"All You Do is Craft," An Onlooker's Lament
- kendalltheile95
- Sep 10, 2023
- 6 min read
All you do is craft everyday
Cutting paper and gluing things every which way
Coloring with crayons and markers and more
You're not doing much, what's Kindergarten for?
You spend your day having fun, you read books and pretend play
You don't actually teach stuff, it's not really a work day
Honestly it's babysitting, you're there to entertain
Just get through the hours, their attention you'll sustain
What you do seems pretty easy, your job doesn't sound hard
Cute smiles and big hugs, that's all they do to bombard
You teach letters and numbers, that's easy and fast
Teaching Kindergarten is fun, it must be a blast!
-Kendall Theile, a Kindergarten Teacher
This all sounds pretty ridiculous doesn't it? My fellow colleagues, in and out of the Kindergarten level, are probably scoffing as they read those lines. Sadly, it's a realistic view some people have around the teaching profession, and more specifically around teaching Kindergarten. Rest assured, I don't believe ALL we do is craft. It's a huge component of Kindergarten, however it doesn't drive our teaching. Neither does playing all day, though the power of play is something we all as human beings take for granted. With that said, I'm here to bring the ACTUAL reality that is this Kindergarten lament, so sit back, relax and let's dive into the unrealistic stigma of being a Kindergarten teacher.
"All you do is craft all day."
My Kindergarten team and I push ourselves to incorporate Fun Friday into our weekly routine at school. Whether it's a craft in reading, a new game in math, a silly song & dance, we wish to celebrate the learning that occurred in our classroom that week! We also want to assess our students' knowledge of the content taught, while doing it in an engaging and exciting way. Showcasing a child's knowledge with a visual medium transforms a child's perception of the content! Kids love creating something they can call their own, and putting it on display is the icing on the cake! Just this past Friday we made a coconut tree craft that correlated between spelling our names and our current book study, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. After each student completed their project, I presented it to the class for celebration and reinforcement of the completed expectation. The cheers, the oohs and aahs, the applause that EVERY student got from their peers was freaking amazing. The student was so proud of their work, as was their entire class. All we do is craft all day? You better believe I wish we could after getting that type of response!
Not only does crafting provide a visualization of a child's learning and boost confidence in their learning ability, but it also focuses on essential life skills that many of us don't appreciate to the fullest: fine motor skills. Thank your previous (or ANY Kindergarten teacher for that matter) for helping with fine motor skills. Need a reason? How about MANY!?
In Kindergarten, you learned:
How to hold a pencil/pen/marker
How to take a lid on and off of a glue stick
How to cut with scissors
How to color in the lines.
Choosing "right" colors when coloring
Hand-eye coordination
All we do is craft all day? Think about this. You can now:
Tie your own shoes
Turn door knobs
Hold tweezers & tongs
Zip and unzip suitcases
Unscrew a lid or pop open a can
Hold things heavier than 1 pound
Yeah, all that crafting is just mindless work used to pass the time, right? HA!
"You read books and pretend play"
If you ever go into a classroom and you don't see books prominently displayed around the room and accessible to students, then we've got a problem. Books are ESSENTIAL to learning. Don't try to convince yourself they're not. Doesn't matter if it's a picture book, wordless book, chapter book or non-fiction text, it's imperative to have books and to read them. The other day I read Green Eggs & Ham to my class as an enrichment piece to learning how to rhyme. I read the story to them while omitting certain words, and it was up to them to fill in the missing words that rhymed. They filled in the blanks together and had a fun time using the illustrations as hints to the answer. They enjoyed it so much that I immediately got out The Cat in the Hat afterward, and what transpired was a breathless Miss Theile, kids on the edge of their seats and a round of applause when the last page was read. You bet we read books in Kindergarten, and we have fun and learn while we do it!
Pretend play is absolutely a part of our day, specifically in a time frame called Structured Play. Kids rotate through daily stations that focus on various elements of play. This could be coloring books, playdoh and playdoh tools, building blocks, Connect 4, Dominos, puppet theatre and more! After we spend time with puppet theatre and get accustomed to appropriate play procedures, kids use the puppet stand as a restaurant, a grocery store, a doctor's office or a kitchen at home. Their imaginations go wild when they act out these roles together. Why do this? Let me share:
Kids learn how to communicate with each other
They focus on problem solving & conflict-resolution
Kids apply these concepts to their real lives outside of school
They learn how to take turns, be patient and practice following directions
THEY HAVE FUN!
Play sparks imagination and creativity, which directly influences our brains' ability to seek out opportunity, follow our dreams, pursue the impossible, think outside the box and explore the word around us with a curious mindset.
So wait...playing is learning? I'm doing my job as a teacher and teaching students? BIG WIN!
"You teach letters and numbers, that's easy and fast."
Man, how I WISH teaching letters and numbers was easy and fast! I could get so much more done during my school day. But alas, that's just not meant to be. Yes, we teach letter names and their sounds. But did you know that we teach all 52 letters, upper & lowercase? Did you know we teach appropriate letter formation and how to write each number correctly? Did you know that once we get done teaching the letters and numbers we then teach our students why some letters don't sound the same when they're in actual words? We also teach kids how letters and numbers are essential to being successful in life, and how they're applied outside of school. Yep, that sounds so easy, right?
What about the kids who require additional support in their learning and it takes them all year (and then some) to learn certain letters and numbers? That's at least 180 days of drilling, relearning and practicing the same skill over and over. I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound "fast" to me. Teaching letters and numbers is a methodical process with intentional implementation and structure.
Now think long-term learning, and what you need those letters and numbers for, such as :
Writing your name
Signing a check
Finding food at the grocery
Calculating tip at a restaurant
Typing a paper for school
Measuring out ingredients for a recipe
Reading traffic signs while you drive
Posting a caption for a picture on instagram or facebook
This list could keep going, but none of us have the time to sit and read a life's worth of letter and number impact, so I'll keep it short. You can do your own research if you still need convincing!
"Teaching Kindergarten is fun, it must be a blast!"
Being a Kindergarten teacher is definitely one of the most fun grades I've taught, and I've taught THREE different ones! HOWEVER! I would not say it's always fun, nor is it always a blast. Beginning of the year scaries are real, as mentioned in a previous blog post of mine. Getting through long months without any breaks is tough and assessing students 1:1 for every unit test and common assessment is a time consuming process. Some days are lighthearted and thrilling! There are many days where I'm so excited to come to work and teach a new lesson or do a cool activity. The day feels like it flies by and there's tons of "positive vibes" in the air. Other days are filled with stress and heavy workloads. We are loaded down with an assessment that needs to be completed, there's a difficult concept the kids are not quite getting and behaviors are out of control for whatever reason. Yes, teaching Kindergarten is fun, but it's not always a blast.
I leave you now with another lament, this time from an insider's view:
Teaching Kindergarten is fun, but it's definitely not easy
It's a lot of kids crying and germs and loud sneezing
We work hard everyday to teach their little brains
While every now and then they leave on their paints a small stain
Yes we do crafts and we read and we play
We can also have incredibly long, 10+ hour days
Letters and numbers don't come easy you see
For some that skill is just not meant to be
Writing and reading and counting is tough
Teaching things in one day is sometimes not enough
There's a lot the kids learn, from the first day to the last
Teaching Kindergarten is fun, but it's not always a blast!
Sharing Perspective. Encouraging Perseverance.
~Kendall
Comments