Monday Matters – Are worksheets appropriate for preschool?

Last week I made a decision!  It has relieved much stress that I have been carrying.   One of the things that decision makers encounter is  that you will never appease all people.  As a mother, wife, entrepreneur and teacher, I make a lot of decisions in a day.  Learning that I cannot appease all people is something I grapple with and work to improve.  I was once told that teachers make almost 3000 educational decisions a day.  Many of those decisions have a direct impact on parent satisfaction.

When I started planning and creating the preschool, one of the decisions I knew I had to make is how to show parents what their children are doing in school.  Traditionally, the more “stuff” that comes home the better.  I have seen many programs (preschool and elementary schools) send homework or classwork home in the form of worksheets.  For a long time I have struggled with this because I am not a proponent of worksheets especially at the early childhood level.  I thought maybe next year I will do more worksheets because other schools are doing it and parents like to see it.  I have decided no worksheets!

Worksheets are:

Passive learning

Not developmentally appropriate

Too abstract

Children learn best:

Through experience and play

By doing

Using concrete symbols

Instead of worksheets, you will see pictures on my blog of things children are doing.  Projects will go home – maybe finished, maybe not – but they will have provided an experience for your child.

If you have been following my blog, you may realize I am a firm believer in balance.  If your children are in a preschool program, no need to call in the forces because a worksheet came across your desk.  A worksheet here and there is not cause for alarm.  Just be sure your kids are getting the experiences they need and that are developmentally appropriate for their age.

I am finally at peace with my decision not to use worksheets and have realized that the best decisions are made by keeping what is in the best interest of the children in mind.  By doing that I can’t go wrong.

{mysignaturehere}