The Bing Times 2007 · thank Simon Firth, writer and Bing parent, for contributing the story on a parent seminar,The Musical Story. Firth’s child Michael currently attends Bing

At Bing NurserySchool we want

children to be well-educated. Parents ask,and rightly so, will mychild be prepared forkindergarten following aplay-based nursery school

experience? The answer is a resounding“yes.” The best way for children to beprepared for the future is to live their present experiences to the fullest. Reprintedbelow is an article first published in theBing Times in 1990. This represents a philosophy statement for all of us here atBing School. You will see this philosophyillustrated throughout this newsletter asour teachers describe the thoughtful projectsand learning taking place in the classrooms.Enjoy!

What children should primarily gainfrom nursery school is an opportu-

nity to play and socialize with a group oftheir peers under the guidance of trainedteachers who can maximize the children’sgrowth experiences in an emotionallysupportive atmosphere. Paying for a childto participate in a group experience ismoney well spent for parents ofpreschoolers. The kinds of socialization

skills children learn in aprofessionally designededucational setting, com-bined with the love anddevotion of their parents,contribute to a lifelongsecurity and sense of self-confidence. These skillsinclude knowing how toresolve conflicts in verbal,rather than physical, waysand how to approachanother child in a positive,altruistic manner. Childrenlearn a great deal frommodeling what adults sayand do. Parents may hear phrases theirchildren have learned from their teachersat school such as “No, I’m not finished.”“I need a turn.” “I’m waiting for a turn.”“It’s your turn now.” Shy children whohave the benefit of sensitive, observantteachers are helped to develop relationshipswith other children and to graduallybecome independent.

Play, the other major aspect of thechild’s experience at nursery school, istruly the child’s work. Children are natu-rally motivated to experiment, to investi-gate, to learn as they “play.” When theteachers properly set the stage, the childrenare intellectually engaged in the activitiesprovided. As they participate in a varietyof creative activities in art,music and movement, chil-dren gain confidence intheir own abilities and havean opportunity to practicetheir developing skills.Many activities can andshould be provided athome as well, particularlywater play and easel paint-ing, which many childrennever seem to have enough

time with. Although few children learn toread during their preschool years, whatthey can do and should learn are a varietyof pre-reading skills and a love of language,poetry and books.

Problem-solving skills are also impor-tant for young children to learn. They arelearned in a variety of ways, includingexperimenting with water in a dramaticplay corner, working with puzzles,observing natural phenomena in the sciencecorner and in the garden. Unit blocks areprobably the most important play equipmentever designed specifically for youngchildren. All blocks are multiples, or frac-tions of the basic unit, and as childrenbuild with them, they internalize the

mathematical conceptsinherent in these materials.

Children need anopportunity to workthrough and to enhancetheir developing concept-formation abilities. Manynursery school activitiesprovide a basis for this,including dramatic play,most often recognized inthe doll or housekeeping

Director’s Column: What Should Children Gain from Nursery School By Jeanne W. Lepper, Director

THE BING TI M E SBING NURSERY SCHOOL, STANFORD UNIVERSITY NOVEMBER 2007, VOL. 33

In This Issue

From the Director...................1Distinguished Lecture ............3Guest Speakers .......................7Research .................................8Parent Seminars ...................10

Classroom Curriculum .........13

Staff Development ................24

Conferences ..........................25Events and Information ........32

● ■ ▲

Discussing one’s work with others helps children to articulatetheir ideas and clarify knowledge.

I like to build with blocks. ByAndrew C., 4 years 7 months

Photo not available online.

center where children can dress up andassume different roles. A dollhouse withfurniture and figures in miniature is veryimportant as part of this process as well.This type of play allows children anopportunity to work through fears andworries, and to symbolically conquer

these emotional hurdles. In addi-tion, in terms of cognitive devel-opment, children are able to clarifymisconceptions and refine theirthinking and knowledge. Forexample, they may figure outwhat a firefighter does and whatrelationships exist among differentmembers of the family.

In summary, children gain asense of autonomy—a confidencein their own abilities—and a senseof freedom in nursery school.Children gain a feeling of security,of trusting their environment andthe adults in it. The nursery school

day provides a routine, an anchor thatchildren need, which then allows them toexperiment with the flexibility built intothe program. As part of their nurseryschool experience, children learn to sepa-rate from their parents for short periodsof time, and to enjoy it! Parents enjoy it

too! Having a few hours to oneself andknowing that one’s child is having anopportunity to be with other children is awonderful feeling. This marks the begin-ning of a new stage in the relationshipbetween parent and child, in which theparent is no longer the only personresponsible for the child’s care and edu-cation. Parents can also form friendshipsand share resources with other families.From the program, they learn the impor-tance of having easel painting, unitblocks, dollhouses (for both boys andgirls), and all sorts of easily-found mate-rials for creative activities with their children at home. Finally, what childrenand their families gain from nurseryschool is a sense of self-esteem frombeing in an environment which isdesigned to meet their needs and wherethe staff admire and respect the beauty of children as they are developing inthese early years.

Director Jeanne W. Lepper

Assistant Director Jennifer Winters

Editor Chia-wa Yeh

Copy Editor Rosanne Spector

The Bing Times is published annually by Bing Nursery School, StanfordUniversity. Bing Nursery School is partof the Department of Psychology atStanford University. It serves as a labora-tory for research in child developmentand a site for training undergraduates.

Bing Nursery School, Stanford University850 Escondido Road, Stanford, CA 94305(650) 723-4865 • (650) 725-1270 (fax)

www.stanford.edu/dept/bingschool

Bing Nursery School would liketo thank Christine VanDeVelde,writer and parent of a Bing grad-uate, for contributing an articleon this year’s Bing DistinguishedLecture. VanDeVelde’s daughterRoark attended Bing in 1994.Bing School would also like tothank Simon Firth, writer andBing parent, for contributing thestory on a parent seminar, TheMusical Story. Firth’s childMichael currently attends Bing.His daughter Ada is a Bing graduate.

Acknowledgements

The Bing Times ● ■ ▲ November 20072

Tower House Update

Inspired by the renovation work next to the East roomyard, children explore playing the role of constructionworkers and develop ideas about their work.

In the past six months, muchprogress has been made on theTower House renovation, and weare excited that we may haveoccupancy as early as next spring!Closed since the earthquake of1989, this 1875 building directlyadjacent to Bing will provide muchneeded professional space forour staff, researchers and Stanfordstudents. A large conferenceroom on the first floor, completewith the original fireplace, willprovide a meeting place largeenough for our staff and for theStanford psychology classes weteach here. The second floor willbe devoted to work space, includingexpanded technology stations, forour teachers. Our sincere anddeep thanks to Gioia and JohnArrillaga and Helen and PeterBing for their very generous fundingof this project which will greatlyenhance Bing Nursery School.


3November 2007 ● ■ ▲ The Bing Times

“You’re such a great artist!”“You’re so smart!”

Who would ever imaginethat praising a child

could be bad? After all, welove our children and wantthem to have high self-esteem. We want them to goout into the world thinkingwell of themselves, trustingtheir abilities, succeeding.

But it turns out even well-intendedpraise for children’s talents and abilitiescan backfire. In May, developmental andsocial psychologist Dr. Carol Dweckaddressed the Bing community in the2006 Distinguished Lecture to explainwhy and how praise can drain a child’sself-esteem and sap motivation.

One of the world’s experts in thestudy of motivation, Dr. Dweck has spentthe last forty years looking at why andhow people achieve their potential—ordon’t. Her research has, in fact, led to thecreation of a new field in educationalpsychology—achievement goal theory.The results of her work have been usedaround the world with children, athletes,businessmen and others. And as you willsee, the role of praise is integral.

But before the role of praise can beunderstood, it’s necessary to grasp thefundamental models that underlie Dweck’swork—the fixed mindset and the growthmindset. This is one of Dweck’s mostimportant findings—that there are twodifferent mindsets that children (andadults) can have about their intelligenceand abilities.

Some individuals have a fixed mind-set. They think their abilities, talents, andintelligence are fixed traits. “They haveonly a certain amount, and that’s that,”says Dweck. Those with fixed mindsetsmight believe, for example, that intelli-gence is determined at birth.

Other individuals have a growthmindset. They think intelligence and abil-ities are things that can be developed andcultivated throughout life. “People with a

growth mindset don’t thinkeverybody’s the same,” cautions Dweck, “but theybelieve that everyone—througheffort, dedication, schooling,experience—can grow.”

How do researchers mea-sure the mindsets of children?By asking them to agree ordisagree with statements likethe following: “Everyone has

a certain amount of intelligence, andthey can’t really do much to change it.”Or… “To be honest, people can’t changehow intelligent they are.” Children whodisagree with statements like these havea growth mindset; those who agree havea fixed mindset.

In study after study, Dweck hasfound that individuals build an entirepsychology of motivation around themindset they hold. In one such study,Dweck and her researchers set out tomeasure and define the mindsets of 400students making the transition to juniorhigh school. (While Dweck’s studieshave included preschoolers, most of theresearch she discussed involved olderchildren. While she noted that thesemindsets are found in children as youngas three or four, older children havemore articulated ideas about intelligenceand are starting to show different moti-vational patterns.)

In this particular study, students withgrowth mindsets cited learning as themost important goal. They agreed withstatements such as, “It’s much moreimportant for me to learn things in myclasses than it is to get the best grades.”They cared about grades, but their firstpriority was learning. “In other words, ifyou think your intelligence can be devel-oped,” says Dweck, “that’s what youwant to do.”

But for students with fixed mindsets,looking smart and being judged smartwere the most important goals. Theyagreed with statements such as, “Themain thing I want when I do my school-work is to show how good I am at it.”

Notes Dweck, “If you think it’s a fixedtrait, you’ve got to have it, and you’vegot to have other people thinking youhave it, too.”

Further, Dweck found that childrenwith fixed and growth mindsets havecompletely different and even oppositebeliefs about effort. Individuals withgrowth mindsets believe effort is one ofthe most important things in life forachievement. They say the harder youwork at something, the better you’ll be atit. They appreciate that no creative geniushas contributed anything of note withoutyears of dedication and work.

But individuals with a fixed mindsetthink effort is negative. They believe thatif you have ability, you shouldn’t needeffort. And if you need effort, you’re notvery smart. They believe that thingscome easily to people who are truegeniuses. “And that’s false,” says Dweck.“It may come a little more easily togeniuses than it does to other people, but it doesn’t come easily.”

Dweck believes this is among themost destructive beliefs a person canhold: that hard work means you’re inca-pable. And it gets students in a fixedmindset into a trap. They want to looksmart, but they think effort makes themlook dumb. She characterizes this as aparalyzing conjunction of goals and beliefs.

Another building block in the psychologythat develops around a particular mindsetis the individual’s reaction to setbacks.As part of the same study, students weregiven a hypothetical scenario: “Imagineyou’re in a new class. You like the class.You like the teacher. You studied a mediumamount for the first test, but when yougot it back, you got a 54, and that’s an F.How would you feel? What would youthink? What would you do?”

Those with a growth mindset hadexplanations that were effort and strategy-oriented, resilient explanations. Theysaid, “Maybe I didn’t study hard enough,or maybe I didn’t go about studying inthe right way.” After all, they were toldthey only studied a “medium” amount.

BING DISTINGUISHED LECTURE SERIES

Professor Carol Dweck

Praising Intelligence:Costs to Children’s Self-Esteem and MotivationBy Christine VanDeVelde, Writer and Bing Alumni Parent

But those with the fixed mindset hadexplanations of resignation. They said, “I guess I wasn’t smart enough.” Or…“I’m just not good at this subject.” “Whywould they conclude this after one ‘medi-um’ session of study for a test?” saysDweck. “Well, remember, if you haveability, you shouldn’t need more thanmedium studying. So from one outcome,they inferred their ability.”

Students were then asked what theywould do. Those with a growth mindsetsaid things such as, “I’d work harder inthis class from now on.” Or… “I wouldspend more time studying for tests.” Thatmakes sense: a medium amount of study-ing didn’t work, so the response is to gethelp, to study more. But those with afixed mindset said, “I would spend lesstime on this subject from now on.” Or...“I would try not to take this subject everagain.” Told they liked the teacher andthe subject, the students with fixed mind-sets still didn’t change their response.Their motivation was gone.

