Terrific and important quotes on Education from Charles French.
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Beverly came to camp a little late. She quickly joined all the campers as we were singing camp songs, hoping no one would notice her. She wore her signature no-smile, crossed her arms, and plunked herself down beside me. She had been crying, hard, and wanted nothing to do with anyone or anything.
I just knew. I understood, even though I know very little about Beverly. I didn’t say a word. That would have been all wrong. Beverly was much like the other Beverly, Raymie Nightingale’s Beverly.
The next two minutes felt like a time warp. It was just the two of us; campers were singing away, and we were alone. Beverly held her knees close to her chest as if tucking herself in would protect her. I put my arm around her and kissed the top of her head. I didn’t let go. Beverly liked that.
Who was this child? In the few short weeks I have known her, she has been aloof, an observer, sometimes putting on a tough front. Just like Raymie’s Beverly. Stomping away and pouting with crossed arms is… well, Beverly.
The easy route is to look at a child, match their behavior to what you know, and then respond. If this always worked, the number of children who need help and the workload of teachers would diminish, drastically.
What is the magic answer? Connecting with each child, not you to them but them to you. There is a big difference. Children know; they sense everything and are intuitive. They know if a teacher or an adult genuinely likes them. They know.
I paid attention to Beverly. I was not judgemental, even though her clothes were different and her lunches were different. Different is a good thing, but people often applaud different in the big picture, not the little things close to home. Acceptance is far easier on a broad scale. Beverly was not on a broad scale; she was ‘right there’.
Beverly smiled at me later that day. From across the room. Today when camp started, she sat next to me and smiled again.
I have a new best friend. Raymie did, too.
Thank goodness I really understand children.
Jennie
Timothy planned his own costume. He wanted to be a seagull, and he thought a white plastic trash bag cut along the sides would be perfect. It was. This made Timothy soar in his performance; not only as a seagull, but as an empowered child. His costume was far better than anything I could have given him.
Every summer my school offers a summer camp program. The most exciting part of my camp group (six and seven year-olds) is the ‘play performance’. It didn’t start that way at all. Camp is camp, and that means having a real experience of outdoors, swimming, knature activities, arts and crafts, and camp songs. Play performances seemed to evolve on their own.
Our camp has four themes. When we are Kings and Queens, my older group is the ‘Mighty Mighty Dragons’. When we are The Wild West, my group is the ‘Mighty Mighty Mustangs’. We’re Stingrays and Cheetahs for the Safari and Ocean units, always ‘Mighty Mighty’, of course.
It started with the Wild West years ago. I couldn’t help but notice that the children began to do things on their own. They built a tower for our mustang puppet, made up songs, and pretended to be different characters out west. This was emergent curriculum, children so ready to act out something. That ‘something’ turned out to be an incredible play performance. I can’t liken it to the success of building a difficult block structure, or learning to read, or painting the best piece of art; this play had that same level of accomplishment yet much more, because it involved the joint efforts of all the children. That’s collaboration. Pretty incredible for six and seven year olds.
Here’s where it gets remarkable; the children planned everything from script to costumes to parts. I only guided and encouraged. Well, I added the excitement of surprise by sneaking the children into the storage room to find a prop or a part for a costume. We did this crawling the hallway and dodging all the other groups, James Bond style. A scarf became a dress, and poster board was cut into cowboy chaps and a doorway. The play became a special secret, even to parents. The camp director ‘got it’ and became a spy. Of course all of this empowered the children.
Kevin was shy, yet he seemed to like being part of the play. When we sneaked into the storage room to look for items, he wanted to find something for his dog costume. He found a piece of brown card stock paper and was eager to cut it out. I saw that he was cutting out something tiny, a triangle to be exact. “That’s my tail”, he said. I asked what else he needed for a costume. “Nothing”, he said. When we walked out on stage, he stood so proud and tall. He loved his costume. No one else could even see it, but that didn’t matter. Kevin knew it was there- it was his. He walked out onto that stage with tall shoulders. In his performance he was no longer the shy boy.
