Meet Wally the hamster, Turbo the hermit crab, Physics the hermit crab and Kevin the gecko. All of these animal friends will be part of our science room. More animals will be added when school begins. Aren't they adorable!
JOURNEY TOWARD A PLAY-BASED/INQUIRY-BASED KINDERGARTEN
Meet Wally the hamster, Turbo the hermit crab, Physics the hermit crab and Kevin the gecko. All of these animal friends will be part of our science room. More animals will be added when school begins. Aren't they adorable!
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This afternoon I met with the our Curriculum and Instruction Administrator and left feeling energized and enthusiastic. My vision to restore kindergarten to a place of wonder where children are able to ask their questions and learn how to find the answers they are looking for was more than I imagined it could be. This is a bullet list of the brainstorming that took place at this meeting:
I could not wait to share with my colleagues--Would they still want to go on this adventure with me? Our children are falling behind. Our curriculums are not rigorous enough. We need 90 minutes of english/language arts and 6o minutes of mathematics. To make sure that our students are not falling behind we must assess them. All students must take the PALS test at least 2 times per year if not 3, writing assessments, Fountas and Pinnell tests throughout the year, unit tests.....And if our kindergarten students are not meeting these benchmarks when politicians feel they should then they need an intervention. They are being penalized for not being developmentally ready. As this push occurs, we are seeing more behavior problems in the classroom and an increase in anxiety, depression and stress in our young children. This needs to stop.
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Julie AlexanderI am a kindergarten teacher at Kegonsa Elementary School in Stoughton, Wisconsin. Bringing play and inquiry back into the lives of our youngest learners has become my passion. Archives
August 2016
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