Further, students with a fixed mindsetresponded that they would try to cheat onthe next test. “It makes sense within thatframework,” says Dweck. “If they don’thave ability, if effort is aversive and inef-fective, what courses of action are left tothese students?” So the fixed mindset is asystem in which you have ability or youdon’t. If you have ability, you shouldn’thave to work hard. If you don’t haveability, anything goes.

Parents, grandparents, educators—everyone sends messages to children,whether they’re aware of it or not. Sowhat made Dweck think about the mes-sage that praising intelligence sends andwhy did she intuit that it could havedrawbacks?

Her studies had shown that studentswho worried about their intelligence were

vulnerable. “Am I going to look smart onthis test?” “Should I take this risk?” So ifparents or teachers praised children’sintelligence, Dweck hypothesized, didn’tthat tell the child that intelligence is themost important thing in the world, thatthis is what parents and teachers caredabout? And would it put such a child in afixed mindset where they worried aboutbeing judged, shied away from challenges,and lost their motivation when things gotrough? Dweck wanted to find out.

In a series of studies of both kindergarten-age students and 5th graders, childrenwere given a non-verbal IQ test that consisted of ten moderately challengingbut doable problems.

Most of the children performed wellon the first ten problems. One third weregiven intelligence praise. They were told,“Wow, you got eight right; that’s a reallygood score. You must be smart at this!”Another third were given effort praise:“Wow, you got eight right; that’s a reallygood score. You must have tried reallyhard!” The control group was givenresults praise and told, “Wow, that’s areally good score.” And sure enough,when intelligence alone was praised, itput students in a fixed mindset.

The students were then asked, “Whatdo you want to work on now? I havesome easier things here that you couldwork on, or I have some challengingproblems. They’re hard, and you’ll makemistakes, but you’ll learn some importantthings.” Most of the students who werepraised for intelligence chose the easytask. “They’re not fools!” says Dweck.“They wanted to keep on looking smart.They wanted to keep that label.”

But the vast majority of the studentspraised for their effort wanted the chal-lenging task. They wanted somethingthey could learn from, and they weren’t

worried about making mistakes. So rightaway the study had created one of thehallmarks of a fixed mindset by praisingintelligence. “They said, ‘Don’t give mea challenge; give me something I canlook smart on,’” says Dweck.

When the students were then given aseries of more difficult problems, theseresults were magnified. Students who hadbeen told they were smart now thoughtthat having to struggle meant theyweren’t smart at all. They thought theyhad low ability at the task. So their confi-dence in their ability, which is like self-esteem, plummeted. Because again, ifsuccess meant they were smart, failure ordifficulty meant they were not. “Theywere being taught to measure themselvesby the outcome,” says Dweck. “We’dsay, ‘Hey, you did it; you must be smart.’They said, ‘Hey, I didn’t do it; I must notbe smart.’”

But those who had been praised fortheir effort thought, “I need more effort.These problems are harder. You succeedthrough effort. I need more of it.” Thisgroup remained very engaged with thetask. They tried different strategies, andtheir motivation remained high. At theend, asked to rate how much theyenjoyed the problems, those who werepraised for their intelligence showed asharp drop-off in their enjoyment oncethey hit the hard problems. Those whohad been praised for effort showed nodrop-off and many of them said that theharder problems were their favorites.

The students were also asked if theywould like to take the problems home topractice. Among those who were praisedfor effort, most were eager to take theproblems home, and had responses suchas, “Could you write down the name sowhen they run out my mom can buy memore?” But those who had been praised


Things we like to do at Bing School

I like to climb. I’m about to geton the climbing structure. ByJames T., 3 years 9 months

I like to play with Gwen. By NashM., 4 years 7 months

I like the wagon. Leaves andpine needles in the wagon. ByAtticus S., 4 years 4 months

I like to swing. By Dane P.,4 years 7 months

for their ability had responses such as,“No thanks, I already have these at home.”As soon as they had to struggle, thosewho had been praised for their ability lostfaith in that ability and any enjoyment inthe task.

Over three sets of tests, this samegroup—those who had been praised forintelligence—also showed a significantdecline in their performance. So praisingintelligence had made these students lessintelligent. Those who had been praisedfor effort, however, showed a significantincrease in their performance on the IQtests over the trials. (The control groupwas right in the middle.)

But there was a further finding thatwas both more distressing and interest-ing. When asked to write anonymouslyabout their experience, the students werealso asked to report the scores that theyhad earned. Almost 40% of the intelli-gence-praised children lied, reporting ahigher score. “They lied in one direction,and one direction only!” says Dweck.“And what this meant to me was thatwhen children were praised for theirintelligence, it became such an importantpart of who they are, it was so fundamen-tal to their self-esteem that they couldn’teven tell the truth on an anonymous pieceof paper to someone they would never meet.”

The results were clear: praising intel-ligence made students avoid challenge. Inthe face of difficulty, it made them loseany pleasure in a task they had originallyenjoyed. They lost faith in themselvesand their performance plummeted.Finally, it led them to lie. “These werechildren who were randomly assigned tothat condition. They were no differentfrom anyone else to begin with,” notesDweck. “And yet one sentence of intelli-gence praise put them in the fixed mind-set where what they cared most about

was looking smart, and where they couldn’tcope with challenges.”

Dweck says they were so surprised by these findings and how dramatic theywere that they repeated the study fivemore times, in many different locations,from the inner city of New York to Iowa.They had the same findings in all studies,including a further praise study conductedat Bing Nursery School.

So which mindset do most peopleactually hold—a fixed mindset or agrowth mindset? According to Dweck,it’s about 40-40. About 40% of childrenand adults believe intelligence is fixed,and about 40% agree it’s something thatcan be changed. About 20% in the middledon’t take sides.

As to who is right, well, the subjecthas been fiercely debated within psychol-ogy. But more and more, cognitive psy-chologists are coming to understand thatvery important components of intelligencecan be developed. Neuroscience is showinga greater plasticity of the brain than wasever imagined, reports Dweck.

So does that mean mindsets can bechanged? “The answer to that is yes, theycan be changed,” says Dweck, who ofcourse had already set out to prove it. Afew years ago, she had begun to wonderwhether children could be taught agrowth mindset and whether this wouldenhance their school achievements. In astudy with 100 7th graders, she looked atwhether teaching students a growthmindset would help their plummetingachievement.

Two random groups were given eightstudy skills sessions. The growth-mindsetgroup got six sessions of study skills andtwo sessions on the growth mindset andhow to apply it to their schoolwork.These students were given an article to read that said, “You can grow your

intelligence. New research shows thebrain can be developed like a muscle.”They were taught that the more you exercise your brain, the stronger it gets,and that every time they learned some-thing new their brain was forming newconnections, and over time becomingstronger and smarter.

“This riveted the students! They lovedlearning about the brain,” says Dweck.“They’d never thought about it, how itworked. They never realized that whatthey did had a direct impact on theirbrain and the connections it made. And alot of the students who had no interest inthe workshop suddenly participated vigorously.” These students showed asignificant rebound in their math grades.

But the students who got only studyskills in their eight sessions and no growth-mindset skills continued on their downwardplunge. They didn’t have the motivationto put the study skills into practice.

Dweck and her team are now workingon developing a computer-based growth-mindset intervention similar to the modelused in this study. Called Brainology, it’scurrently being tested in 20 New YorkCity schools. In it, the two main characters,Chris and Dahlia, are guided through theprogram by the Brain Orb. Visiting state-of-the-art brain labs, they are instructedby a mad brain scientist, conduct virtualexperiments on brains and watch braincells create connections simulating whathappens when learning takes place—acondition also known as growth.

Dr. Carol Dweck received her bachelor’sdegree from Barnard College at Columbia,and her Ph.D. at Yale. Before joining theStanford faculty in 2004, she taught atthe University of Illinois, Harvard, andColumbia. A fellow of the AmericanAcademy of Arts & Sciences, and therecipient of many professional honors,she is the author of two recent significantbooks. Self-Theories summarizes herextensive research on the nature ofachievement motivation and the determi-nants of academic success. Mindset: TheNew Psychology of Success examines theimplications of people’s reactions in theface of difficulties or failures in a varietyof important social settings, from sportsand school to business and industry.


I like to play in the train at school.By Jeremy Y., 4 years 10 months

I like to watch the rabbitjump. By Namwook L.,3 years 8 months

I like to play in the littlered house. By Naomi H.,4 years 6 months

What do you say when a child has a low-effort success?“Suppose your child comes home andsays, ‘I got an A and I didn’t reallystudy,’ or suppose your toddler picks up a skill without really trying? Now, beforeyou heard my talk, you’d probably say,‘Wow! You’re really good at that!’ Butwhat are we saying there? Are we sayingyou’re smart when you don’t have to putout effort? You’re smart when you dosomething quickly? You’re smart whenyou don’t make any mistakes? Now youcan hear that the downside is you’re notsmart if you have to work hard, take along time, or make mistakes. So I wouldsay, ‘Okay, that’s nice, but what did youlearn? Did you learn anything new? Let’s do something harder that we canlearn from!’ Or if I gave a child a taskthat he or she could do quickly, I’d say,‘Whoops! I wasted your time! Would youforgive me? Let’s do something you canlearn from.’”

What do you say to a child who dislikeschallenges?“I think as a parent, a teacher or even asa family, we can show that challenges areexciting and fun. Ask ‘What have youdone that was hard today?’ Around thedinner table, ask, ‘What did I strugglewith today and learn from? What did youstruggle with today?’ So instead of beingafraid to tackle hard things, hard thingscould be a badge of honor, and somethingthat we’re proud of ourselves and eachother for doing.”

How do you respond to a child who getsfrustrated by mistakes?“A lot of children, very young, start get-ting frustrated by mistakes, as though themistake means there’s something wrongwith them. One time, in my research,when we gave a hard task to some ten-year-olds, one little boy announced, “You know, mistakes are our friends!”Obviously this child had learned some-thing useful and important, and I thinkwe can all teach that to children. ‘Here’s a mistake: that’s really interesting!Mistakes tell us what we should do next.What do you think we should do next?What should we try next?’ So every time

a mistake occurs it becomes somethingreally interesting—a topic of heated discussion—and children will not thinkit’s the end of the world, as those in afixed mindset do. They won’t think there’ssomething wrong with them; they’ll thinkit’s a natural part of learning.”

Is it harmful to say out of nowhere,“You’re a smart girl,” or “You’re smart,”to a child?“I don’t think it’s helpful or necessary.Calling attention to process and beingpleased about the process a child isengaged in, the concentration theyshowed, the progress they made, theirinterest in learning—that’s really helpful.But I hear you. It’s sometimes irresistibleto make such comments. And it haspopped out of my own mouth more thanonce. But you know, if you change chil-dren’s idea, also, of what smart is—smartis taking on challenges, smart is learn-ing—changing the idea of what that wordmeans is also important.”

What do you think about gifted programs?“I think that the gifted label should notbecome an end in itself. The danger isthat it could become like intelligencepraise, where some students are afraid oflosing that label. They may lose their zestfor learning; they may want to play itsafe, to make sure they stay gifted. So theemphasis must be on challenge and learn-ing within a gifted program.”

What happens when no praise is offered?“If a child is really passionate aboutsomething and doing it on his or her own,why should you insert yourself in thatprocess and make them turn to you forapproval or praise? You don’t necessarilywant to insert praise where it’s not welcome.

Mark Lepper has shown that many experttutors don’t give a lot of praise. Theygive feedback, they guide, but they’re notdoing a lot of praise. I feel, however, thatwe’re in such a praise culture. So my mes-sage has been more, ‘Let’s praise theright way, not the wrong way.’”

How do you handle criticizing a child?“In a study with kindergarten-age students,we looked at different forms of criticismand found that when the process, effort,or strategy was critiqued, children werevery resilient to failures and setbacks.But when there was a critique of the per-son, children were less able to cope withsetbacks, evaluated themselves morepoorly, and were less resilient in theirstrategies and efforts in the face of theirobstacles. Disconnecting the act from theperson is extremely important and alwaysthe emphasis is on learning and process.”

