This post will start the discussion for the area of learning - Science. We will look at the component - Life Science with its learning expectation and performance indicators. Remember I am taking my information from the Tennessee Early Learning Developmental Standards (TN-ELDS).
The learning expectation for this component is: Observes surroundings in relation to knowledge and methods about life science. The first performance indicator is: Understands new information and begins to explore more complex situations and concepts. In that learning expectation and performance indicator several words stand out to me - observe, understand, complex, and explore. All of those words make this one laughable. Most of today's American 3 to 4 year old children are far too busy having to deal with social/emotional issues to even touch any of those concepts. This might have been true 30 to 40 years ago, but even my own children's generation of the 90s had stopped exploring as much as previous generations. We on the front lines are usually far too busy trying to deal with endless hissy fits and lack of self-help skills to touch these sorts of concepts until the children are 4 to 5 years old and that is in the best of programs. Other programs still deal with the social/emotional and lack of maturity well into a child's fourth year. With the push for more science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in school curriculum this trend of not being mature enough for science development in the preschool years might present a problem. This downward spiral of emotional issues in children has been in the works since the 1990s. That might explain why STEM concepts also declined greatly in that time period. If children cannot go more than 10 minutes in a group setting without a meltdown, the teacher cannot present a great deal of academic content. I do not blame teachers. Most of them work very hard to pull these children up and help them gain some emotional maturity and self-help skills, but the raw material these teachers are sent takes hard nasty work to get there. To add to all the other, a great deal of these children are not really potty-trained either. They do what they can with what they are given. Society as a whole and parents need to do better.
The next performance indicator is: Expands knowledge of and respect for their body and the environment. In order for children to expand knowledge, they must have a basic knowledge. When all children come through my door, one of the first orders of business involves learning body parts whether they are 18 months or 4 years old. I do believe many of the "experts" that compiled these standards would sit down and cry at how little some 4 year olds know about their own bodies. This is further compounded by how little access to free play these children have. They are sheltered from risk, and therefore, do not develop the same healthy respect for their limitations that their predecessors enjoyed. It is documented that children are injuring themselves in much higher numbers than even 10 years ago. They have no workable knowledge of their own bodies and what those bodies are capable and not capable of doing. We have "helicoptered" this particular performance indicator right out the window. A childhood without risk is a childhood without conquering this particular performance indicator. Not only does lack of risk hinder a workable knowledge of their own bodies, but it also hinders a healthy respect for their environment and the dangers of it. Children of this age have a much greater capacity for understanding the dangers of their environment than today's adults give them credit. I see it everyday with the children in my care. Children that have been with me since they were toddlers are more responsible than some elementary children I have seen. I do not shelter them from experiences and hover over them like they are made of glass. The result usually completely amazes parents and other early childhood educators that come in contact with these children. We sell children so short in the United States. Once upon a time, children survived in environments that would send regulators into spasms and children all over the world still survive these types of environments. We are actually not doing them any favors with our squeaky clean hyper-safe environments if the truth be told. We are killing their powers of observation and their ability to develop risk management.
The last performance indicator for this learning expectation is: Expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes. Oh my! I will say that if you are at least laying a foundation for the children to expand, you will be doing well. Many 3 year olds lack the language skills to describe and discuss anything. I have discussed the lack of observation and exploration until I am afraid I am sounding like a broken record. Most American children have so little exposure to the natural world and actual living things, they have no point of reference. As teachers we must give them experiences with the natural world and living things and natural processes. Until the children have the experiences expanding the knowledge will not happen. Just do your best to lay the foundation amid all the other that you must do. There is no way in the little time that you have these children that you can possibly fix the lack of knowledge in which they arrive on your doorstep. All you can do is take what you are given and make the most of it. Huge societal shifts will have to occur to fix it and that is way beyond what you as a teacher are capable of doing.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! https://linktr.ee/natawade
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