In Kelly Stevens’ kindergarten classroom, each day begins with circle time for what sounds like a menu of lesson options.
Students — or “friends” as Stevens calls them — can read at the green table, they can build boats or make things out of clay, among other options.
Students Marco Carias Castellanos and Holden Free chose a writing activity today. But there’s no worksheet in front of them. Instead, they’re standing in front of wolf statues they made out of blocks and their assignment is to write labels for body parts.
“I’m making an ear!” says Marco. “Ear! E! E! E!” adds Holden.
Play-based activities like this one at Curtis Guild School are part of a new curriculum that Boston has been rolling out over the last five years. It’s a deliberate shift away from the “kindergarten as the new first grade,” way of thinking that’s become common in early childhood circles.
The thinking is that play, student-led activities and lots of choices work just as well for older kids.
“I used to be very regimented and structured,” explains Stevens. “I didn’t like the blocks because it was messy and it was loud.”
Stevens has been with the Boston public schools for almost 20 years. For most of her career, she was in the front of the classroom, while the students watched and learned in desks and seats. Now, her room is filled with play stations; there’s a jungle corner, a painting area, even a mini kitchen.
“Instead of this sort of top-down approach where the teachers have the knowledge, you have to let the kids explore,” says Jason Sachs, the district’s director of early childhood education.
Boston’s approach allows teachers to juggle the many needs of young students with different skill sets, Sachs explains.
That’s a big challenge for teachers. Boston has invested a lot in preschool over the last decade but there isn’t room for all 4-year-olds. The city still has a wait list of about 1,000 kids this year.
That means Boston’s kindergartens are a mix of students — some who have that extra year, and some who don’t. To read more from CARRIE JUNG, click here.