure Center. Mae

Schmidle, a member of the board of directors of the Children's Adventure

Center, wanted "a cross section of people in the program - people from all

walks of life."

Marjorie Maxwell, director of the Children's Adventure Center, has many years'

experience with youngsters. When she sees a child of exceptional ability in

any area, she encourages them to expand on their strengths.

Mrs Schmidle commented that when other kids were taking a nap, she saw one

preschooler, Nelson, reading the want ads in the newspaper. "We encouraged him

to go at his own rate, and develop his potential," says Mrs Schmidle.

Years ago, Mrs Maxwell told Nelson's parents that she realized that their

preschooler was brighter than she was, and that they should do something with

him. The parents sent the boy to Wooster School and eventually this summer, he

was given early admittance into the pre-med program at Yale.

Parental Involvement

Easy communication between teachers, parents and children can help children in

many ways. Children have a habit of answering the question "What did you do in

school today?" with "Nothing." Often this is far from the truth, but unless

you can remind your child of what went on, it seems to slip their minds. If

parents know what is going on, they can discuss, extend and elaborate on

themes done in class.

Most of the preschool programs encourage parental involvement and have good

notice boards to keep parents informed of any special outings or activities,

but the only co-operative nursery school in town is the Newtown Congregational

Co-op Nursery School.

As a co-op, parents and grandparents are invited to share their time, or any

special activities with the school four to six times a year. Last year a

father taught children how to make pasta, a mother made "burping raisins"

(science experiment), a woman brought in big snakes, and a marine biologist

brought in a touch tank for the children.

Other parents made less exotic contributions, like a helping hand or a push on

a swing, in the co-operative effort to bring out the best for these

youngsters.

Child Development

Parents generally agree that preschool is a positive experience for their

children, but most find it hard to pinpoint what had changed in their

children. They find it even harder to identify whether the changes were a

result of any particular experience or program.

One grandmother found an unexpected new sense of responsibility emerging in

her grandson. She said for the first time, he wanted to help with the laundry.

He seemed to realize that tidy-up-time gave him a way to help his family.

Teacher Donna Miklaszewski of the Congregational Co-op Nursery School agrees.

Watching the children play together outdoors and chatting with parents as they

come to get their young ones, she says, "By learning ways that they can help,

children feel more a part of the home. They need that involvement - that

feeling that they have contributed to the family as a whole."

Staying Home

If feeling a part of a home and family is so important, why take your three-

or four-year-olds away from that?

Jan Rardin kept her children home with her until they reached school age. She

commented that "Everyone, child or adult, is looking for someone to believe

in. Adults everywhere looked to the late Princess Diana as a role model.

Children look to their parents.

"I wanted to teach my children according to what we believe in, and give them

time to feel established and secure in a home environment before sending them

off to school. After all, they'll be in school long enough once they start!"

Mrs Rardin's children made an easy adjustment to kindergarten. She says they

are happy, inquisitive, caring and bright young people, and both are also

doing very well academically.