Owen often asked when his Mom would pick him up or how many hours there were in camp. Swimming wasn’t his favorite activity, especially with the big water slide and cold water. He didn’t have a large circle of friends at camp. Yet when the children planned the play, he wanted to be ‘head of the cheetah family’. There are six days in a camp session, and by day four he cried. Day five was too much, and at drop-off Mom just took him home. Oh, we had talked about the play on and off, and he really wanted to do it. We even talked about his tall orange socks and how they would be a perfect cheetah costume for the play. Day six, the last day of camp and ‘play day’ arrived. Owen came to camp, a little unsure. He was a star in the play! Boy, did he pull it off with a huge smile.
I have learned along the way not to assign parts or give costumes or even have a say in the play. Children always come up with something amazing and far more interesting than I could. I never underestimate young children. And, I always support their ideas. That’s why our play performances are incredible. When children are empowered and encouraged to do something on their own, they rise to the occasion.
Just ask Timothy, Kevin, and Owen.
Jennie
Chapter reading is one of our treasured moments of the day at school. I know this, and so does Jackson. Books bring to life the imagination, the world, and the past. The anticipation of ‘what happens next’ stirs excitement every day. Children listen and talk. They ask questions. Jackson is first to remember what we read yesterday and ask questions about what we read today. When I ask children, “At chapter reading where do you make the pictures?” they answer “In your head.”
When we finish reading a good book and then start a new one, emotions run high and low. The end of a good book is so satisfying and pleasant, yet…it is over. That is the wonderful roller coaster of reading. And, with each chapter book we read, we ride that roller coaster again and again.
In the fall I begin the school year by reading “Charlotte’s Web”, always a favorite. When I chapter read, it is rest time, the lights are out, children are on their nap mats, and they listen. Boy, do they listen. Often I stop and ask questions. We talk about Templeton and his unsavory character. We laugh about the goose that repeats things three times. Of course we talk about Wilbur and Charlotte. Children are learning new words and using their brain to associate all that language with the story. More importantly, children are learning right and wrong, values and morals. They are beginning to develop character and goodness.
Jackson worried when Wilbur went to the fair. He became very fond of Charlotte. The more we read about Templeton, particularly when he refused to get Charlotte’s egg sac, the more Jackson became bitter towards Templeton’s character. Jackson ‘got it’; the language and literacy and learning for him now included the subtleties of morality. But, the best was yet to come.
As the year progressed, I read aloud the chapter books “The Story of Doctor Dolittle”, “Mr. Popper’s Penguins”, “My Father’s Dragon”, and finally the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. “Little House in the Big Woods” had three components that were quite important to children and to making a difference. First was learning about the past. I connected generations. When I told the children that my grandmother was born when Laura’s child was born, and they had the same names, that was huge. Yes, my grandmother was Rose, the same age and name as Laura’s daughter. I told stories about living in a log cabin, because my grandmother did, and I also slept in that log cabin in Lowell, WV. Connecting the past for young children is a great learning experience. Secondly, Pa told stories. Well, I tell stories much the same way as Pa, real ones about my childhood. They always start with “It happened like this…”. My stories (the children call them ‘Jennie stories’) helped bring Pa’s stories to life. Storytelling is equally important to reading chapter books aloud, as children get a huge dose of vocabulary and have to ‘make the pictures in their head’. Finally, this book is non-fiction, the first chapter reading book all year that is real. So, each time we talked about something that happened, it had an entirely different feeling. Our conversations became much more in depth, a bit serious, simply because this was real and true. Children were learning.
Jackson was really learning. He was becoming ‘one’ with the book. Every fact and Pa story seemed to notch another mark in his learning; and by now it was pleasure learning for him.
Our last chapter reading book of the school year is “Little House on the Prairie.” Pa, Ma, Mary, Laura, and baby Carrie move from the big woods of Wisconsin to the Kansas prairie. Every child was so vested in both chapter reading and “Little House in the Big Woods”. This next book was like frosting on a cake. We used our big map book to find Wisconsin and follow a route to Kansas. I was able to incorporate my family history when Pa and his neighbor Mr. Scott dug a well. Pa was careful to light a candle and lower it into the well. Mr. Scott thought the candle was ‘foolishness’, and therefore did not light the candle one morning. My grandfather worked in the mines, and I brought in his painted portrait, as a boy, with a candle attached to his mining cap. Now, that brought the story and the chapter to life.