The bottom line?“You don’t hand children self-esteem ona silver platter by giving them a compli-ment. You give children self-esteem byteaching them how to learn, how to lovechallenges, how to persist in the face ofobstacles, how to master difficult things.And then they’re going to go throughtheir day building their self-esteem,accomplishing things because they valuethem, not because you gave them a glob-al compliment.”

Suggested reading?“Always The Little Engine That Could,”says Dweck. And of course, her latestbook, Mindset: The New Psychology ofSuccess. In addition, parents nominatedthe children’s books Pickle Chiffon Pieand A Walk in the Rain with my Brain.


If children are so exquisitely attuned to what adults value, how can parents better communicate what that is?Professor Dweck had some good advice for Bing parents.

A spider. By Finley C., 2 years 3 monthsMe and my sister on the swings.By Carolina P., 3 years 6 months

GUEST SPEAKERS


Tracing Children’s Thinking Through Observation, Documentationand ReflectionBy Adrienne Lomangino, Head Teacher

Bing teachers spend hours each weektaking notes on children’s conversa-

tions, snapping photos in the classroom,and working with children to make theirideas salient through words, movement,music, crafts and artwork. We call thisdocumentation. Visitors to Bing see someof the results hanging on the classroomwalls, and in the booklets teachers assem-ble to preserve children’s creations andtell their stories. We find that theserecords enrich children’s experiences atschool—as well their parents’ and ourown understandings of them.

Bing teachers took a hard look at thispractice on Feb. 20, 2007, when earlychildhood education specialist LellaGandini, PhD, spent the day with us pon-dering the connections between teaching,learning, observation, documentation,and reflection. Gandini is a representativeof Reggio Children, a liaison organizationfor the internationally renowned munici-pal preschools in Reggio Emilia, Italy,which place documentation at the core oftheir educational philosophy. At ReggioEmilia schools, documentation incorpo-rates use of photographs, video, children’swork, children’s words, and teachers’interpretations. These teachers considerdocumentation to be integral to andinseparable from their work with children.

To draw the staff into a deeper appre-ciation of the meaning and importance of documentation, Gandini began byfocusing attention on the Reggio Emiliaview of young children and education.Gandini introduced a couple of ideas thatone might at first react to by thinking“well of course.” The first of these ideas:“Children are competent.” The second:“To be a teacher is to be with children.”However, when considered fully, theseideas are not so simple and have far-reaching implications for what it meansto be a teacher.

At the heart of the Reggio Emilia educational project is the belief that“children are competent.” Fully embrac-ing this belief has implications for theparadigm of teaching. The teacher, in this

view, is not the omniscient holder ofknowledge who tells the children what to do. Rather, the teacher’s role is to sup-port and extend the child’s examinationof the world. To optimally support chil-dren’s efforts to elaborate and extendtheir thinking and exploration, teachersneed insights into the child’s perspectiveof the situation. Through observing chil-dren and interacting with them, teacherscan gain insights that will enable them to assist children in cultivating theirthinking. By taking records of children’sactivity, teachers have traces to examineand reflect upon. According to Gandini,observation, documentation, and inter-pretation are essential practices for suc-cessfully teaching in accordance with thebelief that “children are competent.”

Another concept essential to theReggio philosophy Gandini proposed forconsideration is: “To be a teacher is to bewith children.” For teachers, attentivelylistening, observing, recording, andreflecting transforms what “to be withchildren” means. The teacher is notimparting knowledge, hoping that thechildren are somehow absorbing it.Rather, Gandini provided images of“being with children” through attentivelistening, observing, recording, reflecting,and offering.

In the first example of documentationGandini presented a series of picturesreferred to as “the story of Laura.” In thefirst photo, an infant, Laura, examines apicture of a wrist watch in a catalog as ateacher observes intently. Laura thenpoints to the picture and looks at theteacher. Noting the child’s interest, theteacher then points to her own watch andraises it up to Laura’s ear. Laura’s eyesare wide and her mouth slightly open asshe leans toward the watch. In the nextimage, Laura is putting her ear to the catalog page. The series of photos providea trace of a child-teacher interaction thatis rich for reflection. They reveal thisyoung child making a hypothesis aboutwhat a watch does, “do all watches makea sound?” and with support from an

attentive adult, making a connectionbetween the real world and the two-dimensional photographic representation.

In another photo sequence, referred toas “the closed spaceship,” two preschool-age children, Ivano and Francesco, aredrawing. Ivano challenges Francescoabout the meaning of his drawing, whichcould be described as a scribble. Ratherthan intervening, the teacher remainsnearby, attending to their unfolding inter-action. Francesco asserts that it is aspaceship that is closed. Ivano then pro-ceeds to draw on Francesco’s paper,above the “spaceship.” Ivano labels hisaddition to the drawing as an astronaut,thereby validating Francesco’s assertionthat his drawing is a spaceship. Francescosmiles. This brief story, which could soeasily be overlooked in the stream ofclassroom activity, reveals the boys’responsive, validating exchange.

These examples reveal the value ofdocumentation for reflecting on children’sthinking and development. Reflections onsuch documentation provide insights intonot only the thinking processes of indi-vidual children, but also the developmentof children more generally. Seeing Laura’sexpressions and responses, for example,one cannot help reconsidering one’s con-ceptions of infants’ cognitive capacities.

In her examples of documentationfrom Reggio Emilia, Gandini illustratedthe teacher’s intent stance, waiting to discover how the child will respond to anobject of interest. Listening, as Gandinipoints out, is more complex than hearing.

Lella Gandini of Reggio Children talks to Bingstaff in February for staff development.

Many children at Bing NurserySchool have met Allison Master, a

3rd year graduate student in psychologyat Stanford University. Gentle and atten-tive, Master and her research assistantshave spent hours in the classrooms get-ting to know the children at Bing andinviting children to participate in herstudies. Typically researchers spend afew mornings or afternoons each week in the classrooms. They often partake inactivities such as reading books to children,supporting children’s work and play, orpassing plates of fruit around the table atsnack time.

Master grew up in a log cabin up adirt road in the mountains, about 15 min-utes away from the city of Asheville inwestern North Carolina. Master traces her

interest in working with young childrento her family. Her mother has been apreschool teacher for many years andnow works one-on-one with childrenwith special needs. In fact, Master’smother was her preschool teacher! Whilein high school, Master spent a lot of timevolunteering in her mother’s class.Master’s older sister, who works for aunion for Broadway actors in New YorkCity, had previously taught children withautism for two years.

Master is passionate about reading, atrait evident in an anecdote she shared.Her father, a lawyer and an avid Yankeesfan, once took Master and her sister to aYankees game. Both girls had a greattime as they spent the entire time on thebleachers, fully immersed in their books.


The teacher learns from the child, thentries to give the child more grist to develop his or her awareness andunderstanding. Attending closely tothe child’s activity leads the teacher to consider, “What can I do next tosupport this child?”

These are not extraordinary situa-tions with special materials, but rathereveryday moments—an infant pointingto the picture of a watch in a catalog,and children examining each others’drawings. Through careful observationand documentation, the attentiveteacher can recognize many learningopportunities within children’s every-day activities. As teachers plan activi-ties and select materials, they oftenanticipate learning opportunities. Butthrough listening and observation theywill also notice the unexpected learn-ing opportunities that arise as childrenuse materials in unforeseen ways.

In the afternoon, Bing staff membershad the opportunity to discuss theirown observation, documentation, andinterpretation practices in smallgroups. Then the staff reconvened,sharing reflections, making suggestions,and asking questions. After the staffcollectively generated a listing of acouple dozen reflections, and the room hummed with the flurry of ideas,Gandini re-centered the group bydrawing attention back to childrenwith some profound musings fromLoris Malaguzzi, founder of ReggioEmilia’s municipal preschool systemand its director for more than 30 years.She noted, “Teachers that use docu-mentation see that children are movingforward,” and through such experiencesgain an energizing sense of wonderand surprise.

Lera Boroditskybelieves the

language childrenspeak shapes howthey think. An assis-tant professor inStanford’s psycholo-gy department, sheis one of the firstscholars to back up

this commonly held belief. Her work hastaken her around the world, including to our own Bing Nursery School.

Bing teachers had the opportunity tohear from Boroditsky, PhD, at the springstaff development day. She described herresearch on the influence of language on thought as well as how the emergenceof this influence varies from language to language.

Her research has uncovered manyinstances of language molding thought.For example, in a study comparing nativeIndonesian speakers and native English

speakers, Boroditsky found that Indonesianspeakers were much less likely to usetime markers when describing actionsthan English speakers. In Indonesian, youmight say the equivalent of “a girl kick aball.” But not in English. Instead youwould say that she is kicking, is about tokick, or has kicked. As a result, speakingEnglish seems to lead a person to be moreattuned to when an action takes place.

Boroditsky has conducted similarstudies around the world, investigating a variety of languages. She presented asubset of this work to the Bing staff,including a study with young children inaboriginal Australia showing that speakersof one aboriginal dialect perceive time asmoving east to west, rather than left toright as do English speakers. Boroditsky’spresentation inspired the Bing staff toattend to these interesting cross-linguisticdifferences when planning curriculum and supporting children’s growth in theclassroom.

Lera Boroditsky: Language InfluencingThoughtBy Jamie Leach, Assistant Teacher

Professor LeraBoroditsky

Researcher in Profile: Allison MasterBy Chia-wa Yeh, Head Teacher and Research Coordinator

RESEARCH

Observational drawing of solanum jasmi-noides (potato vine), grown in East roomyard along the fence bordering Centerroom yard. By Riley G., 4 years 8 months

Her father eventually resigned himself tothe fact that his children much preferbooks to baseball.

Master attended Yale University andmajored in psychology with a minor inphilosophy. While at Yale, Master contin-ued her work with young children. Forher work-study program, Master workedfor two years with at-risk children on aone-on-one basis and taught at a preschoolattached to the Connecticut Children’sMuseum in her senior year.

After graduation, Master worked as aresearch assistant for two years for pro-fessor Geoffrey Cohen, PhD, at Yale,now at University of Colorado. She conducted surveys with minority middleschool students for a project that aimedto provide intervention to reduce theminority achievement gap in middleschool. This work shaped her decision to pursue a doctorate in psychology.

At Stanford, Master studies under theguidance of renowned psychologist CarolDweck, PhD. (For more information onDweck’s work, see page 3.) Her research

interests are motivation and the develop-ment of motivation and how it relates toresilience and academic achievement inchildren. In the long run, Master wouldlike to conduct applied research witholder children.

Master is interested in finding outhow beliefs children form now mightaffect their development later on. Why do some children form beliefs that intelli-gence or goodness and badness are fixedentities and that making a mistake meansone’s bad? Furthermore, she is interestedin studying whether these fixed beliefsaffect children’s motivation. For example,are children with these views more likelyto behave as if helpless after making amistake? And are they less likely to bemotivated to take on challenges? Masterand Dweck are investigating where thesebeliefs come from and how to help childrenbe less fearful of making mistakes. Theyare also exploring whether listening tostorybooks with different messages mightchange how children respond to challengesand lead them to see mistakes as part ofthe learning process.

The two researchers are also lookingat whether a child’s temperament affectsbeliefs. For example, might shy childrenbe more likely to develop fixed beliefsand become discouraged when facing setbacks, and as a result avoid taking onchallenges? Preliminary findings suggestthat very shy children also shy awayfrom too much challenge, for example,difficult puzzles, as do children who holdcertain beliefs about goodness and badness.

Why is this research important toMaster? “Because it captures my interestin helping children to achieve theirpotential,” she said.

In addition to her work on how childrenform their beliefs, Master is also workingwith Dweck and psychology professorEllen Markman, PhD, on a study on theeffects of placing concepts along a con-tinuum versus placing them in variousdistinct categories.

