Weekly News and Info.

First and foremost... no spelling test or JGB this week.  We are working on the introductory stages of writing our own original stories, so we are dedicating our Language Arts block to developing our stories rather than practicing spelling and phonics rules and discussing our JGB stories.

Secondly... I will not be at school on Saturday.  Mrs. Kang will be the substitute.  I already had plans that cannot be changed.  Many students have stated that they will not be at school.  Don't worry!!!  Missing Saturday school is OK.  We will not be learning any new topics on April 5th or May 10th.   

I would also like to address a reoccurring theme in our classroom.  The students as a whole have become increasingly dependent on teacher assistance on assignments.  Many times that we assign work, students immediately come up to Mrs. Kang or myself or raise their hand without pausing to think about the directions that were just given or look at/read the assignment in front of them.  Some of this behavior stems from the students receiving immediate assistance at home when something is hard or they have a question.  However, this behavior also stems from an overwhelming worry about being wrong or making a mistake.  I've come to these conclusions in a variety of ways. 

For starters, I recently gave the students a survey where I asked them to write what their favorite part of school is, least favorite part, how they feel regarding various subject areas, etc.  It is a self-reflection tool for them and a window of insight for me.  On the survey, it also asked the students to fill in the following sentences:

• "I feel happy when...."
• "I feel sad when..."
• "I feel angry when..."
• "I feel scared when..."  

The most alarming responses were those where students wrote: 

• "I feel sad when I get a question wrong."  
• "I feel scared when graded work goes home."
• "I feel sad when I get in trouble for getting a 2 at home."
• "I feel scared when I don't know what to do on my work."
• "I feel sad when I have a lot of homework."

These are NOT healthy or typical responses from 5 & 6 year olds!!!  I know that around progress report and report card times I stress how important it is not to overemphasize grades, but I cannot do it enough.  Please do not make your child re-do every assignment that is sent home with mistakes on it.  Please do not have your child complete nightly homework and assignments (other than reading).  Please do not put an importance on grades with your child.  The only meaning grades have (to me) are 3= child understands concept; 2= child needs extra practice on concept; 1= child needs re-teaching on concept; 4= child is ready to deepen knowledge of particular concept  

Your child at 5 & 6 years old should be spending a majority of their time playing outside, engaging in imaginative play, creating, and using their minds to THINK.  The biggest deficit I see among the students (as a whole) in our class is that they have not been challenged to think independently.  They haven't had the opportunity to be wrong and learn from their mistakes without help but with encouragement.  They haven't been asked open-ended questions or engaged in hands-on games or mental situations.  The absolute best learning for a child in Kindergarten comes from manipulating the world and their mind while the worst is concrete worksheets and rote practice.  

I know that I am using a lot of negatively perceived words like "not" and "haven't" etc.  It is not meant to be a negative conversation at all.  I want to help guide you in any possible way that I can and do not know how else to convey this information.  Please understand that I am here to help your child be successful in Kindergarten, first grade, etc. as well as life.  Please try to incorporate less worksheets and direct instruction tasks and try to add-in more learning through play, open-ended questions, trial and error, etc.  

Please also stop moving ahead in the curriculum.  Knowing the algorithm for multiplication and truly understanding how it works are two different things.  I appreciate that you want to help your child be successful at home but moving ahead is actually counter-productive.  Instead, expand on the skills that we have been learning this year.  All students in our class could use more practice with counting mixed coins, graphing (by something other than 1s), solving addition and subtraction math problems (numerical and story) in their head, moving up and down the hundreds chart to solve problems, fine motor strength, using inflection in your voice when reading, etc.  =)       

I hope many of you can understand that this blog post is out of love and encouragement for your family and child.  Please let me know if you have any feedback.  Our class is a truly loving and compassionate community of children and parents and I am SO SAD that the school year keeps dwindling down.  Have a wonderful week.