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look at me with my opinions.
Apr. 24th, 2012 05:17 pmAll right. So. Just before Spring break Senor Onion's preschool teacher handed the kids a bag of peeps and said, "hey make anything you want. Create a scene. Paint them. Have them do something. Be creative and do what you like with these and then bring it back to school after Spring Break for the 'Peep Show'." (I know I know. PEEP SHOW. Hee.)
Fair enough. A simple/fun project for Spring Break. As it was Senor Onion's project my guidance was kind of minimal. "What are you going to do with these?" (maybe provide certain materials as needed) He decided to paint some. Great. I said something about how one looked like it had been part of the Hindu festival of Holi. (you know the one where everyone is covered in different colors and they have a total party celebrating the arrival of Spring) He asked what that was and so we looked at pictures and videos online. He thought that was so crazy that people would get messy like that. I explained what the festival was about to him. He then asked, "so then do they celebrate Easter." I laughed and said, "well no. They are Hindi so this is kind of like their Easter. Everyone around the world might celebrate the arrival of Spring in a different way." He decided he wanted his peeps to have color all over them like they were doing this festival. He went to town with his paints and all of the peeps looked like they had had a blast during Holi. We put this on a cork place mat and called it good. Because it was his project. Even Miss Biscuit did some painting.
Today we brought in the peeps for the show. Which brings us to another piece of commentary. You can tell which parents did the project for the kids. Fine. Make it a family project but there are instances where it was obvious that the kid had not done a lick of work. Oh wait... they wrote their name. Yes. Gauging what I know/understand about some of the parents in this class; some will be so keen on one particular idea of "success" for their children that I suspect that assorted future teachers and colleges will look upon those parents with a weary eye and possibly hide under their desks or "forget" to return phone calls because it is going to be an excruciating experience. Yes these children are between the ages of 3-5 but they are capable of doing some things on their own. (as I saw looking at some of the other projects.) They may not have been highly polished projects but they showed effort and creativity. I also wonder if they have heard any of the stuff talked about by the parent educator about how kids do better if they try/struggle a bit and do things on their own. How all the long-term extensive studies show that kids need to learn to solve problems and take responsibility for things.
It isn't like I am suggesting that our short ones go to work in the coal mines at age four, walking five miles in the snow uphill both ways and only have sticks to play with while they sleep in a lake. Just... let the kid be in charge of their peeps.
And that is another judgy post from a parent who knows fuck-all.
Fair enough. A simple/fun project for Spring Break. As it was Senor Onion's project my guidance was kind of minimal. "What are you going to do with these?" (maybe provide certain materials as needed) He decided to paint some. Great. I said something about how one looked like it had been part of the Hindu festival of Holi. (you know the one where everyone is covered in different colors and they have a total party celebrating the arrival of Spring) He asked what that was and so we looked at pictures and videos online. He thought that was so crazy that people would get messy like that. I explained what the festival was about to him. He then asked, "so then do they celebrate Easter." I laughed and said, "well no. They are Hindi so this is kind of like their Easter. Everyone around the world might celebrate the arrival of Spring in a different way." He decided he wanted his peeps to have color all over them like they were doing this festival. He went to town with his paints and all of the peeps looked like they had had a blast during Holi. We put this on a cork place mat and called it good. Because it was his project. Even Miss Biscuit did some painting.
Today we brought in the peeps for the show. Which brings us to another piece of commentary. You can tell which parents did the project for the kids. Fine. Make it a family project but there are instances where it was obvious that the kid had not done a lick of work. Oh wait... they wrote their name. Yes. Gauging what I know/understand about some of the parents in this class; some will be so keen on one particular idea of "success" for their children that I suspect that assorted future teachers and colleges will look upon those parents with a weary eye and possibly hide under their desks or "forget" to return phone calls because it is going to be an excruciating experience. Yes these children are between the ages of 3-5 but they are capable of doing some things on their own. (as I saw looking at some of the other projects.) They may not have been highly polished projects but they showed effort and creativity. I also wonder if they have heard any of the stuff talked about by the parent educator about how kids do better if they try/struggle a bit and do things on their own. How all the long-term extensive studies show that kids need to learn to solve problems and take responsibility for things.
It isn't like I am suggesting that our short ones go to work in the coal mines at age four, walking five miles in the snow uphill both ways and only have sticks to play with while they sleep in a lake. Just... let the kid be in charge of their peeps.
And that is another judgy post from a parent who knows fuck-all.
