Letters to the Editor

I always enjoy reading readers' comments on different editions of ExchangeEveryDay (even when they take us to task).  Here is a sampling of recent comments:

The Princess Debate (December 3)
Alice Whiren:  On the one hand, marketers, toy manufacturers, apparel designers can present an image of the princess to little girls. On the other hand, parents, teachers, extended family members either support that image or present other competing images. Children attune to those people closest to them as they develop their identities so the latter is more powerful by far. I think that there is a little bit of princess identity in most females as there is also a little bit of the hero identity. Being a girl/woman is so complex, I think it is better to deal with the whole than just one piece of it. We cannot let merchandise usurp the roles of caring people, nor can we neglect to provide girls with images of themselves as a scientist, worker or whatever. In the end, children will form identities based on lots of things and loving adults are the best source of the most powerful ones.

Napping in Nature (December 4)
Phyllis Porter, Educarer, Inc., Eden Prairie, MN: I lived in Hungary from 1985-1991. There was a "kindergarten" (ages 1-5) near our house. The children napped outside most days. Their beds were metal and permanently placed. The down bedding was brought in and out for naps. It was common there for babies to nap in their buggies on the balconies of homes year-round. Of course the winter temperatures were not as cold as in MN.

The Arts Make a Difference (December 2)
Peter Gebhardt, Dallas, TX: In our kindergarten class, the children made the classroom rules, danced, sang, made art, cleaned the room, made their own snacks, served themselves, read their choice of books, along with mine, wrote their own stories, individually and collectively, and...we spent much time outdoors, picking up trash off school property, planted our garden. We used conflict Resolution, so there was no time-outs, just problem-solving. And there always was at least 45 minutes of work time/playtime per day! And their art covered the classroom walls. They put their own work up. It's all about giving children ownership of their own learning. I considered myself the learning facilitator!

Ten Collosal Errors with Common Core (November 26)
Margaret Benson, Penn State University, Altoona, PA: I've read some of the standards for kindergarten and first grade, and they are not developmentally appropriate. In addition every child is supposed to get to certain benchmarks at the same time. Now when has that ever happened in any of our classrooms? But the thing I find most horrifying is that the materials being developed to accompany the CC, at least those I have seen (mostly from NY State) are top-down lesson plans, with accompanying work sheets and homework assignments. There is no respect given to teachers to decide on their own (or with their colleagues) how best to create specific lessons, activities and projects for their students. I think we are in for some bad times in education until these standards are completely rejected, or at least taken back to square one so that they are created based on what we know about child development, good pedagogy, and so that they can be tested in some way.

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