Is it okay for preschoolers to learn nothing?

Question

I am a teacher assistant at a preschool center and I will be going to college to become a preschool teacher. Shouldn't 3-5 year old learn in preschool? The lead teacher where I work says that playing is the most important thing for kids this age. I understand that they need to play, but we don't teach the kids anything! We have an hour to do centers (snack, art, pretend play, fine motor)... but like for fine motor, they play in the sandbox or play with legos. And it is only 15 minutes for each center... They play for almost the whole day! Most of them can count and they know the alphabet almost... shouldn't we be preparing them for kindergarten more? What kinds of things should be learned at preschool? I want to suggest things to the director...

I've heard that parents are not pleased with the preschool and it is b/c of the lead teacher not willing to TEACH... they say that their kids that are older struggled in kindergarten and are worried that their current preschooler will struggle also.

Answer 1

No, it is not okay for students to learn nothing. I really hope that you just feel they are not learning anything, and in fact they are learning skills needed in daily tasks.

I work in a preschool program that it seems all students do is play. But one must realize, it is through play that children learn to socialize, speak, and express their feelings. I am the lead teacher in my room, and at first it felt funny not actually putting a four year old at table and giving him a task after teaching third graders for three years. But through reasearch, I have seen why it is so important to allow students to play. Your lead teacher should have activities lined out for the centers to help students meet skills. You and your lead teacher should be in the centers talking with the students, playing with the students, and socializing with the students. If your lead teacher is not initiating little task and skills, maybe you should take it upon yourself to do so. There are many little lessons one can teach students.

I have carpet time, or whole group, for 15 minutes a day, I know its not much, but is allows time to talk about the task that are at hand that day, sing songs, ect. As far as you thinking that one hour is to much time to play, try working at the program that I am affiliated with. We allow students to play outside for 1 hour, we sleep 1 hour, we eat 1 hour, and the other 4 hours we spend in "learning" centers (blocks, dramatic, art, music, ect).

You have to realize that students are learning through interaction, but you have to add to that learning through meaningful center lessons and interactions. I also wanted to get my students ready for kindergarten when I first started teaching pre-k, but majority of my students were not ready to do "kindergarten" tasks. Yes, some could write their name, count, "sing" their alphabet. Those students I took beyond that. Those that were not ready, I worked on what they knew and built upon that. You can not push a child to learn before they are ready. All you will do is help that child hate school.

In kindergarten, teachers want students to come to them with social skills and knowing how to solve problems on their own. Yes they would like them to know their alphabet and their name, but that is something students grasp in their mid to later 5's for most. I say you design lessons for centers, to help them learn more. That way you feel you are preparing them more for kindergarten and you are not pushing away from the learning experience.

I hope this has helped you. Good luck.

Answer 2

I disagree with the responder who says all you need for Kindergarten readiness is write name and draw within lines. I've been an elementary school teacher for 10 years. It's the demands placed on kindergartners that caused me to place my (now 5 year old) in a preschool that focuses on academics.

The most important thing for a child entering kindergarten to be able to do is sit through a 30 - 45 minute circle time. This is a skill they need to practice and develop. My son's preschool started at a 10 minute circle time when he started the 3 year old program, and by the time he finished the 4 year old program, they were sitting for 45 minutes.

At 4 1/2 my son could count and identify numbers to 100. Identify by sight and know the phonetic sounds of all letters - both upper and lower case. He's had much practice with cutting, and sorting. He has begun simple addition and subtraction and can read easy readers on his own. During his open house they demonstrated a circle time which included calendar, weather, Letter of the Week, and naming and identifying the location of all 50 states.

And guess what? They had PLENTY of time to play each day, too! He socially adept, has excellent fine motor control, great character skills AND academics. It doesn't have to be one or the other. With State Standards they way they are today, academics are important too!

Answer 3

The most damaging thing the teacher seems to be doing is not letting them build up concentration. 15 minutes then they change stations? What if a child wants to do something for an hour...or longer?

Yes...they should be learning things. Children at this age enjoy learning if it's done properly.

However, realize that you can't do a lot to step on someone's toes in their classroom if you're the assistant. Find ideas and make suggestions, but I had a good friend who ended up getting a teaching job in a school such as what you're describing. Even if the children asked to learn stuff, she was not allowed to teach it. She didn't stay there long, thankfully!

Learn what you can from this experience and recognize that this is not how you will want to run your classroom when you become a teacher. I do agree that maybe you can seek out jobs at another school that you really like. It will be helpful to work with a teacher and program that you want to be similar to so you can learn how they do it.

Matt

Answer 4

Many teachers get confused about a "learn through play" philosophy. I think this teacher is confused about the difference between "play" and "free play". Children need time for "free play" every day and they learn from that, but they also need some directed play. She is really selling the children short if she's not doing that. Every time they are playing, she should also be able to tell you specifically what they are learning from that play. It sounds as though she either isn't capable of doing that or is not willing to.

Directed play also isn't the same as "direct teaching". I believe children will learn things like counting, numbers, ABCs, etc. without being directly taught. Children should be singing songs and playing games that involve ABCs and numbers, for example. In pretend play, teachers can become involved and do some indirect teaching as well. For example, if children are pretending to cook, the teacher could suggest opening a restaurant. She can help the children create menus, take orders, etc. All of this will involve the teaching of math, reading, and writing and the kids won't even know it! (LOL) Because they're too busy playing!!!