One of the characters throughout is Jack, the dog. As the family travels in a covered wagon, Jack happily trots behind the whole way. Then I read the chapter, “Crossing the Creek”. The creek rises quickly; Pa has to jump in to help the horses get the wagon across the water. After they are on the other side, Laura says, “Where is Jack?”
I read this chapter with heart, and the passion of what is happening. I always read like that. When Laura says those words, the children are stunned. Shocked. They know. I finish reading aloud, sometimes standing and pacing, because this is a big deal. I, too, have a lump in my throat.
Jackson pulled his blanket over his head. His body was jerking in sobs, yet he was holding those sobs deep inside. I scooped him up, and we disappeared to a quiet place to read aloud, together, the next chapter. Jackson needed to know that Jack the dog found his way home. I think I was calm when I read the chapter to him. We were wrapped together in his blanket; perhaps we both sobbed a bit. It was my greatest moment in teaching. I had taught the most important values through reading aloud, and Jackson was moved to tears. He cried tears of the heart. So did I.
Reading aloud is the best thing I do with, and for, children. They are preschoolers. Yes, I chapter read to four-year-olds. It is marvelous. After three decades of teaching, I know this is “it”. Jackson is proof.
Jennie
When I was in fifth grade my teacher, Miss Pinson, taught us songs. I remember her white blouse and black hair, and how she held her arms up in the air when she directed a song. She made us feel like music was important. No teacher had done that before (or since). The one song that she dearly loved was “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie. We all did, and we sang it out with heart.
I love music. I love music because it makes you ‘feel’, and Miss Pinson had a way of doing just that. When I started teaching preschool I sang to the children and taught songs in much the same way. Children were excited and drawn in. I began to play the Autoharp, which was simple yet fascinating and captivating for children. Perhaps The Autoharp was much the same as Miss Pinson’s arms. Music became something I did well with children. I was a Pied Piper.
Then something happened; “This Land is Your Land” became a book, with the song’s lyrics illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen. My favorite song from fifth grade was a book in print! But it was different, the book included all of the verses to the song. There are six verses. I only knew three verses, as that was all Miss Pinson had ever taught us. I read the book and understood. Those last three versus talk about people helping people and poverty. The words are simple and ring true. The sixth verse still chokes me up when I sing it with the children:
“Nobody living can ever stop me
as I go walking that freedom highway.
Nobody living can ever make me turn back.
This land was made for you and me.”
I began to sing this song along with the book. Children held the pages open, I played the Autoharp, and everyone belted out the words…all six versus. One verse we sang low and slow because it is a sad verse. Another verse said, “…didn’t say nothing”, yet in spite of the grammar I was true to the words of the author when singing the song.
We always sing this song standing up. It’s a proud song. The children want to sing the song standing up, just as they do when singing “God Bless America”. When I ask children what songs they want to sing, these are the top two choices, even though I always introduce a host of music and songs to children. They just love these two songs, and every year we sing our hearts out, standing tall and proud.
Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star Spangled Banner”, and when it became our National Anthem in the early 1930’s Irving Berlin did not like the song as our National Anthem. He thought it was too difficult. That inspired him to write “God Bless America”. Well, Woody Guthrie did not like “God Bless America”, and that inspired him to write “This Land is Your Land”.
I think this is fascinating! One song inspires the next song, and that song inspires the next song. Yet, all three songs are historical, important, and popular. These are the songs we sing in the classroom. It’s the children’s choice.
We sing these songs with books; Peter Spier’s “The Star Spangled Banner”, Lynn Munsinger’s “God Bless America”, and Kathy Jakobsen’s “This Land is Your Land”.
Miss Pinson would be proud.
Jennie
Our final chapter reading book this year at school was Little House on the Prairie. The last chapter that we read was ‘Fresh Water to Drink’. Pa and his neighbor, Mr. Scott, were digging a well. Pa was careful to lower a candle each day into the deep hole to make sure the air was safe. Bad gas lives deep under the earth. Mr. Scott thought the candle was ‘foolishness’, and began digging without sending the candle down into the well. The rest of the chapter was an edge-of-your-seat nail biter.
