The Forest Hill Nature Preschool and the Reggio Emilia Approach to Education

           This article discusses The Forest Hill Nature Preschool.  The school’s director Lavonne Taylor spent time working at Joppatowne Elementary in Baltimore County and The Archdiocese of Baltimore before starting her own school.  The school emphasizes the Reggio Emilia approach.  The students learn in the school building, but spend a great portion of their time outside.  They also get to interact with animals such as rabbits and chickens that live on the property, participate in performances and do yoga on the stage in the “classroom in the woods,” and walk the fairy gardens trail. 

                Ms. Taylor express her concern over the amount of pressure being put on younger students in order to achieve higher testing scores.  She mentioned that what was once a first grade curriculum is now being taught in a kindergarten classroom, causing the kindergarten curriculum to be taught in the preschool classroom.  She believes that students are not prepared at their age for this type of work.  Sitting inside and doing worksheets is not developmentally appropriate for that young of children who acquire most of their learning through interactive play.  One example Taylor gives is that, when it rains and water fills up the sandbox, the children practice irrigating the water.  The children are still getting academic training, but they are learning in a way that is authentic for them.

                Although for most educators who understand the value of developmentally appropriate practice and play for children, I think the culture in our education system now is the more “traditional academics” the better.  Everything is about the test scores.  Because school systems are placing so much emphasis on this, students and parents do as well.  Because of this, they might see the extensive amount of time outside playing as “a waste,” even though in reality it is presenting the students with diverse, relevant, and authentic learning opportunities. 

This approach to preschool education seems to be very effective, but I wonder what it would look like in other areas.  This preschool is located in Forest Hill, Harford County.  Parents have more options about where they want to send their children to school.  They choose to send them to The Forest Hill Nature Preschool.  Its location also lends itself to the exquisite outdoor education the students’ receive.  When discussing her previous jobs, Ms. Taylor said that parents were apprehensive about letting their students go out into the woods.  She replied with, “It’s just trees.”  In some cases though, areas surrounding schools are not “just trees.”  They are unsafe areas.  Also, this type of education, I feel, would require training in the Reggio Emili approach.  While the article does not specifically mention if the staff are Reggio Emilia certified, I am presuming that the staff receives training.  Brining this type of education to schools in the City or County would also require training for faculty and staff.  This then brings about the question, “Where do we get the money?”

How do you feel this approach could be handled in public schools in areas such as Baltimore County or Baltimore City?  What are steps the school systems or teachers could take to better educate the whole child?

I have placed the link to the article here.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/harford/aegis/ph-ag-forest-hill-nature-preschool-1012-20161026-story.html

School Systems Denying Students of Their Constitutional Right

School Systems Denying Students of Their Constitutional Right 

In a recent New York Times opinion article, Geoffrey R. Stone discussed the issue of whether or not the Detroit Public Schools are unconstitutional due to their dismal conditions and test scores. Children have the constitutional right to an adequate public education that provides them with the skills they need to get into college. According to this article, it is questionable whether Detroit Public schools are providing their students with just that—an adequate public education. At one school 100 percent of sixth graders scored below proficiency in reading. Illiteracy is a common trend among the vast majority of students in this public school system. What is even more troubling is that this is only the case is schools that serve high poverty neighborhoods. When the students at a school are demonstrating that they are not being taught basic literacy skills, can we say they are being denied a constitutional right?  Stone also pointed out that not only are the test scores indicating that there is education provided is inadequate, but the conditions of the school are horrific. Many of the schools are rodent infested, lacking heating and cooling, and are without basic learning materials. This is just naming a few of the major issues with the facilities. Ultimately, the schools are not providing an environment that is fit for learning to take place so it is not surprising that the test score are so low. 

                Major changes were recently made to public schools in Connecticut because a state judge ruled that Connecticut was not fulfilling its constitutional obligation to give students an “adequate education.” Based on the mounting evidence that Detroit schools are failing to teach their students basic reading and writing skills, it is clear that similar changes need to be made to that school system. It is impossible to combat poverty in a community when the school system is floundering.

                This article resonated with me for several reasons. First, when there are schools serving high poverty areas that are dirty, overcrowded, using outdated materials and freezing cold, it sends the message to the students about the worth of their education. It sends the message that their education does not matter as much as rich white students. If they are receiving this message from a young age, how can we expect them to put effort into learning if no effort is put into providing them with the bare minimum in terms of their education? Students then graduate without the basic literacy skills they need to find a job and support a family. This then perpetuates the cycle of poverty. It also supports the school to prison pipeline issue. The conditions of schools are so unsuitable for learning to take place that teachers are forced to direct their focus on behavior management practices. In a desperate situation when kids are unengaged, frustrated, confused and feeling defeated and therefore acting out, punitive behavior management practices begin to arise. Under these circumstances schools start to look more and more similar to prisons, and kids can feel it. When kids are feeling like education is not an option for them due to the conditions of their school, they are more likely to resort to criminal activity. Thus the school to prison pipeline is perpetuated.    

                In order for students to value their own education, drastic changes need to me made to show them that their education matters to those in charge. In thinking of a possible solution to this situation, the role of charter schools came to mind. When the public school system is failing so miserably clearly drastic changes need to be made. Could one solution be to funnel more money into charter schools that provide promising alternatives to the struggling public schools? For this solution to work I think that clear parameters need to be set for the charter school model that ensure that the issues faced by the public schools are addressed. Charter schools are also not a guarantee because it takes years of data collection to prove the success of a charter school. However, I think that at this point, because of the level of urgency, the benefits outweigh the risk.

Link to the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/21/opinion/are-detroits-most-terrible-schools-unconstitutional.html?_r=0