In this study, researchers sit with chil-dren in the research game room and showthem simple line drawings of smiling andsad faces in progression from a very bigsmile, to smaller smiles, to mildly sad, tovery sad. They describe the expressionsto the children. While talking with somechildren, the researchers describe thefaces as either happy or sad—no in

between. With other children, theydescribe the series of images as a contin-uum: really happy, a little happy, lesshappy, a little sad, more sad, really sad.The researchers want to find out what, if any, impact this has. Among their questions: Would children who heardescriptions that fall into discrete categoriestend to view these faces in the sameway—as either happy/nice or sad/mean?Would their counterparts who heardescriptions that reflect the presence of acontinuum tend to be less likely to viewthese faces in an “either/or” fashion? For example, will those who’ve heardresearchers describe concepts along acontinuum consider a small smile asmore similar to a small sad face than to areally big smile? Researchers then askfollow-up questions regarding how thesepeople, as represented by the faces, mightact in different situations. The results sofar suggest that the way children thinkabout items does affect their descriptionsand judgments. Next, Dweck, Markman,and Master are interested to see how thisaffects children’s judgments about socialcategories such as nice versus mean andgood versus bad.

Participating at Bing in the past twoyears has meant a great deal to Master,she said. Aside from being able to workon her studies, Master enjoys taking abreak from graduate school to ride onrocket ships built with blocks and eatdinosaur pancakes made out of play-dough. “I love that Bing values learningin all its forms. It’s not just about childrenlearning, but also about teachers and college students and researchers togetherlearning more about how children learn.”

Stanford psychology student Allison Mastershows a child a series of pictures for her study.


Research Studies at Bing 2006-2007■ Language and Social Reasoning■ Relative Clause Acquisition■ Production and Comprehension of

Irregular Plurals■ Children’s Behavioral Inhibition,

Beliefs About Goodness and Helplessness

■ Scaffolding and Inhibition in Preschool-Age Children

■ Probabilistic Learning Strategies in Preschool-Age Children

■ Fantasy or Reality? An Investigation of Young Children’s Understanding of the Difference

■ Children’s Understanding of Generic Sentences

■ Thinking in Categories or Along a Continuum

■ Behavioral Investigations of Perceptual Learning

■ Preschoolers’ Judgments About Preferences

■ Monolingual and Bilingual Children’sUse of Mutual Exclusivity Assumptionin Word Learning

■ Understanding Preschool Children’s Concepts of Food Categories

■ The Ideal Playmate? Investigating the Importance of Diversity in Preschool


BING PARENT SEMINAR SERIES

This year’s parent seminars series offered talks on topics of perennial interest toparents as well as something new—the value of music for young children. Belowyou will find synopses of Fostering Literacy and How to Talk with Children and anarticle on the music talk.

This year marked the second presentation of Fostering Literacy at a parentseminar. Bing teachers have often presented How to Talk with Children, a lectureon effective communication, in the 9 years since the parent seminars began. Evanand Violet Brooks, Bing alumni parents, conceived of the seminars after observingthe school’s teachers in action. In Evan’s words, they “picked up gems” by watch-ing—for example, talking to children at their eye level, not hovering overhead. Theseminars are a way the teachers can share these “gems” with parents, and theBrooks kindly cover the seminars’ expenses, including child care to make it easierfor parents to attend.

For full-length coverage of Fostering Literacy and How to Talk with Children,please read the 2006 Bing Times. An earlier report on How to Talk with Childrenappears in the 2005 Bing Times. Reprints of the articles are available at the Bingoffice. The newsletters are available in full on the Bing Web site: www.stanford.edu/dept/bingschool.

Fostering LiteracyLiteracy is more than reading. It encompasses children’s abilityto speak, listen, view, and think. At a parent seminar on April 2,more than 70 Bing parents heard about literacy and how they canencourage it in children in a developmentally appropriate way.

The presenters, teachers Bev Hartman, AdrienneLomangino, and Karen Robinette explained that through play,children can explore all of these literacy skills while on the pathto becoming readers. Children at Bing engage in a range ofemergent literacy activities, and through this practice they foster the necessary skills to become good readers, writers and thinkers.

The presenters quoted early childhood education scholarElizabeth Jones to clarify the importance of play for literacy: “For school success in America today, early literacy hasbecome the primary criterion. Often it is taught by rote. Butstandardized instruction ignores each child’s relationship-based,meaningful experiences with language and literacy. In a literatesociety children pretend to be readers and writers just as theypretend to be shoppers and drivers of cars; they are sponta-neously practicing adult roles to learn about them in everincreasing detail. Children playing together frequently correcteach other, jointly shaping their understandings.”

Bing teachers originally delivered the presentation at lastyear’s parent seminar series. They also gave the talk at theannual conference for the California Association for theEducation of Young Children, which took place in San Jose thisMarch. It was developed by this year’s parent seminar presentersas well as teachers Sue Gore, Meghan Olsen, and Sarah Wright.—Amy Blasberg, Assistant Teacher

Bing Parent Seminar Series 2007

How to Talk with ChildrenChildren have an innate drive to explore, which pushes them tocommunicate, explained Bing teachers at a parent seminar onMay 16. More than 100 parents attended the talk. Childrenlearn quickly that communication is an essential tool for theirinvestigations, and they model their behavior on that of theirparents and the adults in their world, who use various styles ofcommunication.

Many parents and children communicate with each other ona daily basis, using the basic form of conversation—the giveand take of listening and responding—teacher Emma O’Hanlonsaid. These moments are precious because children are learn-ing the meaning of language and how they can use it to expressbasic needs and solve problems.

Teachers Peckie Peters and Todd Erikson discussed someof the basic elements of communication—tone, language, andperspective—to help parents gain a better understanding ofeffective communication. Children communicate not only withwords but with gestures and movement, for example, a child’sarms bursting straight to the sky to proclaim an achievement,such as, “I did it!”

Teacher Quan Ho walked the group through the steps ofaddressing a typical problem-solving scenario for children atBing: learning to share equipment. The steps: 1) Identify prob-lem 2) Brainstorm solutions 3) Come to mutual agreement, and 4) Implement plan. Children are active in their daily life andwhen situations become difficult they draw upon their strategiesto help them move pass barriers. Social problem solvingrequires practice. Children will benefit from the assistance ofadults to guide them through the stages. With each encounter,children gain greater mastery of the skills and internalize theirexperiences, which prepare them to succeed in life. —Quan Ho, Teacher

Bing teachers present at the 2007parent seminar series. From topleft: Beverley Hartman, AdrienneLomangino, Karen Robinette, ToddErikson, Quan Ho, Emma O’Hanlon,Peckie Peters.


Regular visitors to Bing’s classroomswill know how music permeates

every child’s experience of the school—from surprise encounters with musicianswandering through the play yards, topost-snack dance parties, to whole morn-ings spent making elaborate sets andprops and then acting out a favorite song.

All are fun activities, of course, andall enrich children’s lives in the same waythat music adds to the fullness of our own.

But more than a simple hope ofenrichment informs the choices Bingteachers make when planning musicalexperiences for their students. They backevery musical encounter with carefulthought about how music aids a youngchild’s social, emotional, and intellectualdevelopment.

On May 9, head teacher and musicspecialist Beth Wise and Two’s and WestPM teacher Michelle Forrest shared someof that thinking with more than 60 Bingparents as part of the 2007 Bing Parentseminar series, in a talk titled “TheMusical Story.” Some highlights:

Exposure: Just the starting pointAny effective music pro-gram for young childrenneeds to do more thansimply expose them tomusic. Bing’s teachersand many parents withmusical skill bring theirown music-making intothe class, but the school’schildren also need to bemusicians themselves.

“We want children toexperience real-livemusic and work with real

instruments,” explained Forrest as sheintroduced some of the instruments—shakers, drums, bells, xylophones, mara-cas, and rhythm sticks—that children reg-ularly play in class.

Equally important is the attentionteachers pay to every child’s very differ-ent relationship with music.

Not every child, for example, willwant to join in every musical activity,said Forrest. “But even if a child isn’t

singing,” she said, “theymay still be connecting in adifferent way.” During asong about ducks disappear-ing one by one, perhaps, asilent child may well beconcentrating on counting,and thus develop an impor-tant skill.

Knowing every childwell helps immeasurably insuggesting how music mightbest reach each of them,said Wise. “I have foundthroughout my teaching thatthe key is really developinga relationship,” she recalled.“The first thing I need toknow is ‘Who are you?What are you thinkingtoday? What do you want totell me about yourself?’ And through thatreally close development of a relation-ship, I can find out what motivates youmusically and what motivates you inother ways.”

Literacy boosterThe enjoyment that most children natu-rally find in music makes it an especiallyvaluable tool when it comes to develop-ing early literacy. No child can be literatewithout first being able to understandand reproduce speech, for example, andmusic has a key role to play in develop-ing those language skills.

“In music,” said Forrest, “childrenare paying attention to the auditorysounds and signals they hear. That isexactly what they’ll have to do whenthey’re paying attention to speech andlistening in the language process.”

Experiencing songs that vary in pitch,tempo, and beat and that feature wordgames such as rhymes helps children discriminate between words and sounds.Singing a song that rhymes “hat” with“sat,” say, helps you understand that thereare differences between the words, andwhat those differences might be.

Just the ability to keep a basic beat isimportant, Wise explained. “We try to doa lot with rhythm sticks or drums,” she

said, “just to really have that one-to-onecorrespondence of word to sound. Whenyou hear a child beginning to read, “The.Cat. Went. To. The. Store.” there’s sort ofa cadence to it. And it really helps ifyou’re playing an instrument and you’relearning to keep that beat.”

A single song can offer help to childrenacross the school’s developmental agerange. Take the pre-school classic BINGO.“As children develop linguistically,”Wise noted, “they begin to separate theletters in the song. You’ll see children atfirst say, “B-I-N-G-O.” And then asthey’re a little older, it’s B. I. N. G. O.And then as they’re even older they’reactually nodding their head and they’rebeing able to separate the letters, whichshows their ability and their awarenessthat the letters are separate.”

The simple act of storytelling in asong helps ease a child into the act ofreading, said Forrest. “When they’regoing to be reading,” she explained,“children are going to incorporate soundand the visual text. And so this is a wayto parallel that process and to start it earlier before they’re able to read.”

Teachers can even incorporate literacydirectly into musical games, suggestedForrest. When singing A Tisket A Tasket,for example, she noted that Bing teachers

The Musical Story—The Power of Music to Aid Early LiteracyBy Simon Firth, Writer and Bing Parent

Beth Wise

Michelle Forrest

“I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down!” Diego,Andrew, Kai, and Joshua re-enact The Three Little Pigs. Throughthe re-enactment, the children relate the story in a logicalsequence and identify the characters.


often encourage children to actually writea letter, put it in a basket, carry it aroundand drop it off for someone else.

Memory aidAny parent who’s tried to help a childlearn their ABCs knows that setting themto music makes the sequence instantlyeasier to learn, remember, and recall. Thesame principle applies to literacy morebroadly, Wise and Forrest explained.Essential skills for being able to read andwrite come much easier when put in amusical context.

Take the concept of sequencing,something children need to comprehendin order to understand a story, or even theidea that a text flows in a logical sequence(in English, from top to bottom and leftto right). Songs with fun choruses andsimple verses that move the action forwardteach sequencing very effectively, Wisesuggested.

She shared a video in which she led agroup of children through a song basedon the story of The Three Little Pigs. Thechildren sang about each pig making itshouse, playing instruments to make thesounds of a hammer, saw and cementmixer, actively commenting and con-tributing ideas for it as it went along.

In particular, Wise pointed out, thevideo showed the children “relating thestory in a logical sequence and identify-ing the characters. They’re beginning tounderstand the text as well as singing it.”

The song also illustrated how songcan help children practice phonemes, likethe “ssss” sound of a snake coming or the“whoosh” of the wind, and how it canencourage them to use their imaginationsto say, for instance, “Look up. We don’thave a roof!” and then pretend to build it.

Using song in this way, added Wise,“makes many children want to participatebecause it has elements of excitement,elements of dramatic play as well asmusical components. It’s very motivating.”

Why fun mattersIt’s important that none of this seem likework to children, though. “We strive to bringout the joy of this experience,” she said.“You cannot overstate how important it isfor them to just enjoy this and be free.”

Forrest quoted Bing teacher KittiPecka who likes to say that “music canbe a very deeply emotional experience,”

and then linked that notion to recent studies in developmental psychology thatshow how deep emotional experiencesaide both memory and learning processes.Just to allow children to feel differentemotions and go different places throughsongs, noted Forrest, is to aid in braindevelopment and cognitive functioning.

