Today was such a wonderful day that I truly got that feeling back! I love Kindergarten! There are moments from time to time that I get that feeling and just love what I do! Then of course there are moments that make me sit and think about what and why I do what I do. Days like today just make it that much better!
So what is Kindergarten??...Well, translated literally from German it means "children's garden." Friedrich Fröbel opened the first kindergarten in Germany on 28 June 1840. As per Wikipedia's definition; it is a form of education for young children which serves as a transition from home to the commencement of of more formal schooling. Children learn to communicate, play, and interact with others appropriately. A teacher provides various materials and activities to motivate these children to learn the language and vocabulary or reading, mathematics, science, computers, as well as that of music, art, and social behaviors. For children who previously have spent most of their time at home, kindergarten may serve the purpose of helping them adjust to being apart from their parents without anxiety. They are usually exposed to their first idea of friendship while they play and interact with other children on a regular basis.
When I sat down to do my blog tonight I knew I wanted to blog about getting that feeling back of what Kindergarten really is...that is, before the TAKS came into the picture years ago. I knew what MY definition of Kindergarten was so I decided to google Kindergarten to see what the Internet would say. I came across Wikipedia and others. For some who do not know this... shhhhhh...Kindergarten is not mandatory in the state of Texas. As a matter of fact, it's not mandatory in; Oregon, Ohio, Missouri, California, Louisiana, Colorado, IL, WI, PA...to name a few. Many of these states do not mandate it but most children attend Kindergarten...Thank Goodness!!! I can't imagine what 1st Grade would be if children didn't get that foundation. Yikes!
As I read Wikipedia's definition...it made me smile. I'm not one to toot my own horn ever! Those that know me, know that very well, but today reading Wiki, I could actually say ~hey..today that was my classroom and munchkins!! We had so much fun!! Kindergarten has changed so much from the time I went to school and even from when I started as an intern to now. Back in the day the key word in Kindergarten was Play! Kindergarten has steered away from play because of the demands of that lovely test...TAKS. When I started teaching it was soooooo much fun! I had a Dramatic Play Area, a mini kitchen, little costumes, hats, and fun stuff to pretend with plus we still learned to read and write and everything else. The interactions and dialogue the munchkins would have with one another during that time was incredible! Then we were told no more Play Time from past administration. Boo!!! Many elementary principals have either middle school or high school experience only and in their mind numbers take over. TAKS scores!
Today was a day of Play!!! It was a beautiful cool morning and that started our day just right. The windows open (ok only two of 7 open...heehee...it's an old building) to feel the breeze come in and the munchkins were quietly working. They were all excited to talk about the hail storm that hit last night. My sweet "Jimmy Boy" said ~Mr. Sun spit ice down. Haha! Cute! Think that's a little bit my fault because when they come in from PE they're usually hot, stinky, and dripping with sweat. So I usually tell them they smell like Mr. Sun and he spit on them. Haha!! I had a teachable moment there and briefly explained where the hail came from. ~Mr. Sun didn't spit down the ice...it came from his drink he dropped! heehee! No I didn't tell them that but they probably would have believed me if I did! They're too cute!! ~hail is frozen water droplets that come from the clouds and can get bigger and bigger if there is an updraft and new layers of water droplets freeze on top. Ok, so I should have stopped at frozen water droplets from the clouds...sometimes my 2nd Grade teacher science brain comes out! haha! Oh well, I'm sure it won't hurt them knowing, that is.. those who heard anything after frozen water...heehee!
The day continued to be really pretty, weather wise. It was so cool, breezy, and a bit overcast when we picked up our munchkins after lunch and we decided to take them on a walk. Our school has a huge back area and we decided to take them on their first walk. We used to do this a lot when we just didn't feel like going back in and back to the same old thing! Today's weather just made it that easy to say ...walk time! It was so sweet, two itty bitty's came up to make sure they got to hold my hands as we walked. All the others just gathered around as we walked and talked. I felt like my little ducklings were waddling behind me. We talked about the trees and how the leaves would be changing, the weather, and anything that was going around us. The clouds were filling up and getting a little darker and they got to see them moving closer together. The little oooo's and ahhh's were cute to hear! We still didn't want to go in, ok I didn't want to go in...ha! These little munchkins are so easily amused! So we held hands and made a big circle and we walked in toward the center and back out, then in and back out, and in and out...you get the picture...they LOVED it! As they walked in toward each other they always let out a scream, I had to laugh each time! Darn I didn't take the camera out! We did this over and over and over...to see their little faces laughing was too cute. Then one of the other Kinder classes wanted to join our fun so that made the circle even larger! The screams were even louder! Walking one way in a circle then switching the other way was hilarious to watch these little bodies get twisted and bumping as they went the wrong way. Then I decided to do Ring Around the Rosie, Hokey Pokey, and Duck, Duck, Goose, in our large circle. I forget that many of them have never played or heard of these simple games. The Hokey Pokey was fun for them and us to watch. As we were making such a loud commotion other kids from different grade levels who were at lunch came over to watch. My past munchkins who are now 3rd Graders ran over and wanted to play Duck, Duck, Goose with us! Awww...I miss those munchkins! It was such a wonderful thing to see the older kids playing too. I also got in on the fun...one of my munchkins who was the goose didn't know what to do so I held her hand and we ran around the large circle as we were chased. I had to do that with a few, boy did I get a work out! haha! Many times teachers forget to have fun with their students especially as they get older, so to see my old babies playing with my Kinders and having a good time just made my day! Loved it! They asked if we were going to do it again tomorrow...I wish! We actually stayed outside playing for maybe an hour! A newbie Kinder teacher asked if I thought we would get into trouble...~What? Trouble?... no, but who cares if we did? it would be worth it! We've learned how to justify anything we do in Kinder. It's not actually not a matter of having to justify ourselves but from time to time someone will question something and in Kindergarten anything we do is a learning experience for many of these munchkins. So I'm glad we gave them an hour of outdoor fun experiences! What a wonderful day for my munchkins and for myself! I think I needed that to get a hold of what Kinder really is...fun!
