On October 2nd, I visited St. Helen's school in Newbury, Ohio. For my first visit, I spent it in a kindergarden class of 17 kids. The first thing I noticed immediately when walking into the classroom was the colors and how it was set up. The room was carpeted with one large alphabet carpet placed in the front of the room. The colors were bright, and all around the room there were pictures of the alphabet and numbers. Along with many drawings and paintings from the kids. I realized that the classroom had no gender restricting posters such as boys playing sports or girls playing with dolls.
The students did not have an individual desk but rather three tables that were shaped into a U which helped everyone see one another. This set-up worked perfectly for the teacher when she was teaching class. One thing I loved about the teachers' teaching style was how she taught the students the lesson. She would sing and have rhymes for the students and they would pick up on the material instantly. The songs and rhymes also had hand motions or feet motions. It was interesting to see that some students were able to both sing and move at the same time while others struggled.
The students were given responsibility even at the kindergarden age. They each had their own containers that had their materials in it as well as their coats and lunch boxes. When the kids behaved well either as a class or an individual, they were extremely happy when they received a star sticker. One girl in particular, who got a star as an individual, walked past me and had a large grin on her face. The excitement she had for behaving and receiving an award warmed my heart. This reward system shows how such simple things make a child's day.
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