The “magical road” to literacyForrest shared a second video where children acted out a song that she wroteherself based on Eric Carle’s classic picturebook, The Tiny Seed. In preparation forthe re-enactment, students worked for aweek painting the set—four landscapeson which the seed falls during the song.The children took “seeds” they madewith scarves and had them fall on thefirst three inhospitable landscapes—adesert, a mountain, and ocean—until theseed found a garden where it grew into aflower.

All worked hard to create the world ofthe song and even extended their play todepict other hostile environments for theseed (concrete, for example) that weren’tin the original story. The group collabora-tion allowed the children to work onthings that interested them most, within acontext that was supportive of literacy,Forrest recalled.

That concept of letting children makedevelopmental leaps on their own is key,she said. “We think of their learning thisway as a journey down a magical road,”said Forrest. Instead of pushing the chil-dren via formal instruction, “we’re takingthem somewhere where they push eachother to think about the content of thematerial they’re working with,” she said.In the process, they’re taking themselvesto a higher level of cognition.” It’s an ideaput into formal terms by psychologistLev Vygotsky in his theoretical conceptionof a child’s “zone of proximal development.”

A role for parentsIn response to questions after the talk,both teachers agreed there’s much thatparents can do to foster both developmentand early literacy in their young children.

Parents, after all, know their childrenbetter than anyone and are thereforeuniquely able to offer them engagingsongs and stories.

If nothing else, suggested Wise, “readto them, sing to them, use simple instruments

at home to tap out that beat—and whenmeshed with their having the chance toplay and to be able to really develop whothey are as individuals, it will give them agreat skill set for entering a more formaleducational system.”

It worksForrest and Wise first presented their talkin April, to a packed house at the annualgathering of the California Associationfor the Education of Young Children.

In preparing for that presentation,both teachers researched how well musicat Bing met curricular standards for bothmusic and literacy in pre-kindergartenschooling. To their delight, the level ofunderstanding reached by Bing’s studentsin music met not only the NationalAssociation for Music Education musiceducation standards for Pre-K music, but also many California kindergartenEnglish language arts content standardsas well.

Among the California state standardsfor kindergarten literacy, for example, arethe expectations that students: ■ Identify and produce rhyming words in

response to an oral prompt■ Track auditorily each word in a sentence

and each syllable in a word■ Follow words from left to right and

from top to bottom on the printed page■ Make predictions about story content■ Retell familiar stories■ Relate an experience or creative story

in a logical sequence■ Identify characters, settings, and impor-

tant eventsIt was especially exciting to discover

that Bing was meeting these goals througha play-based program, recalled Wise.

That’s particularly encouraging, bothteachers said, in a time when nurseryschools are under great pressure to intro-duce more rote learning to prepare childrenfor kindergarten programs that expectchildren to achieve at what used to be afirst grade level.

“What we wanted other educators to see,” said Wise, “was that if you’rethoughtful and if you plan with intent andintegrity, you can weave the skills thatchildren need into their lives through aplay-based environment that respectschildren and respects the depth of theirthought, the development of their rela-tionships and who they are as individuals.”


Inspired by Bing’s rich natural setting,the teachers of East AM focused on

trees for in-depth study last fall. As webegan creating activities and materials,the opportunities for teaching science and math became quickly evident. What was less clear was how children wouldcome to use trees as a topic for theirsocio-dramatic play.

Tracing the evolution of this in-depthstudy demonstrates how our team guidedchildren to tie classroom learning to theworld around them. It also reveals thesurprises children’s creative learningprocesses so often have in store for us.

To launch the project, we set up a discovery table hosting forest-relatedmaterials. This was designed to encouragethe children to explore and to help usassess their interest. Together, we identifiedtypes of trees. The children drew themand in so doing practiced the first techniquein the project’s science curriculum—observational drawing. The team createdboard and matching games with the goal to identify trees, compare tree compo-nents, and pretend to plant new trees. We went on to create a chart that linkedtrees with samples of leaves, bark rubbings,pods, and trunk size. The informationcollected by the children prompted spec-ulation, questions, and conversations. Asection of the chart included a space forchildren to vote for their favorite variety.Children also counted the redwood treesin the East Room yard and ponderedwhether the single base with two trunksshould stand for one tree or two.

Two specialists who metwith us during story timeprovided valuable contribu-tions to the curriculum: AnnIngles, a landscape architect,demonstrated her processfor planning environmentsand in particular selectingtrees, and Peter Ozorio, anentomologist, made severalpresentations, offering infor-mation about the carboncycle, dormant (quiet time)periods, and the insects thatlive on the trees, such asladybug beetles. Adding tothe richness of the learningwere the nature walks the children tookto collect samples, identify and drawtrees, search for flowering trees, andnotice the change of seasons. Creativityflourished as the children individuallyand in groups used cardboard, clay,paper, and wood to construct trees. Thecardboard trees built in the sand areawere enhanced with branches, leaves,bark, pinecones, crabapples, and finallycreatures of the children’s design. Theteachers thought that we were building aforest, but the children explained that itwas actually a tree family.

The tree family signaled children’semerging ideas for dramatic play. Thistype of play enabled children to integratetheir social, emotional, physical, andcognitive development. They were inves-tigating what they had learned abouttrees in a different modality—a family,which is a structure they all know andappreciate.

More creative twists were to come.The catalyst for the next phase was intro-ducing a Burl Ives song called LollipopTree at story time and then at music. Theconcept migrated to the sand area andsoon children built their own lollipoptree. Expanding that idea, the childrencreated a maple syrup tree, which in theworld of the play scenario began to over-produce. It flooded the sand area, and thechildren quickly built a houseboat, gatheredsupplies, and climbed aboard. Usingshovels as oars, they stroked together

while chanting, “Row! Row! Row!” (Fora full account of the development of theplay scenario, see page 23.) Another sce-nario centered on a “tree dragon.” Thechildren built sand castles for the dragonand communicated with him by writingmessages to their new friend. The topicwas no longer teacher driven but ratherwas owned by the children.

The evolution of a topic is not alwaysvisible nor does it always follow a linearpath. Teachers establish trusting relation-ships and a climate safe for learning.They observe carefully throughout theprocess and make adjustments as neededto meet the children’s interests andresponses. Teachers provide materialsand resources in the environment, enoughtime and repeated opportunities, and theyscaffold the learning activities to supportchildren as they gain skill and knowledge.For children to engage and stay motivated,teachers must be sensitive to what helps atopic be significant to young children inthe context of their development and culture.

Trees as a topic had universal appealto the children and teachers in East Room.The teachers, who are nature enthusiasts,had a genuine interest in providing edu-cational opportunities built on the topic.Children gained in their knowledge andunderstanding of the science of trees.Meaning deepened as the children tookcharge of “playing” trees. Over time, bothgroups, teachers and children, truly co-constructed a curriculum.

Trees as a Topic: From Science to Socio-Dramatic PlayBy Beverley Hartman, Head Teacher

Joe, Kate, and Luc spin the Nature Hunt wheel. The game, a partof the class study of trees, promoted identification of elements in nature.

CLASSROOM CURRICULUM A


Observational drawing of ared maple tree with roots. By Mason S., 4 years 6 months


When the children of the EastPM classroom returned after

winter break, many took an immediateinterest in some new objects on theclass discovery table: six smallsqueeze bottles, each holding a cottonball laden with scented oil or extract.With each squeeze a puff of scentspurted out of the bottle, either eucalyptus, lavender, lemon, mint,rose, or vanilla. The children’s fasci-nation with these scents inspired usto encourage them to explore all five senses.

Children are naturally inclined tolearn about the world through theirsenses. Yet within their daily lives, childrensoak up visual media and other virtualexperiences, which flash by on televi-sions and computers. So during their time at Bing, we sought to provide chil-dren opportunities to, in a sense, slowdown and smell the flowers—to attend towhat they could smell, hear, see, touch,and taste.

Drawing children’s attention to thedifferent senses supports their developingawareness of themselves and the worldaround them. So as they explored howthings smelled, looked, sounded, felt, andtasted, the teachers encouraged them tomake discriminations and attend to simi-larities and differences in their sensoryexperiences. Some highlights of ouractivities:

Noting children’s interest in smells,we kicked off our exploration by plantinga “smelling” garden. Children first clearedout the straggling plants and loosened thesoil. We then planted a variety of fragrantflora: hyacinth, jasmine, lavender, oregano,and peppermint. (Four-year-old Call sam-pled the array of scented plants to createa “perfume.”) At story time we readBenny, a picture book about a dog thatlost his sense of smell.

Shifting attention to sight, teacherMatt Linden introduced the bookTuesday, a wordless picture book,encouraging the children to examine thepictures in detail. As the week progressedthe children dictated descriptions of whatthey noticed in the illustrations.

Clearly, in the classroom we foundmore things to see and touch than totaste. However, we highlighted our senseof taste while cooking and eating apple-sauce and breadsticks (and attended tosmell as well). At snack time a couple ofsnack groups pondered, “Could you tellwhat food you are eating without lookingat it?” They tried a “taste test” game.Children closed their eyes and a teacherput small pieces of food in their mouthsfor them to identify.

Children’s experiences at Bing regularly include a range of tactile expe-riences: handling clay, finger paint, play-dough, sand, and water. While engagingin these activities the teachers talked tothe children about how the materials felt.We added shaving cream and a flax-seedgoo to broaden our tactile experiences.Children also created tactile collage,with materials of varying textures.

Our exploration of sounds includedconsideration of animal sounds, naturalsounds, noises in the classroom setting,and music. As a particular highlight,Matt incorporated sound clips to hisreading of Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin at storytime. Then, instead of a sound clip of theviolin, Max played the violin for thegroup. At the end of the week, the storytime included several visiting musicians,and student-created instruments.

As engaging as these and other senso-ry activities were, the most excitingmoments for me arose spontaneously inchildren’s play. These brief moments in

the bustle of everyday classroomactivity revealed children’s attentionto extending their sensory experi-ences. The following examples illus-trate how children interpreted andresponded to classroom experiencesin ways that reflected sensitivity tohearing and creating sounds.• Jackson and I sat on the grass,watching to see if a piece of Mylarwould scare away birds. We heard abird call, but could not see the bird.We followed the call, noting when itwas sounding louder, until we deter-mined in which tree the bird must be sitting. • While making collages with differ-

ent textured materials, Erik rubbedtogether two pieces of sand paper, notingthe sound it made. Rubbing together twopieces of burlap, I asked if they made asound. Erik and Sydney reported thatthey didn’t. I then put the pieces close toErik’s ear and rubbed them together. Hiseyes widened as he smiled and said hecould hear it. They were surprised to find out that they could hear cotton ballsrubbing too, if they listened closely.• Allison approached the collage materialsand bounced several pieces of crumpledaluminum foil in her hand. “You couldmake an instrument with these,” she pro-posed and took the pieces to the nearbyself-help table. There she made a cylin-drical paper holder for her foil shaker.• Carlie also used self-help materials tomake an instrument. She made a slidetrombone with a cardboard tube, papercylinder, milk bottle cap, and string.• During the week that the class read Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin at story time, Erik created a “cello-guitar” on the patioat the woodworking table. He proudlystrummed his instrument during storytime. He asked for the children to bequiet when he played, since it made onlya little sound.

Together we worked to open children’ssenses to the world around us. It washeartening to see the children take theconcepts we introduced into a creativerealm of possibilities beyond what wehad imagined.

Making Sense of Our SensesBy Adrienne Lomangino, Head Teacher


Brody and Christina identify the scents in the “smellingsqueeze bottles,” which contain six different scents—eucalyptus, lavender, lemon, mint, rose, and vanilla.



The East Room PM classroom’s explo-ration of the five senses this year

included extra treats for the ears. As theproject drew to a close, we spent a weeklearning about music and reveling in thepleasures of performing and listening. To highlight music and sound, I read Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin at storytime. Thisbeautifully woven lyrical story by LloydMoss introduces children to 10 differentorchestral instruments through playfullanguage and poetic literary devices.Marjorie Priceman’s delightful illustra-tions mirror the liveliness of the text andearned the book a Caldecott Honor in1995. It brings the world of music to thechild in an enchanting way.

