“We teach Apple* Curriculum here, you can be as creative you want and we encourage all styles of teaching. That was the elevator speech I received during my interview when I asked the administrator about their Curriculum. I thought, Wow! This is the real deal, I never thought I would find a school that teaches Apple* Curriculum. You see, I had taught for 7 years prior at a small lab school with 50 students that teaches and trained teachers using Apple Curriculum. With this in mind, the school I was interviewing at was a unicorn school. At least, that’s what I thought. I began using the Apple* Curriculum in my 3- & 4-year-old room the way I was taught by an Apple* Curriculum Specialist.
About 6 months pass by, and I am called into my administrator’s office. They told me, “A parent has a concern because their child seems to be regressing in your classroom.” I was shocked. I have never had a child regress in my 9 years of teaching. I asked in what manner was the parent concerned and how I can help. The administrator of the school said, “All I know is the parent wants their child removed from your room and placed in another teacher’s room. I also think its important for you to know that we have to pull you from being a teacher and make you a substitute instead. That’s what the owner of the school is demanding since you aren’t a traditional educator”. I emptied out my personal items from the classroom that day, I took down my family portrait on our School Family Tree. I said “Goodbye” to my room. A couple of days later I noticed that my Self-Regulation Center was removed, as well as the “We Wish You Well” Board. Then worksheets, sight words and word walls entered my old room. The problem? They wanted me to teach sight words to 3- and 4-year-olds to get them ready for kindergarten, they asked why I wasn’t erasing and redoing the students classwork.
This way of educating children is a serious problem. However, it is more common than people think.
Some educators would say that I am a nonconformist and say that the way the school was wanting me to teach was traditional. I would disagree. I believe that yes, I am a nonconformist, but I am also a traditionalist.
Take a moment and think about the ways that children learned before schools became buildings. The children would learn mathematics, science and reading by helping a parent in the kitchen, they learned social emotional skills by playing with peers and family members for hours on end. They learned hands on practical, real-life skills. They did not have someone telling them to hurry up and do their best so they can succeed in kindergarten.
I’ve never really understood why we need to prepare children for the future. Sydney Guerwitz Clemons said it best when she wrote, “We don’t starve to prepare for a famine. We fatten them up to the best of our ability and hope they survive.”
Take Away the Walls 