Abstract
What does it mean to be “ready” for kindergarten? How are we preparing children to bring their strongest possible selves into the kindergarten classroom? What lasting experiences will they take from preschool to help t hem navigate their transition to kindergarten? These are compelling questions for concerned preschool educators who seek philosophies of education and “preparation” for their students that will best support their future educational experiences. Given the current shift toward an increasingly academic focus in kindergarten classrooms (Hatch, 2002), the discontinuities between play-based, emergent preschool classrooms and many of the kindergartens that receive their graduates have become more pronounced in recent years. Despite ample evidence to support emergent approaches to teaching and learning at the preschool level (Diamond, 2010; Gopnik, 2005), there is also increasing pressure on young children in kindergarten classrooms to meet the expectations imposed by a more academic curriculum (Bodrova, 2008; Diamond, 2010).
I think that Nim adjusted really quickly to kindergarten because it had gone so positively here (at RGC). She was never pushed to be something that she wasn’t. She was taken on her terms and valued and celebrated for who she was, and I think that was just a great thing for her to learn. I think the basic respect and valuing that you give kids here is so huge. I think so many places don’t give that to children, and I think it is so essential for growing and being able to connect with who you are. Both of my children really got that here (at RGC), and that may be the most valuable thing. They have this sense that who they are and what they have to say matters. Within the context of a community, that other people matter, that compassion matters, that individuals are valued. (Shari, mother of Ky and Nim, June 21, 2010)
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© 2015 Jeanne Marie Iorio and Will Parnell
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Recchia, S.L., Bentley, D.F. (2015). “Who They Are and What They Have to Say Matters …”: How an Emergent Preschool Experience Shapes Children’s Navigation of Kindergarten. In: Iorio, J.M., Parnell, W. (eds) Rethinking Readiness in Early Childhood Education. Critical Cultural Studies of Childhood. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137485120_10
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