Did you pause when you read this quote?  Did you reflect on how many times you took over for your child when they were struggling on a task?  Did it resonate with you?

As I read it, I am reminded of a conversation with a parent when I first started teaching.  She said that she could stay and help me put on each child’s jacket, as I “didn’t have time to do it for them.” I paused at her words. I surely could have put each child’s jacket on them.  However, it was more important for me to TEACH them to put on a jacket and learn to zip it up.  Learning to dress was just as important as playground time.  And if the transition to the playground took 10 extra minutes as I coached children about sleeves and fasteners, then so be it.  That example has always stayed with me.

At FUMP, one of our core beliefs is that children should learn age-appropriate self-help skills that evolve into the larger goal of self-sufficiency.  This means that simple tasks, like three year old’s putting on shoes or toddlers throwing away trash, are part of our intentional teaching.  Giving children tasks such as these, which seem easy and unimportant, is, in fact, important work for children.  Tasks build developmental skills: gross and fine motor by their physical actions and language by listening and processing instruction, and they build a child’s emotional development as well.  Most importantly, they learn responsibility.

When you think of your preschool-aged child growing up into the elementary years, middle and high school years, and adulthood, I am certain that you want “responsible” on this list of traits they have.  Developing the trait starts in the early years with small steps.  You will see our teachers patiently coaching children through tasks.  Teachers will break down tasks into small steps that a child can master with confidence.  As a result, the child gains a feeling of pride in their accomplishments, and they seek it out again and again.

We seek to develop this skill in children rather than rushing in to complete a task for them.  We seek out the long-term rewards of mastery over the short-term convenience.  Yes, as adults, we can do it better and faster, but where is the learning for the child, and what message do we send by taking over? Perhaps this column will give you pause. At FUMP, we are playing the long game of growing responsible people.

After my last column on process art, it sparked even more conversation about other salient points on process art in a child-centered classroom.  Inevitably, the topic of worksheets arises. The parent I spoke with last month mentioned that her friend’s daughter came home with worksheets; they were simple – just two shapes on a page.  The teacher in the class read the directions aloud from the page and the children drew a circle under the square. The neighbor was proudly showing off the “school work” her child had completed at school.

Worksheets appear in the early childhood setting in many shapes, forms and fashions.  Oftentimes, they are presented in a direct-teach situation, meaning a teacher sits in front of the group, reads a prompt, and the children are instructed to complete a task.  There is typically a clear, end-product for the children to copy or recreate. Teachers may also select them to support a theme.  If a teacher has selected a theme such as apples, they may copy the outline of an apple for the children to color.  Pages are set out with red and green crayons for the children to color. For many schools, it serves as the art project to support the theme.

Children will the complete worksheets as set forth. However, they may be thinking, well, I like pink lady apples, but the teacher only provided green and red crayons. One child thinks of apples as tan, as she likes dried apples.  Another child recently discovered the seeds in the core of an apple, but no brown crayons are available for use that day. Rather, FUMP uses open-ended art principles, allowing children to create art that is representative of their own unique experiences, encompassing the length and breadth of their knowledge of apples – not limited outcomes with only one right answer.

At FUMP, we create more authentic experiences for children.  Teachers select more dynamic materials to encourage hands on learning through the five senses: taste, touch, sight, sound and feel.  We would skip the flat one-dimensional image on a page and seek other ways to engage children.  Stamping with apples cut in half, a tasting project of types of apples, planting apple seeds are all projects that I have seen done in our classrooms this fall.

Will children be expected to complete these types of activities in elementary school? Absolutely.  And that type of activity should be reserved until children reach the appropriate age to do so.  Milestones such as following multi-step directions, comprehending the principle of written symbols are represent the spoken word, understanding reading foundations (page orientation, left to right), attention span, and more. You will see some worksheets with pre-selected shapes on our art shelves. They are one choice out of a wealth of creative materials in the classroom.

One side note, a dozen children in a classroom could not possibly be developmentally ready for the direct teach activity at the same time. As a child centered program, the last thing we want to do is set up a child to fail. When open-ended materials are used, children who are ready for more can do more.  When teachers pick out crafty projects and worksheets that may be cute and pleasing to adults, they fail to capture the wonder and curiosity of early childhood, and fail to allow for individual differences among children. We seek to support children in their development, at their own rate and pace.

Thanks for your support of FUMP and our child-centered philosophy.  Your children thank you too!

Want to learn more about FUMP curriculum and activities?  Check out the FUMP DIRECTOR’S BLOG.