My son says that teaching kindergarten is like “herding cats”. I’m sure you understand that analogy if you have ever owned one of the strong-willed independent creatures. And I mean the cat. lol
Getting ten to twenty five and six year olds to function as a group is a challenge from the very first day. So… much of yesterday was spent teaching the basics of listening, transitioning from one activity to another, and moving down the hall. I only attempted the basics of our daily schedule and will add a bit to it each day until we are completely on track by the third week. You can’t just “teach math” until you have gone over the basic procedures of using mats and manipulatives and paper and pencils. You can’t just “go to the library” without discussing a dozen factors involved in moving from one building to the next. Group dynamics are so very different from the one-to-one interaction of parent to child that most of these children have enjoyed during the summer!
The next few weeks will be difficult for some students. However, thanks to experience I know that my little herd will be a cooperative community of learners within a very short time. They will be able to recite our schedule and procedures and rules and most of them will follow them. They will work together and learn together and even walk down the hall together without too many behavior problems. If you think about it that is one of the most basic applications of education to the real world. Most of us must function within a group of some sort. Most of us must follow a schedule and procedures and rules in order to get a paycheck. Most everything I know about life I learned in kindergarten!
Comments