I love this chapter. So did the children. I realized I could connect what happened down in that well to something real; a portrait of my grandfather as a little boy wearing miner’s gear, including a candle on his helmet. My grandfather and his father had mines in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. I grew up with their stories and photographs, including this portrait.
I brought it to school the next day to show the children. “This is my grandfather”, I said. “He went deep under the earth, just like Pa and Mr. Scott. What is that on his head?” Children couldn’t sit. They jumped up, pressed against me and each other, all wanting a closer look. “That’s fire!” someone said. “No, it’s a candle” said Owen. “A candle is fire.” said Miles. “What did he do?” Ah, those wonderful, spontaneous questions that spark the best learning. This was ‘a moment’, fifteen children eager to hear more and learn.
I told them about mining, going underground, and about the candle. I then showed them the Garth Williams illustrations in the chapter ‘Fresh Water to Drink’, with Ma and Pa turning the handle of the windlass to get Mr. Scott out of the well, and Pa digging the hole that is as deep as he is tall. We talked about how hard that would be. We imagined what it would be like inside the hole: Dark or light? Hot or cold? Then someone asked, “How old is your grandfather?”
I was connecting generations and connecting learning.
I’m in mid-life, where I have a strong, real link with the past and also the present. My one arm can reach and touch my parents from before 1920 and my grandparents from the 1880’s and 1890’s They were just here ‘some years ago’. My other arm can reach and touch my children and grandchildren, and all the preschoolers I teach.
I find this mind boggling; I’m equally part of the past, a long line of family history, and part of the present, teaching children and learning. I want to connect all the lines. I want people to know that I was there with Nan who was born in The 1880’s, and with Lulu who was born ten years later. I want people to know that I understand life from that point forward.
More importantly, I want my preschoolers to have a firsthand piece of history. It is a ‘real’ way to enhance learning. That happened with my Grandfather’s portrait.
Jennie
In Sue’s words, “Some posts have the potential to change the world. Here are 7 of them.” I am humbled that my post “How Children Really Learn” is among the seven. Thank you Sue. Please check out her blog, as she is a terrific and interesting writer. -Jennie-
Chapter reading is one of our treasured moments of the day. We bring to life the imagination, the world, and the past. The anticipation of ‘what happens next’ stirs excitement every day. Children listen and think. They ask questions. Ask your child, “At chapter reading where do you make the pictures?” You will hear your child say, “In your head.”
When we finish a good book and then start a new one, emotions run high and low. The end of a good book is so satisfying and pleasant, yet…it is over. That is the wonderful roller coaster of reading. And, with each chapter book we read, we ride that roller coaster again and again.
We are halfway through Little House on the Prairie, and it is thrilling, from Jack the dog, to building a house, to Indians in the house. Yesterday Pa and his neighbor Mr. Scott dug a well, and we learned about the bad gas deep inside the earth (Pa had to save Mr. Scott) that only a candle can detect. Of course today I have to bring in my grandfather’s childhood portrait wearing a miner’s hat with the same candle. We encourage you to finish reading the book aloud to your child. There is much more ahead, from Mr. Edwards meets Santa Claus, to fever and watermelons, and fire on the prairie. If your child wants to continue the series, the next one, Farmer Boy is about Laura’s husband when he was a little boy. I recommend the following one, On the Banks of Plum Creek, which begins their next journey after the prairie.
We voted on our favorite chapter books this year. Charlotte’s Web was the winner!
These are the chapter books I have read aloud this year. Good books are meant to be read over and over again. I encourage you to revisit these wonderful books with your child:
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles
The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
Doctor Dolittle’s Journey by Hugh Lofting
Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Florence and Richard Atwater
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The fundamental constant that gives children the tools to succeed in school is language. The more words that children hear, the better they will do in school. Reading aloud to children is far more than an enjoyable experience. It increases their language development! In kindergarten through grade four, the primary source of instruction is oral. The more words that a child has heard, the better s/he will understand the instruction, and the better s/he will perform in school, in all subjects. Therefore, we will always campaign to read aloud.
A wonderful guide to book recommendations and to understanding the importance of reading aloud is the million-copy bestseller book, The Read-Aloud Handbook. I have used the book since my children were little. The author, Jim Trelease, visited the Aqua Room and GCS. We are featured in the new seventh edition of the book.
Jennie
A Teacher's Reflections 