THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 9, 1996 TAG: 9606090036
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 116 lines
It seems simple enough - that every child should enter kindergarten knowing a cow says ``moo.''
But when some teachers at Brookwood Elementary School began seeing increasing numbers of students who didn't have the basic skills and knowledge to begin school successfully, the educators set out in January to reach the children before those children reached the classroom door.
``We feel all children can come to school ready to learn if they have the proper opportunity and experiences before they come to kindergarten,'' first-grade teacher Nancy Crowe said last week.
Crowe, second-grade teacher Mary Elliott and four other staff members have established the Council of Itty Bitty Braves - their effort to help families prepare their 2- through 4-year-old children for school days.
Among the council's activities: setting up a preschool library so that Brookwood students can check out books to read to younger siblings at home, and sponsoring afternoon workshops where parents can bring their preschoolers for a story and related activities. The kids get a chance to learn and interact with others their own age, and the parents get ideas for ways to continue the learning at home.
For toddlers, particularly those who do not attend preschool, time working one-on-one with a family member or playing happily with their peers can provide the type of boost that watching cheerful, purple dinosaurs and Muppets on TV cannot.
``Sesame Street's not enough,'' kindergarten teacher Wendy Carolino said.
School counselor Gaye Reid added that students who start out far behind ``never catch up. They never, ever catch up with the other students. And more and more they're coming into this building.''
The idea of emphasizing school readiness is not a new one. The federal Head Start program, aimed at underprivileged preschoolers, was started more than 30 years ago.
The first goal of the Clinton administration's Goals 2000 is that every child should start school ready to learn. It was also the first goal of the Bush administration's national education goals.
In North Carolina, Smart Start - a public-private initiative begun under Gov. James B. Hunt - is aimed at providing health care and early childhood education across the state. And readiness was the central theme of a summit held in early May by the Virginia Beach Education Association. The Council of Itty Bitty Braves was among the efforts honored by the VBEA at the summit.
While many of the programs nationally have focused on disadvantaged children, there is a growing concern that middle-class kids, being raised more frequently in busy households where both parents hold outside jobs, also need to spend less time with television and more time with books, paper and crayons.
The cost of children arriving ill-equipped to sit through a lesson, turn the individual pages of a storybook, follow simple directions and play nicely with their classmates begins with frustration and can end in expensive social intervention.
Bob Pianta, an associate professor in the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education, said studies show that what children learn in the first years of life greatly influences their educational progress. And, he said, the demands placed on children are growing.
``The playing field has changed a little bit,'' Pianta said. ``We expect kids to have quite a few things under their belts when they come to school. In some cases, that's a fairly high expectation.''
U.Va. has entered into a joint venture with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to establish the National Center on Early Learning and Development in part because of the continuing interest in readiness.
If a lack of preparedness leaves students with a negative impression of their first years of formal education, Pianta said, ``the likelihood of them ending up so they cost the state lots of money are very, very high.''
The Brookwood effort, which has included monthly mailings suggesting age-appropriate books and little kits for parents to build activities around, has been paid for out of teachers' pockets, with some contributions from the school. On Wednesday afternoon, about 25 children came with their parents and grandparents to the school's cafeteria for an hour of reading, activities and snacks.
This second workshop put on by the Council of Itty Bitty Braves was built around the themes of sand and water, and it started with the story of a beautiful fish who learns a lesson on the value of sharing.
``Right now you're little kids,'' physical education assistant Becky Atkins told the children.
``But that doesn't mean you can't learn a lot.''
The students, each wearing an orange, fish-shaped name tag, worked together tearing up pieces of construction paper ``scales'' to decorate large paper fishes that were later stapled together and stuffed. The tearing and pasting helps develop pre-writing skills by strengthening young fingers, one teacher told a parent.
Next the students headed off to sand and water tables, where they practiced pouring and filling. They made sponges float and sink in water and worked on making shapes in the sand. The grown-ups focused on each student's achievement, offering praise and suggestions as needed.
``Squeeze the fish sponge. Squeeze the orange sponge.''
Ultimately, each child left at afternoon's end with an ``aquarium,'' a bottle they'd filled with sand and water, seashells, sponge fish and foil seaweed. Each parent had a packet of concepts and activities to emphasize at home.
A combination of contacts made through older siblings enrolled at Brookwood and neighborhood word-of-mouth drew the families. Several parents said they are anxious for the program to resume with school in the fall.
Marcia Smythe attended with 4-year-old Alyssa. Her 8-year-old had brought home information about the council's efforts.
``This is an excellent program,'' Smythe said. ``The first time I came, I asked if they'd have it every week.''
Smythe said she repeats the exercises with Alyssa at home but also appreciates the practice her daughter gets sharing with other children.
Teresa Gressley brought Gregory, 4, to the school attended by his three older siblings.
``I hope he learns to share a little bit more, how to get along with kids,'' she said, as his son very carefully poured sand into a bottle. ``This gives us an idea of things we can work with at home. I didn't realize he'd have so much fun with things here.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
L. TODD SPENCER
Steven Molesky, 4, left, and his brother, J.T., 7, help make
mini-aquariums at Brookwood Elementary School as part of the Council
of Itty Bitty Braves program for preschoolers. The program gives
children a chance to interact with others their own age. by CNB