To extend the story beyond the book,I wanted to bring the sounds of theinstruments (if not the instruments them-selves) to class. After some research, Ifound the perfect collection of soundclips at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’swebpage for children (www.dsokids.com).The site offers clips of each instrumentplaying Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star aswell as other solo pieces. I downloadedthese clips and organized them accordingto the instruments’ appearances in the book.

At storytime on Monday and Tuesday,I read the story to the children, emphasiz-ing the rhyme, alliteration, and onomatopoeia.As an extension of the book, I brought ina violin for the children to play and draw.We discussed violin vocabulary, experi-mented with playing while placing fingerson the neck, and gave labels to thesounds we heard (“a plane taking off,” “a creaky door,” even “blubber”). I wasaware that one child in our class, Max,was taking Suzuki violin lessons. I invit-ed him to play for the class at storytimeon Wednesday. He agreed and broughthis violin with him to school.

We compared and contrasted the twoviolins on Wednesday. At storytime, Iinvited Max to the front of the classto play Twinkle, Twinkle. Hereceived uproarious applause andsat down with a smile to listento the story. After I read eachpage aloud, I played the clipsof the instruments. The

children listened attentively to eachinstrument’s sound, and were even ableto identify a few melodies (the Frenchhorn plays the Star Wars theme). To create a connection between the classand the orchestra, I played the clip of the violin playing Twinkle, Twinkle and anumber of children called out that itsounded just like what Max had played.

Max agreed to bring his violin backto school on Thursday, on one condition:“I want to play a duet with you.” I con-sented to play my banjo while Maxplayed his violin. Our plans changedslightly when Maya S. approached uswith a proposition. “Max can playTwinkle, Twinkle on his violin, you canplay it on your banjo, and I know thewords, so I can sing it. We can be atrio.” I was delighted with this idea andpleased that Maya had incorporated ter-minology from the book (“trio”). Maxwas thrilled. At storytime, we performedTwinkle, Twinkle together and once againreceived applause and praise from theEast Room community.

Friday storytime typically involvesthe culminating event of the week’sstory. Knowing that we have an extremelymusical teaching staff at Bing, I hadinvited teachers Amy Blasberg andMinjae Bae to bring their instruments toour storytime. Amy, who plays for theStanford band, brought her tromboneand a trumpet, and Minjae brought herflute. When I told Max they were goingto join us at storytime, Max asserted that

he wanted to play his violin again. Iwas elated at the idea of Max play-ing the same melody as the teach-ers. Next I signed children up to

participate in our storytimeorchestra and invitedthem to make a draw-ing of the instrument

they would be repre-senting.

As I read the story,I paused aftereach page to

allow for the musical interlude. Since thestory begins with the brass section, Amyplayed Twinkle, Twinkle first on the trom-bone and then on the trumpet. Erik hadcreated a “cello-guitar” at the woodwork-ing table that day, and when it was histurn to play Twinkle, Twinkle he strummedhis rubber bands in perfect cadence withthe rhythm of the song. His joy at playinghis instrument could only be described bythe smile that spread across his face inreaction to the applause he received. Maxwas next and once again performed to acaptivated audience. Minjae nodded inappreciation of her fellow musician andplayed the same melody on her flute—“that slender, silver, sliver,” as describedin the story. Beau wrapped up the indi-vidual performances by strumming a fewstirring chords on the zither (representingthe harp), and I played a clip of Vivaldi’sFour Seasons as we concluded the book.

Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin is an excellentbook for building vocabulary, contextualknowledge of instruments, and phonolog-ical awareness through rhyming and specific letter and sound blends. I wasable to enhance this story by making useof technology in the classroom and themusical resources in our community. Theresult was an engaging and charmingseries of storytimes that built children’sself-confidence, drew them closer tomembers of the orchestra, and createdmusical connections between our class-room, our school, and the outside world.

Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin: A Weeklong Aural ExplorationBy Matt Linden, Head Teacher

Max brings his violin to class and describes it tochildren at story time.

Head

Neck

Body

BowObservational drawing of a violin.By Elijah Y., 4 years 7 months


“Everyone has a story to tell, a dream toshare with the world, and a right to telltheir own story in their own way.”

—Jacqueline Woodson, children’s book author

For the children in the Center PMclassroom, this year was full of story

writing, storytelling, and acting out stories—the results of a yearlong literacy-basedproject. Its origins were rooted in lastsummer’s passionate interest in writinghumorous stories that the children fondlycalled the “Goo Goo Gaa Gaa” books. Asthe teachers transcribed the stories andlater read them aloud at story time, the

children recognized first-hand the powerof their own words. They supported oneanother with respect and enthusiasm asthey listened to each new story. Whenschool started in the fall, the childrenwere excited to resume writing.

As the children’s competence in storywriting grew, teachers encouraged theexploration of other literary genres, aswell as different ways to tell a story. Achild who had taken home the classroomrabbits for the winter break wrote a manual on rabbit care. Some stories werevery simple and developed from explana-tions of their artwork. Sometimes afamiliar story became the inspiration forretelling a story in a child’s own words.Children also devised inventive formatsthrough which to tell their tales. Onechild incorporated a window and a turningwheel into her book, so that each time asentence was read, a different picture

peeked through the window. By simplyfolding paper back and forth like anaccordion, another child showed herfriends how to make a book that couldstand up.

Experiential stories drew upon eventsthat occurred outside of school—a familytrip, a sibling’s first tooth, shopping fornew shoes—and led to the creation of an ongoing classroom newspaper wherechildren could share news from home.Family outings often acted as catalystsfor stories, weaving fact with products of the children’s rich imaginations.

Picking Up Shellsby Hadley Galloping horses at the beach and theywere eating sand. And the sand wasblowing. It was chilly and the sky wasblue.This is a sea monster jellyfish I found ina tide pool in Half Moon Bay,California.This is an octopus.This is a particle.This is a hola bird flying, then standingon one foot.

One of the children introduced theclass to the idea of a comic strip as away to tell a story. Another turned hisstory into a song.

A Story Songby AmeerABC falling on the grass. Climbing upthe tree like a monkey!

Young children are inherently attractedto the rhythms and metaphors of poetry,and some children were drawn to pro-ducing their own poems.

Pinecone the Climberby LindsayWhere do pinecones belong?They have a stemThey grow too.Where do the ants belong?They have little feetThey can climb in your nose.What do ants belong in?They can sometimes go in your pocket.And pinecones too.

As the year progressed, the children inCenter PM grew closer as a communityand began to look forward to creatingstories together. Collaborative storiesinvolved brainstorming and turn taking as children worked together to weavecharacters and plot into a cohesive story.Familiar nursery rhymes or fairy talesoften acted as a springboard for recon-structed stories that they named“Something Different Stories.”

Something Different Storiesby Ameer, Ayla, Bijoy, Dylan, Emma,James, Julia, Julien, Namwook, Rishi,and Tatym Humpty DumptyOnce upon a time, there was HumptyDumpty who sat on the wall. He fell andcracked into small pieces. And then heneeded someone to help fix him. Thequeen helped fix him, but made him intoa duck. All the king’s horses and all theking’s men came. Then Humpty Dumptyturned into a horse. Then he turned intoan elephant. Then he turned into HumptyDumpty again. Then a big, bad spidercame and Humpty Dumpty turned into aspider. Then the spider took HumptyDumpty to jail. Then a policeman tookhim out of jail and put the big bad spiderin jail. Then the spider was lonely. Noone got him out again. The End

Little Red Riding Hood and the Three PigsOnce upon a time there was a girl namedRed Riding Hood. She had three little petpigs. The pigs went to Little Red RidingHood’s house to eat. When they got there,they went to the fridge. And they ate andthey ate and they ate. Then they went out-side. They drink water. They fell to sleep.Little Red Riding Hood saw the pigsasleep and then she woke them up. Thenshe chased them away. The pigs went tobuy some milk. Then the pigs went backto Little Red Riding Hood’s house andshe chased them away again. Then shefound some sheep. Then the sheep went“baa baa.” The sheep were Little RedRiding Hood’s pets now. The End.

Jack and JillJack and Jill went up the hill to get a

A Story to Tell: Story Writing, Storytelling, and Story Plays By Nancy Howe, Head Teacher

Teacher Lisa Wesley reads a story dictated byEleanor at story time as Eleanor shows her artwork. The story was inspired by her art.



cow to milk. Then they stole some waterand filled their bucket. Then there was nomilk from the cow they had found. Thenthere was no pond of water. They saw thewishing well. They made a wish. Theirwish was that they had three buckets ofwater and two ice cream cones. Theirwish came true! The End

Parents played a very important rolein the story project. They volunteered toread favorite storybooks, assembledblank books and transcribed the children’sdictated stories. They introduced the chil-dren to musical stories based on classicalmusic, like Stravinsky’s The Firebird andencouraged the children to act out thestory and dance to the musical score. Therich cultural diversity of our classroomwas reflected in the folktales and fablesfrom around the world parents sharedwith us. The children listened to a folk-tale from Korea called Kong-gi and HerSisters and to a story from the Philippinescalled The Spectacular Tree, and collabo-rated on the retelling of these two tales tocreate their own versions with illustrations.

Even in this age of highly visualentertainment, children seem naturallydrawn to the simplicity, spontaneity, andintimacy of storytelling. Many Bingteachers enjoy incorporating storytellinginto story time. With a little encourage-ment and modeling, children wereinspired to tell their own stories in front

of the whole group. Manychildren found it helpful touse simple props as visualcues. They ranged fromfamiliar classroom objectsand playthings to creationsfrom open-ended materials.Children discovered thatmaterials like play doughor clay could be easilymanipulated and trans-formed into characters orobjects to illustrate theirstories. Props also becamethe foundation for story-telling games. The “ThreeObject Story” was an exer-cise that involved childrenor teachers spontaneouslycreating a story aroundthree unrelated objects.Painting at an easel andbuilding with blocks weretwo other activities thatoften served as vehicles fornarratives.

At the spring staffdevelopment day, Stanford Universitypsychology professor and researcher LeraBoroditsky, PhD, told us about her expe-riences with Australian aboriginal story-tellers, who drew simple pictures in thesand to illustrate the story they weresharing. Teachers introduced children tosand as a new medium for communicat-ing their thoughts and ideas. They filledshallow wooden trays and recorded chil-dren’s words as they drew and told theirstories in the sand.

Story time in Center PM traditionallyincorporates repeated readings through-out the week of a carefully selected,engaging book. This supported the chil-dren’s story creation process.

Repeated tellings of an engaging storyhelp the children gain familiarity withlanguage, meaning, and concepts.Children also become more fluent in theirretellings, often wanting to rewrite thestory in their own words, or add theiroriginal ideas to the familiar plot, or playthe roles of the story’s characters in adramatization or “story play.”

Recently, at story time the classroombegan reading The Three Billy GoatsGruff by Paul Galdone. The childrenwere able to engage with the storythrough written text, music, and drama.

As the week progressed, children beganto memorize the text, explored characters’feelings and intentions, and retold thestory in numerous ways. The interactionswith this story provided children withopportunities for creative expression,social collaboration, and a forum for personal interpretations.

JEREMY: The goats are going on the bridge. The troll says, “Who’s walking on my bridge?”

ILLIANA: The goats are going to the beach. They are walking over the bridge.

WILLIAM A.: The troll is mean. That hurts people’s feelings. The troll hurts the goat’s feelings. The goats cry. The policeman comes to help them. The policeman takes them to the doctor. The troll feels bad and says, “What’s that goats?” He says, “I’m nice now.”

Children are natural storytellers. Ourrole as teachers is to support and gentlyguide their extraordinary capacity forexpression. As our project came to aclose, children, teachers, and parents recognized that we had created a dynamiccommunity of storytellers that recognized,respected, and celebrated each child’sunique voice.

Center Room children re-enact The Three Billy Goats Gruff in whatis commonly called a “story play.” Each child takes on the role ofa character (or object) from the story or accompanies the storywith music or sound. For weeks after this particular story play,children created their own billy goats gruff-related stories.

Inspired by Stanford research about Australianpygmy tribes that told stories using sand drawings,Center Room teachers provided sand trays andasked children to draw in the sand and narratestories based on those pictures. The stories andphotographs of the pictures were later compiledin booklets.

