KINDERDANCE MEMORIES

The Kinderdance program has been around for 30 years now. We have taught many children all over the world and we want to hear what they have to say. If you are a part of the Kinderdance family, we are interested in hearing your memories and stories.

We have started a discussion on Facebook to hear your memories. To contribute, please go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kinderdance-International-Inc/76776864786

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Philosophical Foundation

Part 3

Glasser (1969), author of Schools without Failure, strongly postulated that love and self worth may be considered the two pathways that lead to a successful identity. It is a well established fact that individuals able to develop a successful identity are those who have learned to find their way through the two pathways of love and self worth, the latter dependant upon knowledge and the ability to solve problems of life satisfactorily. For most children only two places exist where they can gain a successful identity and learn to follow the essential pathways. These places are the home and the school.

Maria Montessori, physician and educator, was well aware of the need to integrate movement and education in regard to self-actualization. Montessori stated:

• One of the greatest mistakes of our day is movement by itself, as something
  apart from the higher functions...Mental development must be connected with
  movement and be dependant on it. It is vital that educational theory
  and practice should become informed by this idea. (1967, p.140)

Montessori earlier remarked:

• If movement is curtailed, the child's personality and sense of well being is threatened. Movement is a part of personality and nothing can take its place. The man who does not move is injured in his being and is an outcast from life. (1963, p.103)

In summary, the number of children involved in early childhood education programs in nursery schools and day care center settings is on the rise. At a time when parents are looking to early childhood education programs to ensure their child a positive educational start, there is conflict as to the changing role of the kindergarten setting. Alternative methods in education, for 3-5 year old children are needed in order to blend different levels of early educational experiences while addressing the individual needs of all children. Those who have had early childhood education opportunities and those entering kindergarten as their first educational experience need new challenges which will give each child a positive sense of self. This recent problem affords an opportunity to examine the educational needs of young children as they face a new world which requires a greater sense of self in relation to the world they will be instrumental in shaping.

At a time when creative solutions are being sought to solve many problems, it seems only fitting that encouraging and guiding thinking in young children be of top priority. Glasser strongly supported the idea that unless we can provide schools where children, through a reasonable use of their capacities, can succeed, we will do little to solve the major problems of our country. Creating environments and curriculums which encourage children to think, act, create, explore, and share with all of their sense, especially in the early stages of education, is essential for the development of creative minds. We are born with the desire to create but it must be nurtured and allowed to develop through a conscience effort on the part of educators, parents, and society. There are many ways to learn but a 3-5 year old child must be allowed to lean in the most natural, creative fashion-through movement.

Philosophical Foundation

Part 2

Kindergarten curriculum need to be viewed as an opportunity for children to expand developmentally on the already acquired skills gained through early education programs. The children's need for continued exploration of the world around them, through all of the senses, does not diminish because of early experiences. In fact, children's curiosity and energy levels increase through instruction in early childhood programs, and their greater capacities need satisfaction. What a perfect opportunity to teach these young, absorbent minds cognitive skills through the children's natural need for movement. In 1942, Piaget wrote:

• Sensory-motor intelligence lies at the source of thought, and continues to affect it through perceptions and practical sets. The role of perception in the most highly developed thought cannot be neglected, as it is by some writers. (Piaget, 1966, p.119)

Arnheim, Professor of Psychology of Art at Harvard University wrote:

• Artistic activity is a form of reasoning in which perceiving and thinking are indivisibly intertwined. A person who paints, writes, composes, dances...Genuine art work requires organization which involves many and perhaps all of the cognitive operations known from theoretical thinking. (Cited in Lillard, 1972, p.27)

Arnheim contends that genuine art work requires organization which involves many and perhaps all of the cognitive operations known from theoretical thinking. Arnheim does not agree with our educational system which has separated the development of reason and sense perception.

In education the child studies numbers and words; the arts are presented as entertainment and mental release. Arnheim therefore calls for a re-emphasis on perception in the education of the child's mental powers. Arnheim contends that the cognitive operations called thinking are not the privilege of mental processes above and beyond perception, but essential ingredients of perception itself.

Since movement is a natural form of expression for children, dance can expand the learning process. Movement affords the preschool and kindergarten teacher an opportunity to individualize the curriculum in order to enhance the probability of each child developing a positive self-esteem. Within are forms, dance happens to be a vehicle whereby a child can feel a sense of accomplishment in a short period of time.

Final part 3 will be posted on Friday...

Philosophical Foundation

PART 1

Friedrich Froebel, noted German philosopher, educator, and founder of the kindergarten, asserted that every child is unique and believed that children can best develop the uniqueness through action. He held that all phases of the personality develop through action, asserting that in childhood this action is called "play." Frobel claimed that play should be considered appropriate basis for all childhood education and therefore established the kindergarten as the child's bridge between home play and school life (cited in Ransbery, 1982).
Today there exists a gap between prekindergarten educational programs and the functions of the kindergarten setting. The role of the Kindergarten teachers is also changing, and new curriculum objectives are being sought. Many children have had at least one year of early childhood education before entering kindergarten. As a consequence, kindergarten teachers feel pressured by by parents to provide a cognitively oriented curriculum. Unfortunately, this often causes conflict between kindergarten and primary teachers over educational prerogatives. Another factor contributing to the kindergarten teachers' already difficult task and producing further tension is the Independence gained by children in early education programs. The increasing number of kindergartners entering first grade from formal early childhood programs has prompted teachers to recognise that some curriculum changes may be appropriate (Elkind & Lyke, cited in Nall, 1982).
While approximately 50% of the children attending today's kindergartens have attended prekindergarten programs, the need for reinforcement and expansion of the basic transitional readiness skills still exists and to an even greater degree than formerly. Instead of involving kindergartners in a slowed down version of cognitive exercises that are introduced in the lower elementary grades, expansion of preparatory cognitional aptitude should be developed.



part 2 will be posted Wednesday...