Was today the calm before the storm in Kindergarten or just a wonderful preview of what's to come??? Stay tuned for more...
XOXO's
When I sat down to do my blog tonight I knew I wanted to blog about getting that feeling back of what Kindergarten really is...that is, before the TAKS came into the picture years ago. I knew what MY definition of Kindergarten was so I decided to google Kindergarten to see what the Internet would say. I came across Wikipedia and others. For some who do not know this... shhhhhh...Kindergarten is not mandatory in the state of Texas. As a matter of fact, it's not mandatory in; Oregon, Ohio, Missouri, California, Louisiana, Colorado, IL, WI, PA...to name a few. Many of these states do not mandate it but most children attend Kindergarten...Thank Goodness!!! I can't imagine what 1st Grade would be if children didn't get that foundation. Yikes!
As I read Wikipedia's definition...it made me smile. I'm not one to toot my own horn ever! Those that know me, know that very well, but today reading Wiki, I could actually say ~hey..today that was my classroom and munchkins!! We had so much fun!! Kindergarten has changed so much from the time I went to school and even from when I started as an intern to now. Back in the day the key word in Kindergarten was Play! Kindergarten has steered away from play because of the demands of that lovely test...TAKS. When I started teaching it was soooooo much fun! I had a Dramatic Play Area, a mini kitchen, little costumes, hats, and fun stuff to pretend with plus we still learned to read and write and everything else. The interactions and dialogue the munchkins would have with one another during that time was incredible! Then we were told no more Play Time from past administration. Boo!!! Many elementary principals have either middle school or high school experience only and in their mind numbers take over. TAKS scores!
Today was a day of Play!!! It was a beautiful cool morning and that started our day just right. The windows open (ok only two of 7 open...heehee...it's an old building) to feel the breeze come in and the munchkins were quietly working. They were all excited to talk about the hail storm that hit last night. My sweet "Jimmy Boy" said ~Mr. Sun spit ice down. Haha! Cute! Think that's a little bit my fault because when they come in from PE they're usually hot, stinky, and dripping with sweat. So I usually tell them they smell like Mr. Sun and he spit on them. Haha!! I had a teachable moment there and briefly explained where the hail came from. ~Mr. Sun didn't spit down the ice...it came from his drink he dropped! heehee! No I didn't tell them that but they probably would have believed me if I did! They're too cute!! ~hail is frozen water droplets that come from the clouds and can get bigger and bigger if there is an updraft and new layers of water droplets freeze on top. Ok, so I should have stopped at frozen water droplets from the clouds...sometimes my 2nd Grade teacher science brain comes out! haha! Oh well, I'm sure it won't hurt them knowing, that is.. those who heard anything after frozen water...heehee!
The day continued to be really pretty, weather wise. It was so cool, breezy, and a bit overcast when we picked up our munchkins after lunch and we decided to take them on a walk. Our school has a huge back area and we decided to take them on their first walk. We used to do this a lot when we just didn't feel like going back in and back to the same old thing! Today's weather just made it that easy to say ...walk time! It was so sweet, two itty bitty's came up to make sure they got to hold my hands as we walked. All the others just gathered around as we walked and talked. I felt like my little ducklings were waddling behind me. We talked about the trees and how the leaves would be changing, the weather, and anything that was going around us. The clouds were filling up and getting a little darker and they got to see them moving closer together. The little oooo's and ahhh's were cute to hear! We still didn't want to go in, ok I didn't want to go in...ha! These little munchkins are so easily amused! So we held hands and made a big circle and we walked in toward the center and back out, then in and back out, and in and out...you get the picture...they LOVED it! As they walked in toward each other they always let out a scream, I had to laugh each time! Darn I didn't take the camera out! We did this over and over and over...to see their little faces laughing was too cute. Then one of the other Kinder classes wanted to join our fun so that made the circle even larger! The screams were even louder! Walking one way in a circle then switching the other way was hilarious to watch these little bodies get twisted and bumping as they went the wrong way. Then I decided to do Ring Around the Rosie, Hokey Pokey, and Duck, Duck, Goose, in our large circle. I forget that many of them have never played or heard of these simple games. The Hokey Pokey was fun for them and us to watch. As we were making such a loud commotion other kids from different grade levels who were at lunch came over to watch. My past munchkins who are now 3rd Graders ran over and wanted to play Duck, Duck, Goose with us! Awww...I miss those munchkins! It was such a wonderful thing to see the older kids playing too. I also got in on the fun...one of my munchkins who was the goose didn't know what to do so I held her hand and we ran around the large circle as we were chased. I had to do that with a few, boy did I get a work out! haha! Many times teachers forget to have fun with their students especially as they get older, so to see my old babies playing with my Kinders and having a good time just made my day! Loved it! They asked if we were going to do it again tomorrow...I wish! We actually stayed outside playing for maybe an hour! A newbie Kinder teacher asked if I thought we would get into trouble...~What? Trouble?... no, but who cares if we did? it would be worth it! We've learned how to justify anything we do in Kinder. It's not actually not a matter of having to justify ourselves but from time to time someone will question something and in Kindergarten anything we do is a learning experience for many of these munchkins. So I'm glad we gave them an hour of outdoor fun experiences! What a wonderful day for my munchkins and for myself! I think I needed that to get a hold of what Kinder really is...fun!
Was today the calm before the storm in Kindergarten or just a wonderful preview of what's to come??? Stay tuned for more...
XOXO's
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