17November ● ■ ▲ The Bing Times



Lola and I are going to make sure thebunnies are healthy,” announced

Bradley one Friday in West Room. “We’vealready checked them, but we’ll keep aneye on them to make sure they’re OK,”he reported earnestly. “Oh, are they sick?”a teacher asked. “No, but if they get sickwe’ll take them to the doctor.” LikeBradley and Lola, the children in WestRoom had been committed to the bunnies’well-being since their arrival earlier thatmonth: Giving food, using quiet voices,filling the water bottle, keeping theirhouse clean. Thinking about the bunnies’health was a new dimension to theirresponsibilities. Giving them an opportunityto explore this role through play seemedto be a natural segue.

The following week the patio areabecame a veterinary office, serving sickcats, dogs, rabbits, and the occasionalbaby. At the entrance was a waiting areawith books and magazines focused onanimals. Hollow blocks were used tomake a desk that served as the check-inarea, complete with computer keyboards,pencils, paper, scissors, and tape. Therewere also three exam rooms and an oper-ating area including masks, doctor capes,shots, Band-Aids, stethoscopes, bloodpressure gauges, empty containers, ther-mometers and an oxygen mask (made ofplastic tubing and a funnel which fit overthe patient’s mouth).

What was the teachers’ motivation tofollow this path with the children? Asearly childhood educators, we recognizethat dramatic play is one of children’sstrongest avenues of self-expression. Thisbelief is supported by research that shows

that dramatic play is a means to supportchildren’s intellectual, social, emotional,and language development. Through dramatic play children can engage withtheir environment and each other, andconstruct knowledge about themselvesand the world around them. This is sig-nificant because while young childrenoften cannot differentiate between realityand imaginary worlds, dramatic playallows them to make this distinction.Teachers, in turn, support children in this process through keen observation,providing materials, and asking questionsthat enable children to build on theirexisting competencies.

The importance of dramatic play wasvisible on the first day that the children

approached the veterinaryoffice. A group of about10 children explored thenew set-up, perhapsbecause of its novelty,perhaps because it con-tained materials not com-monly available to chil-dren, or perhaps becauseit responded to an interestpercolating inside them.As teachers we need tocarefully observe and lis-

ten to children to determine their specificmotivation. Early childhood educationscholars Beth Hatcher, PhD, and KarenPett, PhD, state this concept well:“Dramatic play is a lens through whichthe process of children’s learningbecomes readily visible to early child-hood educators.”

Teachers watched closely as Joslinapproached the waiting room, which wasfilled with stuffed animal “patients”waiting to see the doctor. She picks up asmall brown dog announcing: “His paw’shurt. He stepped on a big sharp rock.”She proceeds to give him a shot, andthen wraps the paw with gauze, deftlyholding the dog with one hand as sheadministers the treatment. She lookscasually in his ears, using the tool gener-ally used for checking knee reflexes, anddeclares: “He’s got some big ear waxand it’s got a cut inside too.” Without

hesitation she takes a long cotton swaband “cleans out” the ears.

Teachers understand that in this playscenario Joslin not only gets to act outher own experiences but this time she isthe person in the controlling position.From this perspective it is safe for her to imitate and mimic the physical worldand human relationships using symbolicrepresentation. Her skills of memoryretrieval are at work while she also prac-tices her ability to transfer memoriesfrom reality to fantasy play. Pretendingallows Joslin to represent real-life problemsand practice solving them.

The next day, teachers observe a childwho is not quite ready to “treat patients”gain confidence by observing his peers.Carter watches as Luke and Avery tend totwo sick bears. One uses the stethoscopeto listen to the patient’s heartbeat, whilethe other uses tweezers to remove a“bug” from the bear’s ear. Carter puts thedoctor’s mask on his face and hooks thestethoscope around his neck. Though hedoesn’t pick up a patient, he holds a pairof tweezers in his left hand and continuesto watch the other “doctors” carefully. He moves back and forth between groupsof children, watching their movementsand listening to their conversation. He is particularly attentive when Carolinemakes her own Band-Aid by putting asmall square of construction paper in themiddle of a strip of Scotch tape. Twodays later when Carter is at school againhe finds his own “patient” and immedi-ately begins to create a Band-Aid for hishurt paw. A teacher comments that shehad seen another child make a Band-Aidlike that. Carter looks up and smiles.

Carter was able to take advantage ofthe dramatic play set-up at his own pace.While not directly involved with thematerials, he gathered information abouthow play scenarios occur. When he hadwitnessed enough to gain the confidenceto engage, he also demonstrated his abilityto transform a concrete object into a symbolicone. The teacher helped him to understandthat he had learned some informationfrom watching his peers, so he can perhapsuse that strategy another day.

Doctors at Play: A Window into the Value of Socio-Dramatic PlayBy Peckie Peters, Head Teacher


“

Marisol and Jacob check patients in for their appointment.


On the third day of the set-up, childrenexplore and develop their literacy skills.Marisol sits at the reception desk, using“cursive writing” to make a list of patientswho will come that day, drawing connect-ed swirls of lines and carefully hitting aseries of computer keys after she writeseach line. Jacob is working at the key-board on the other end and leans forward,knocking down the boards that are thedesktop. He and Marisol immediatelybegin to fix it but it is slightly wobbly andthey can’t get it to balance. Jacob gets apiece of paper and says to Marisol: “I’ll beback.” Marisol asks a teacher for help fix-ing the desk and goes back to work on herlist. Jacob asks another teacher for somehelp sounding out words in a letter hecomposes. It reads: DR I CNT @#@# OTHO TO PT THE (picture of desk) AT THEAAAAAAAAA (Doctor, I can’t figure outhow to put the desk at the hospital.) Forthe words he knows, Jacob put down thesounds he could hear. He reads back hisnote to a teacher to make sure it soundsright. When he got to “figure,” heexplained, he thought that it was too longa word so he just did a “design so peoplewould know.” When he got to “hospital”he described how the word sounds like alot of short “a” sounds, “a-a-a.”

Teachers can observe that Marisol andJacob have solid foundations in literacy.Play provides them a vehicle for assimi-lating what they are learning about thefunctions and conventions of print, andteachers can support their development as needed. Simultaneously, they practiceskills of problem-solving, flexibility,negotiation, and cooperation.

Later that morning, dramatic playbrings two children together who don’tfrequently play together, but who had ashared idea. Ada announces to no one inparticular: “You can put this [her kitty] inthe X-ray because I think she has a bro-ken bone.” Jacob, who hears her mentionthe X-ray, asks: “What’s wrong with her,Ada?” Ada responds to Jacob: “I thinkshe has a broken bone!” Jacob inserts thekitty into the hollow blocks that he hasconstructed to be an X-ray machine. Heinspects it by looking through the spoutend of a water bottle that he has attachedwith masking tape to one side of theblocks. He stands up and looks seriouslyat Ada. “I think she’s OK,” he reassuresher. Ada hops up and down and smiles an

enormous smile,clapping her hands.Jacob smiles back,visibly pleased.

In this scenariothe two children arebrought together by ashared interest in theX-ray machine. Theyare both invested infinding a solution toa problem, and in theprocess they shareinformation, askquestions, offer emo-tional support, andenjoy the experienceof working together. Each clearly appre-ciates the other’s knowledge and sensitivity,both indicators of a move from egocentricto social play.

By Friday, the children have had severaldays to explore the veterinary office.Their comfort with the materials is visibleand they begin to explore different roles.Tara holds a stuffed cat in one hand, atelephone balanced in the crook of herneck, a pencil and clipboard in the otherhand. She is writing as she is talking.“Hello. This is Dr. Tara. We have a catthat has a headache. Can you come overin three minutes?” She pauses as if listen-ing to the response. “Hmmm,” she con-tinues, “actually I’m going to help.” Shesets the phone down and puts the ther-mometer in the cat’s mouth. Ada andTatiana both come over to see what she isdoing. Tara then says to Ada: ”Here isyour kitty. If her head still hurts youknow where to call.” She looks first atTatiana for confirmation. “Me and Dr.Tatiana.” Tatiana nods her head, yes. Adatakes the kitty and waits for more infor-mation. Tara hands Ada a small bottlesaying: “One first, then two after today.”She pauses for just a moment. “Do youknow how to call the doctor? 738-01889and the hospital number is 889-89930.”Tatiana listens carefully and adds: “3-4.”Neither Ada nor Tara responds to Tatianaso a teacher asks: “Is that how we call you?”Tatiana smiles and nods her head yes.

Tara’s dramatic play shows her under-standing of how people take on differentroles, the importance of turn-taking, herknowledge about literacy and her abilityto problem-solve. When Ada and Tatianajoin her, she quickly identifies the need to

shift her action to keep the play going.She assigns them roles, which they readi-ly accept, and goes on to demonstratespeech that is often heard in a doctor’soffice. Tatiana builds on the informationthat Tara initiates and implicitly demon-strates her understanding of the role sheis playing by adding her own contactphone number.

The veterinary hospital remained apart of the patio set-up for two moreweeks, until teachers saw a decrease inchildren’s interest. Having two hours beforesnack time each day to explore differentroles, incorporate new information andinteract with peers gave children time toinvestigate their interest at this time. Mostchildren in the class had at least come toour veterinary hospital to observe. Manycame to play for more than an hour eachday. The value of this play, in my opinion,cannot be overemphasized.

My hope is that the previous exampleshelp to clarify how dramatic play plays acentral role in the early childhood class-room because it allows children to learnabout the world in ways that make senseto them. When children engage in dramaticplay they can clarify their feelings, try on a variety of roles, develop problem-solving skills, and enhance their commu-nication abilities. They also learn skills oforganization and prediction and are ableto focus for extended periods of time.Dramatic play facilitates children’s abilityto think symbolically and to share thosethoughts with others, both skills they willuse as they become independent readersand writers. As parents and educators weneed to acknowledge, support, and cele-brate the important role of dramatic play.

Tara, playing the role of a doctor, administers a shot to a stuffed bunnyas Rebecca and Ada wait to assist.



What is a project? At Bing, aproject is an in-depth investi-

gation of a topic worth learning moreabout. For 10 weeks last fall, thechildren in Center AM studied worms.

Usually a small group of childrenwithin a class undertakes the investi-gation, though sometimes a wholeclass, or occasionally an individualchild takes it on. The key feature ofthe project is that it deliberatelyfocuses on finding answers to ques-tions about a topic posed either bythe children, the teachers, or theteachers in collaboration with thechildren. An integrated approachallowed the children to use a range oflearning strategies to learn about worms.As a result, they investigated and studiedworms in ways that matched their indi-vidual learning styles.

Good project work provides meaning-ful context for children to apply theirdeveloping skills. Through our wormproject, children had opportunities todevelop intellectual dispositions such asbeing curious, experimental, analytical,exploratory, investigative, and thoughtful.The longer the project, the stronger thesedispositions grow.

Noted early childhood educationauthor Elinor Fitch Griffin—a favorite of Bing director Jeanne Lepper—under-scores the importance of projects:“…through endeavors like these, childrenare learning something more valuablethan facts and skills and achieving some-thing more worthwhile than a product.They are learning how to think.”

How it began…Our worm project began with children’sinterest in digging for worms. Many children explored the Center classroom’soutdoor environment, looking for wormsunder logs, rocks, and in our garden box.Small groups of children decided to visitthe West room yard to see what theycould find there. The children from theWest AM class welcomed us and helpedus find other “worm hiding spots.” Theywere also very interested in the worms.Every found worm was an exciting expe-

rience. Others would gather around thefound worms to watch, hold, and talkabout them.

Searching for worms:JOJO: I have to get four worms because

I’m four.CARMEN: Look these worms are kissing.NICOLE: I’m helping my worm getting

up right side up. When it’s white it’s not right side up but when it’s black it’s right side up.

JOJO: Worms move different from snakes because I think snakes are longer and worms are smaller.

NICOLE: This worm is going to look for his friend. Look the worms are hugging.

JOJO: These are two worms and they’re looking for their friends. Is it under the leaf? Yes!!! I’m making a worm farm.

CARMEN: Worms eat leaves with dirt.JOJO: I think worms eat dirt and cherries.NICOLE: I think they eat leaves.HUMZA: Leaves. They live under leaves.

