Many preschool teachers see themselves as                                             

GREAT GRANTORS OF KNOWLEDGE, BENEFICENT BESTOWERS OF BEHAVIOR, and MIGHTY MAVENS OF MANNERS!

whose job it is to impart their personal versions of facts, developmental timetables, and social norms to the little minions in their realms.

NO WAY!

It is our job, our purpose, our mission, to encourage children to use their own bodies, brains, and hearts to explore, discover, and learn HOW to learn. We must be:

Renderers of Resources, telling children where they might find answers and offering them choices in work and play along with opportunities to make and use mistakes
Lenders of Language, asking the children for words, writing and displaying them, and offering words when a child need them
Models of Methods used to solve problems and conflicts appropriately

So, stop answering all their questions; stop using one dimensional one-way-to-do-it worksheets; stop talking quite so much and do more listening; NEVER stop writing and displaying THEIR words; stop making them eat their lunches in a particular order; NEVER push them to the potty; and sometimes let a harmless argument, tantrum, or fuss be solved by the children themselves.

Look at the Big Picture – A good ‘whole child’ curriculum consists of a continuum of Evidence (knowledge of sound child development facts); Expectations (what the children will learn); Environment (provision of physical, emotional, and educational safety); Experiences (how the children will learn); Execution (how the learning is delivered); and Evaluation (measurement of the quality of the learning – were the Expectations met).

Here are the child’s responsibilities in each aspect:

• Evidence – The child has no responsibilities in this area except for his innate natural growth
• Expectations – It is the child’s responsibility (with parent and teacher encouragement) to make efforts to reach the Expectations through curiosity, interest, and participation.
• Environment of Physical Safety – It is the child’s responsibility to developmentally acquire respect for the care of the environment and for the safety of all members of the learning community by growing in the skills of self-regulation.
• Environment of Emotional Safety – It is the child’s responsibility to make attempts to developmentally gain the skills of self-awareness, self-expression, and humanity (bonding, playing, empathy, respect, turn-taking, making friends, cooperating, and caring for others).
• Environment of Educational Safety – It is the child’s responsibility to developmentally acquire the skills to SARA – Select from given work/play options; participate Actively; Reflect, recall, and remember to the best of his ability, how he has taken part; and Apply the learning to new experiences.
• Experiences – It is the child’s responsibility to developmentally acquire the skills to be curious, to show interest, and to take part in the experiences offered.             
• Execution – It is the child’s responsibility to developmentally acquire the skills to regulate his behavior and participate so the learning process can proceed.
• Evaluation – The child has no responsibilities in the formal assessment procedure as no child under the age of eight should be held accountable for determining the measurement of his strengths or needs, BUT teachers must give children the responsibility for making judgement calls when it comes to their WORK. The more approval and satisfaction they get from their WORK, the better off they are in self-esteem and ownership. Instead of you saying “I LOVE IT!” or “GOOD JOB!” try, “DO YOU LOVE IT?” or “WOW! LOOK AT THAT RED!” or “YOU CLIMBED TO THE TOP!” or the best of all, “HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!?!”

Next Blog: Assignment of Responsibilities, Developmentally Speaking