Where I've Been

"[E]ach child is viewed as infinitely capable, creative, and intelligent..."

-Louise Cadwell

A student independently creates a small world play scene.

A new school year is upon us and as I eagerly anticipate the new group of children that will soon be entering the sacred space of our classroom - a space where play rules and the rights of the children are a priority - I find myself reflecting on these small people and where they've been.

I have the privilege of teaching and learning from four-year-old children each day. When I really stop to think about it, it is amazing that these small people have been on this planet for only four short years. Four years! It's really amazing.

I think it is often easy for teachers to welcome a new group of students and immediately lament how much they "don't know." Let us not forget, the students who just left our community had an entire year to get where they were when they left, and although it is sometimes terribly hard to remember, they entered the classroom in the same place as these who are now gracing our doorway. It is so easy - especially in our society, who places so much emphasis on deficits in children entering the school system, rather than recognizing and capitalizing on all of the knowledge they bring - to forget that four-year-old children are filled to the brim with the wisdom of their experiences. 

Children are so often underestimated because of their age. What's four years? A stint in high school? A college career?

Play dough representations.

How much did I learn in my four years in high school? In college? My first four years as a classroom teacher? Loads! Certainly more than I can quantify here. But here's what I didn't learn in any of those chapters of my life: How to walk. How to speak and comprehend an entire language. How to assess and react in various social situations. How to navigate an environment - multiple environments! - that were totally out of my range of experience on a daily basis. The list could continue on and on.

So why are children so frequently underestimated? In the four years before these children walk through my classroom door, they have accomplished much. So much. They come to us each day possessing so much knowledge, so much experience, so much wisdom. They are learners, researchers, artists, musicians. They are storytellers, collaborators, community members, individuals. 

Remembering and reflecting on this fact also helps me keep in the front of my mind that these children enter our space each day as fully capable - and I owe it to them to consistently remind the world.