THAT LONG, LONG WAIT

Way back in high school, I used to cut out cartoons and articles that 'spoke' to me.  I have often referred to this one column by Art Hoppe's "Innocent Bystander" syndicated by the Chronicle Publishing Company.  I used rubber cement (remember using that) to mount it on construction paper and had it laminated.  I recently found it again.

If I may share with you, here it is:

THAT LONG, LONG WAIT IS KILLING EMERY BORD

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Emery Bord who could hardly wait.

Like most little boys, he could hardly wait to get into kindergarten.  "Gosh," he would say, "school will be fun."

Of course, once he got into kindergarten, he could hardly wait until he was promoted to the first grade so he wouldn't be just a little kindergartener any more.  And once in the first grade, he could hardly wait to be in the second grade so he could play in the Middle Yard.  As soon as he was in the second grade, he could hardly wait...

Well, by the time he was in the fourth grade, young Emery Bord, like many, many little boys, loathed school.  He could hardly wait for the morning recess.  Then he could hardly wait for the afternoon recess.  And hardest of all was waiting for the final bell.

"It'll be different when I get to high school.  I'll have a car and dates and things," he said.  "Boy, I can hardly wait!"

But high school wasn't much better.  What he looked forward to now was going off to college.  He could hardly wait.

Naturally, his grades were only mediocre.  So he could only go to a mediocre college.  Like many, many students, he found his professors a bore and his studies dull.  He could hardly wait for mid-terms to be over and then finals to be over.  He could hardly wait for the Thanksgiving recess, the Christmas recess and the Easter recess.  And hardest of all each year was waiting for June.

What he really looked forward to was getting out in the world, getting married and getting a job.  "Oh, to be finished with school forever!" he said.  "I can hardly wait."

So at last he got out in the world, got married to a girl named Imogene, and got a job.  He got a job with The Monolith Corp. as a memoranda processor.  And, like many, many of his fellow workers, he loathed it.

As soon as he was at his desk, he could hardly wait for his morning coffee break,m then his lunch hour and then his afternoon coffee break.  And the hardest hing of all was to wait for the clock, which he glanced at constantly, to tick over to 5:15.

Naturally, he was a charter member of Thank God It's Friday Club.  Every Monday morning he would arise with a groan, counting the days that lay between him and the coming weekend, for which he could hardly wait.

Not only did Emery Bord count the hours and the days, but the weeks and the months as well.  "Only three months and two weeks till my vacation," he would say to Imogene, "I can hardly wait."

And as he grew older, he began counting the years.  "Do you realize that in only twelve more years I can retire?" he would say to Imogene.  "I'll never have to work again."

"I'll bet you can hardly wait, dear," she would reply.

So the hours and the days and the weeks and the months and the years finally passed.  Old Emery Bord retired.  He found he had a lot of time on his hands.  He could hardly wait for the Monday night football game or the one drink his doctor allowed him be fore dinner or...

Well, one evening, he clutched his chest and collapsed in his chair.

"Don't worry dear, dear," said Imogene, fluttering around him anxiously.  "The doctor will be here soon."

"I can," gasped old Emery Bord, breathing his last words, "hardly wait."

MORAL:  Life is a drag sometimes.  But seeing where it inevitably gets you, why hurry?

Just sharing a memory.

Give childhood the Gift of Time.  Curriculum expectations has been pushed down to the younger grades thus sacraficing social, emotional and physical development.  PLAY is how children learn.  They should go outside and explore.  Run, jump, climb, build, make mud pies, dig, listen to the sounds of nature....

This doesn't mean free play all the time.  But to develop creative thinking, we need to challenge them to think and problem solve and take responsibility.  We should give them time to figure 'it out.'  Technology is wonderful and exciting but has also created a rushed response.    BALANCE and make MEMORIES.

Test scores do not define them.  

I will later explore the three words that 'get to me.'
They are so misinterpretted and overused.  

SMART 
BORED
SHY

Child Development Reads

I have been greatly influenced by writings of the ages and stages of children by Louise Bates Ames and Frances L. Ilg through the Gesell Institute of Child Development.  If you are going to be teaching 5-and 6-year olds, you should read Your Four Year Old, Your Five Year Old and Your Six Year Old.
Understanding the general growing up characteristics of each age will help you be able to provide appropriate learning opportunities and activities.

Did you notice my Four and Five-year old books are not in the picture?

Someone has borrowed them again.

STANDING ON MY SOAPBOX
For the past 20 years, I explain I am now teaching Kinderst Grade.(I made up that term.)   We are teaching "kindergarten age" (5 and 6 year old) children AND expecting them to learn academics that used to be taught in First Grade.  Yes, children can surprise you and can do so much but not YET truly know it because they need time to MATURE their understanding.
For example number conservation is concrete by third grade.  So our activities used to be a lot of repetition of counting, ordering, writing, ways to combine sets to TEN.  Now the push is for kindergarten to read, write and use numbers to 100.  Most are successful but many are still counting to reassure the quantity of sets. They have not yet been able to see the cluster.  This skill is developed by grouping, counting, sorting sets to 10 over and over. The more hands-on activities we can do will help.

HANDS-ON learning
I will admit that I have succumbed to doing more paper pencil work than I believe in.  I hope that with this blog, I will do as I say more and concentrate through my actions and words how children learn best.  BEST PRACTICE is a term used most recently in education to describe how to teach children.  So my goal is to concentrate on the BEST PRACTICE in kindergarten.  I am not a researcher but I know what I've experienced.
Let's learn some more....