Kanga Kids

Every day is an adventure. This morning working at a construction site setting up classrooms to give staff an idea what can be done in a space.
Getting very dusty in the process!!

Day 1 Site Visit & Teacher Training. Looking at Physical Learning Environments.

Thought provoking

Today something popped up on one of my Facebook groups, a mum shared her child’s school timetable which you can see.

As a parent, you may look at this and think “wow, great, look at all the things my child will be doing at school”, as an educator I look at this and think “wow, is this serious?” and I will explain why.
First and foremost, let us look at the age of these children, Pre-Kindergarten, so they are 4 years old. Do they need such a timetabled and structured learning environment and day? For me, it would be a resounding NO! Children need routine, but not so much structure and what comes across as adult-led learning sessions.
Why are routines important?
‘Children feel safe, secure and supported and use effective routines to help make predicted transitions smoothly’ Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity (Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia, 2009, p 21).
Routines in early childhood setting could be times like group time, snack /lunch times, sleep or rest times.
Transitions are times where the children are physically moving from one area to a different one, so from inside a classroom to go outside to play, to move into another room for another activity. The first rule of transitions – keep them at a minimum throughout the day! According to the above timetable, these children will be doing between 6 to 7 transitions a day, which includes coming to school in the morning as the first transition. That is a lot of movement for a group of little kids, especially as it seems from this school’s website that many of these activities will occur in other spaces and rooms other than the children’s classrooms.
Another question which comes to mind is what happens to the children who do not wish to do a timetabled activity? It is time for Ceramics but little Johnny does not wish to do this activity. Where does he go? What would he do? Does he have free choice to go elsewhere and do something else?
Coming from both a Montessori background and then moving into play-based curriculums in early childhood I am confused as to what learning philosophy this school is using for the early years. If it is play or inquiry-based learning then the strict timetabling of Language, Math’s, Story-telling and so on is conflicting with how most early childhood professionals would structure their day. For me, it would be a free flow classroom with various centres that support learning and development in different areas. So in the one classroom children can be doing a variety of activities that cross multiple disciplines. One activity may allow a child to develop literacy, numeracy and social skills depending on what the teacher was looking at. Some activities may be set up for furthering a very specific skill for a specific child or group of children. Learning would be mostly child-initiated with the teacher supporting and scaffolding the child’s knowledge.
If they are following the very popular, in this particular country, Montessori Philosophy then this timetable does not lend to that either. Montessori classrooms are mixed age and set up with materials from the five key areas; Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Mathematics, and Culture. Montessori also has a very specific method by which lessons are delivered to children. Again, looking at this timetable, a Montessori environment does not come to mind.
As a parent, your question should be to check what curriculum the school is using. There is a reason countries have National Early Years Frameworks and curriculums. Remember these are your child’s most formative years. By age five 90% of your child’s brain has developed and their early experiences – his relationships and the things he sees, hears, touches, smells and tastes – stimulate his brain, creating millions of connections. This is when the foundations for learning, health and behaviour throughout life are laid down.
Do not take these things lightly, please question your children’s schools, ask the questions. Schools in Pakistan, in the private sector, rest on the laurels of their older age children who bring in A after A grade and give certain schools their excellent reputations. None of these schools undergoes any kind of external regulatory assessment. None of the teachers has their lessons assessed, which leads to complacency, schools just carry on doing what they have been doing.
I have visited many nurseries whilst living in Pakistan and can, in all honesty, say, very few would even meet the basic requirements if they were located in countries such as the U.K or Australia where each service undergoes strict assessment and rating on a yearly basis by an external National early childhood education body.
They would fail on the basis of the lack of qualified staff alone. “I have kids so I know what to do” is not enough to be able to teach young children, and yes I have actually had candidates applying for jobs say this to me! If it were that simple, why would there be a need for proper Certificate, Diploma and degree level studies specific to early childhood and early years’ education?
Teachers dealing with young children need specific training, just the same as any other professional. You would not trust an unqualified Doctor, or Engineer etc. so why are you trusting these unqualified teachers, that too with your most precious commodity?
And like any profession there are specialists, I as an early childhood education trained teacher should not and in most Western countries would not be permitted to teach anything beyond the realm of my qualifications, which in my case is 0-8 years. You would not go to a cardiologist if you broke your arm so why would you accept a (if you’re lucky to even have someone with some educational qualifications) secondary school teacher to teach your 4 or 5-year-old?
Parents need to boycott settings who function on running with staff not able to actually do the job they are employed for, you may as well just leave your child at home with a maid or nanny, at least then they will have more attention than at school. The Maid or nanny has no qualifications? Well, neither does the teacher at school! Food for thought…and I will leave you with that.
Below is a list of questions. Please ask these questions before you put your child in a nursery or preschool.
• What curriculum do you follow?
• How will you assess my child?
• How many children are in the class?
• What is the child to staff ratio?
• What qualification does the teacher have?
• Can I see some examples of children’s work?
• Do the staff have first aid /CPR certificates?
• How much time do they spend in the classroom and outside?
• Are you an inclusive setting? (i.e. support children with additional needs)
• How do you communicate with parents and update us on children’s progress?
• How do you manage the children’s behaviour?
• What is your staff turnover like?
• Can I see a classroom in action?
• Can I bring my child in for a short trial?
• How often do you do a fire drill and emergency lockdown procedure with the children?
• What is your illness and infection control policy?
• What is your safeguarding policy?
Other things worth considering and looking out for are
• In the classroom are things at the child’s level e.g. artwork, displays
• Is there evidence of children’s work around? Is it individual or cookie-cutter art and craft (all the same)?
• Are the rooms homely and inviting?
• Are activities set out for children for when they arrive?
• Were you asked to book a time to view the nursery/school or were you able to just go in anytime and be shown around? If the place insists you book, I would wonder why?
• How many adults do you see in rooms and are they interacting with the children down at their level?
• Do the children seem engaged and happy?
• Do staff let you speak to the children or do they try and move you on?
• Does the teacher have a lesson plan? Is she happy to show you?
• Do the children have a portfolio of their work they can access?

What Should a 4 Year Old Know? It’s back to school time and children all over are starting preschool. Many parents are frantically searching the internet to find out if their little ones are “on track” and kno…

Writing will happen! Don’t stress.
Uppercase and lowercase will get mixed up! Don’t stress.
Encourage and praise. Every attempt is a celebration.

World Book Day
“We are all a bit mad here”