When I taught a pre-K class, we had a full day program. They had free play in the morning, but centres in the afternoon. We had a language centre where children did things like write their own stories or dictate them. We had a math centre where children played math games I made or measured things in the water table. We had a science centre and did many interesting experiments. That's the only ones I can remember right now.

Children can play and learn through projects on topics they are interested in as well.

Some good sources on what a good "learn through play" program should be:

http://woub.org/kids/learn_through_play.htm

http://home.sprintmail.com/~peggyriehl/prmycurrphil.htm

http://www.playingforkeeps.org/site/documents/speakingout.pdf

http://www.freewebs.com/childrensjourney/creativecurriculum.htm

http://www.projectapproach.org/

Answer 5

It's important to know that at the preschool age students are learning through play. And they are learning a lot of skills that will prepare them for kindergarten, such as taking turns, social interaction, following directions, participated in teacher led activities, and other related things. So don't underestimate play. Centers that promote fine motor develop prepare students for correctly holding pencils, cutting with scissors, and handwriting skills. Dramatic play teaches kids social skills and how to be creative. There are lots and lots of things that are learned through play. Way too many to list here.

But, with all of that said, these things need to be fostered by the teacher. If the teacher just says "go play" and sits in a corner, then these skills are probably not developing the way they need to. The teacher needs to be involved and know how to ensure that these skills and being infused into the children's' play.

I also think that preschool is a perfectly fine environment to learn concepts of print skills (not learning how to read--they will do that in kindergarten). Students need to understand that reading takes place from left to right and top to bottom. The need to understand the difference between a letter, a word, and a sentence. They need to understand that letters correspond to sounds and written words convey meaning. These are just some examples. And they seem very simple, but young children do not automatically know these things. And they must be mastered before they can read.

So in preschool I think there should be a lot of reading time with discussion about print concepts, talk of letter names and sounds, recognizing and writing their own names, counting and recognizing numbers, one-to-one correspondence, and sorting and classifying objects, to name a few. But these things need to be taught informally, through play and interactive activities--not formal instruction. Preschoolers are not ready for formal instruction. They have very short attention spans and developmentally are not prepared for that type of learning.

Answer 6

This is a difficult argument. I think play is the most important thing aswell. And i think any learning should be incorporated in that play.
Like. If there is a story time hour or something, the person reading the book when they show the pictures to the children should say "And what is this animal... a Lion. And what colour jumper is the lion wearing? purple" etc etc.
I think Sesame Street is a good basis for kids this age. The show was fun and it taught things like, counting, colours, the alphabet etc etc. I think these things are the most important essentials. I mean I dont think we need to teach the kids much more than that at this stage. Some of them are really still babies. I think its more stimulation and encouragement thats more important than teaching.

Answer 7

Call some other preschool centers in your area! Pose as a parent and ask about the program for that age group. Ask what instructional activities are included. Then you can go to your director and say "ABC School does this and Little Kiddies School does that." Tell them you want to see them remain competitive and give parents the best deal for the money. If the director won't listen, maybe you should go work at one of those other schools! I agree with you, the kids should be learning something.

Answer 8

What's your center's education philosophy? Some presch center do promote much play and less work for the young. If parents have been complaining about it, i assume that yr sch operator would have known of the matter already.

Children learn best through play actually. Though play is an important part of children's lives, it is still essential for them to have some work to do. The type of activities that's suitable depend on the children's age.

For example 3 yrs old, it is not encouraged for them to learn how to write yet. But the teacher can have some reading or storytelling sessions with them to promote their interest in reading.

For 4 yrs old, the teacher can start to expose them to simple writing activities, eg. tracing.

For 5 yrs old, children do need to be provided with adequate opportunities to learn writing and other skills.

Depending on what kind of play the children at yr center have. If the play is just leisure play, then they may not be able to learn anything.. but if there's purpose in the play, the children can learn certain skills (ie. there must be a learning outcome defined)

Answer 9

Teach the children to write on the paper that children first learn to write on with the alphabet. Make the letters dotted starting with the letter A and do that for a week and then go through the alphabet that way and also do the numbers that way.
Make flash card of the alphabet with bubble letter stencils and the numbers so the children can reconize the alphabet and numbers.
Make lines on the paper that are straight,zigzagged,
circle,square,rectangle,and then have the children cut them on the line.I have found out that some children do not how to hold the scissors the right way and it affected them in school.
I had children who did not know how to hold them in their hand they were even in 1st grade.
I have worked in a preschool for a long time and I have gone through what you have gone through and I made a difference for the children. I taught the children to write their names and numbers and they learned the alphabet and learned to cut the right way. I hope this will help. Good Luck.
I worked with children for 20 Years.

Answer 10

In all honesty, preschool is really for kids to learn about socialization. It is not necessary for 3-5 years olds to learn theoretical work. The alphabet and learning to count from 1-20 is possibly all that's needed for kids at this stage, but emphasis should not be placed on academics. Allow the kids to learn and practice skills important for self-development, as well as development amongst peers and respect for themselves and those in authority. At this stage, kids 'pick up' on the things happening around them very quickly, so why not try to help them 'pick up' on the skills that will get them through life as human beings. Education is not life; it is a part of life. Education does not lead to intelligence; it only compliments it.