The interest in worms spread whenCarmen’s mother, Norma, and Jojo’smother, Janet, brought in and helpedassemble a worm farm for our classroom.Similar to an ant farm, the worm farmgave children a clear view of the wormstunneling through soil. The childrenbegan to make comparisons and predictionsabout these worms.

The project unfolds:The investigation began. Childrenobserved worms and shared their knowl-

edge about them. Our researcherswere excited and curious to knowmore about the worms, and theystarted to gather information. Theyused their peers, teachers, books,and their own experiences asresources to help them answer theirquestions.

Children drew what theyobserved. After group discussions,the teachers asked the children todraw their thoughts and discoveriesabout worms. These drawings gavechildren the chance to refine theirperceptual and fine motor skills.We watched children share their

work and talk with others about their theories. They referenced each other’swork to build on their own interpretations.This learning style helped to bring inother children who were onlookers. Weshared our discoveries at snack and atstory time to increase their visibility.Soon the project involved a large part ofour classroom community.

Worm observations:CASSANDRA: They squiggle into the dirt

to stay warm.LEON: The dirt is his home.PETE: If a mountain came down on the

worm it would smash it.LEON: Birds eat worms. One worm made

himself into a bridge.ERIK: That one is long, but that one is

even longer.BRYSON: That one looks longer. The

longer worm has more segments.ERIK: They go into dirt because they

need more food. They eat rocks.BRYSON: This is the head because it is

moving this way.CARMEN: If the sun comes to the dirt and

the rain comes to the dirt, the worms might fix the dirt. They like the gardens.

NATALIE: They eat with their mouth, they have no teeth.

ISABEL S.: They like shade and dirt, grass, and dirt.

Exploring our resources:It was clear that the group needed moreinformation. So children gathered

Worm ProjectBy Parul Chandra, Head Teacher


Bryson, Leon and Erik observe how worms move with CoriMarquis, a Stanford psychology student.


refererences from the school library andteachers brought other books from locallibraries and bookstores. Children usedthe books in a number of ways, for exam-ple, they compared their drawings ofworms to the drawings in the books. And they often referred to books to helpthem fine-tune their questions.

An invited speaker, Peter Ozorio, anentomologist, served as another resource.During story time one day, we presentedhim with our questions and listened to hispresentation on worms. His demonstrationof how to prepare worm food excited thechildren, generating a lively discussion.After his visit, the children were inspiredto explore this topic through differentmedia. Children constructed worms withclay, painted them with watercolor andtempera, and worked with pretend wormsin a garden box. They explored wormmovement through creative expression atmusic time and built new homes to keepthe worms safe from the birds.

At the language table children sharedquestions and shaped their theories aboutworms:

Question from Carmen: Why doworms escape from the birds? ISABEL S.: Because birds like to eat worms.ANNA: Because birds eat worms. It wasn’t

easy finding worms because the birds ate the worms.

LAUREN: Actually, worms are slow so the birds can catch them. If the worms growfat then the birds can’t eat them. If they go skinny then the birds get them.

CHLOE: Because birds eat worms.JACK: Because they get eaten by birds.ADAM: Because they’ll get eaten. You

know how they escape… they dig!SANTIAGO: Because the worms eat a lot.NAJA: ’Coz the birds might eat them.LEON: Because they like it.

PETE: That’s because they don’t want to be eaten by birds.

LAUREN: Because they’ll get eaten by birds.ELEANOR: Because the worms don’t want

the birds to eat them.SWATI: Because they know that birds like

to eat them and because they want to save their lives forever.

JAMESON: Because they get hurt from the birds.

AVA: Because they might think they might be stepped but they won’t.

KIMI: Because the worms get cut by them.CASSANDRA: Because they like to eat them.

The teachers introduced materials andactivities to extend and enhance thisinvestigation. Children used flannel cutouts to tell stories about worms. Childrenpainted with yarn dipped in paint toexplore worm movements. As theylooked for worms, they came upon otherbugs and enjoyed identifying and classi-fying them. This lead to a discussionabout including other insects in theirworm farms. In the end, they decidedunanimously that these new bugs werenot worms and therefore did not belongin the farm. They found centipedes, millipedes, roly-polies, and a salamander.Jojo said, “Salamanders are the worm’s uncle.”

Children formulated their ideas andplaced questions about worms inside abox. Some of these questions included:Why do worms dig on dirt? Why don’tworms have feet? Do worms eat flowers?How do they move?

Paul wondered “Do worms wiggle?”and children shared their theories aboutthis question: JACK: Yes, because they have no legs.MADELINE: Yes, because they’re worms.NATALIE: Yes, they’re earthworms.ANNA: Yes, they go skinny fat… skinny

fat.LAUREN S.: Yes, that’s how they

get around.ZOE: Yes, because they don’t

have feet.COLE: Yeah, because they need

to move.DAVID: Yeah, because I think

that’s how they get down the hole.

CARMEN: Yeah, because they escape from the birds.

ANNIE: They squirm…NAJA: Yeah, ’coz it makes

them warm on cold days.LEON: Because they like it. Birds eat

some worms.PETE: Yeah, that’s because they’re slimy.LAUREN V.: Because that’s how they go

places.KIMI: Yeah, because they’re slippery and

slimy.SWATI: Yes, because they need to move

and they need to wiggle to more.CASSANDRA: Because they can’t walk.

They have no legs.

After spring break, children revisitedthe worm project. Groups hunted forworms and other bugs. Children talkedabout their experiences, bringing in stories,bugs, and other insects they found athome and in school. We invited Peteragain, since children wanted more infor-mation about their new finds.

Like many other experiences, thedevelopment of this project was unpre-dictable and emergent. It unfolded as aparticular group of adults and childreninteracted, setting in motion a uniquedynamic. An emphasis on developing asense of “we” was established and reci-procity was maintained. Children’s verbaland graphic exploration jumpstarted theproject. The project’s development wasbased on questions, comments, and interests of the children involved. Mostimportant, children had ample time tocome up with their own questions andexplore many different possibilities. The quarter ended with us returning theworms to their natural living environmentin the garden. As the children gatheredaround the garden, several said: “Wemade the worms a home.”

Nicole and Carmen prepare the worm house fornew worms they found in the yard.

I’m digging for worms. By Tomo G., 3 years 8 months



Early in the school year, children inthe West afternoon classroom began

a conversation at one of the snack tablesabout where their grandparents live.While some children have grandparentsnearby, many have grandparents in far-offplaces throughout the world. This beganan investigation into where each child’sextended family lives. Children wereinterested in having these different placesindicated on a globe and a map.

Through this investigation, we realizedthat we had families in the West afternoonclassroom representing every continent,except for Australia (and Antarctica, ofcourse). We also have many countriesrepresented, including Argentina, Belgium,China, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico,Nigeria, the Philippines, Singapore, Tibet,Vietnam, and various states throughoutthe United States.

This diversity prompted us to followthe topic of “Families Around the World.”Our goal was to offer a glimpse at howfamilies in other places live and learnabout their cultural practices. We invitedfamilies to participate in sharing some-thing of their cultural communities withthe children in the West PM classroom.

We started by learning about the art oforigami, a paper folding craft from Japan.Parents assisted the children in trying tofollow directions from origmi books.Children enjoyed learning to make simpleshapes and have continued to try to makedifferent shapes on their own throughoutthe year. During a visit to our school,some Japanese educators were happy tosee children working on origami and theywere able to engage with the childrenthrough this common experience. Later inthe year, we also had an opportunity tolearn to make (and eat) sushi.

A family from Nigeria taught us aboutthe traditional wedding ceremony fromthat country and modeled the typicalnative dress. We also listened to musicfrom Nigeria. The children found itinteresting that dress and music can varyfrom one place to the next. A family fromSwitzerland brought some clothing fromthat country along with photos, whichhighlighted that the geography elsewhere

sometimes differs from our own area andthat climate can influence the types ofclothes worn in different countries.

In January, we had the chance tolearn about the celebration of theChinese Lunar New Year. Childrenenjoyed the story about how 12 animalswere chosen to represent the differentyears and learned which animal repre-sented their own birth year. Some childrenpreferred to self select their “favorite” ofthe animals, rather than being represent-ed by the prescribed one. We learnedabout the practice of giving and receiv-ing the traditional red envelope withmoney enclosed. Children also madepaper lanterns and had a parade in theclassroom yard complete with a dragon.The children enjoyed marching andsinging, “Gung Hay Fat Choy!”

Over time, we learned songs in different languages and various ways ofsaying hello. We had parents share howto write children’s names in both Tibetanand Japanese characters. Some childrenwere interested in trying to duplicate thecharacters on their own.

Our topic, Families Around theWorld, has given us a better perspectiveon the many ways people dress, eat, cele-brate, play music, write, and speak. Itallowed us to feel connected to each otherboth within the classroom community andas a global community. It also broadenedchildren’s awareness and helped developtheir ability to take another person’s per-spective. We thank the many families thatcontributed to making this a rich andrewarding experience. It has been a fun,engaging, and inspiring topic to explore.

Families Around the World in West PMBy Karen Robinette, Head Teacher


Clockwise, from top left: Jenny Shemwell guidesMia and Fiona through the process of origami.Sandy Shapero shares materials about the wintersolstice with Clement, Julian, Kate, and her daughterSky. Quin Yow works with Zachary, Max, and Skyin making paper lanterns for Chinese New Year.Tenzin Dingpontsawa demonstrates Tibetan writingto a small group of children including his daughter,Sela, and Divya. Tolu and Bisi Akinola share someclothing, music and cultural practices of familiesin Nigeria.

Photo not available online. Photo not available online.




Music time after snack fills the PMTwo’s with joy—and not coinci-

dentally, boosts their brain development.The sessions illustrate perfectly the con-cept of interactive learning.

Much of the new research on learningemphasizes the important role emotionsplay. Both positive and negative emotionscan affect learning. A stressful environ-ment can impair development; positiveemotions aid learning by establishingmeaningful connections between peopleand amongst the many neurons in thebrain. The coordination of interactivelearning with many opportunities forindividual expression in the well-pre-pared and well-facilitated classroom cre-ates a climate for growth. Skillful facili-tators (teachers and parents) observe,guide, and respond within a frameworkinformed by research.

This research and our own observa-tions have furthered our understandingthat children not only enjoy working insmall groups, but also benefit from theassociation. Language development pro-vides a prime example. The motivationfor very young children to speak oftencomes from the warm response of afriend. The reinforcement of vocabularycan come from a book and from favoritesongs, but it is when it is shared in agroup that the child truly communicates.

This feeling of community and climateof growth is especially evident in the

small group activities oftwo- and three-year-olds.Though at the beginning ofthe year they might beengaged only peripherally,by spring the interactivedynamic emerges as theirmost compelling motiva-tion. Perhaps the most dra-matic example has beentheir behavior at musictime, held after snack.(Well-fed, rested childrenare better able to learn.)Their enthusiasm for thesong Going on a BearHunt—conveyed by theircontributions of sounds,chants and rhythms to accompany thepoetic verses—was joyful and full offacial expression and playful exchange.Mitchell growled like a bear, and Mikiyelped with delight as she struck theguiro percussion instrument in a quick-ening tempo. Quinn barked when thedog was part of the action and others fol-lowed with their own barks. Experimen-tation with instruments was a favoritepart of the game. Erika showed the othershow to make a louder sound with theguiro and Emily skillfully established asteady beat. Amelia was able to syncopatethe rhythm. Each subtle change enrichedthe game, taught a new skill, and furtheredthe learning.

It makes a big difference in a child’slearning to feel a part of this group cre-ation. Praise from adults, while worth-while, lacks the power of peer reinforce-ment. This form of interaction makeseach experience a meaningful learningexperience: it’s a personal connection anda brain connection. Each original creationon the part of children collaborating is astep towards an original solution.Confidence to make new solutions incooperative learning grows minds andbodies strong and healthy. This is notonly a goal for nursery school but is alsoa mindset for confident, cooperativeproblem solving, establishing a precedentfor the future.

Singing in the Classroom Spurs Learning in the PM Two’sBy Kitti Pecka, Head Teacher

Two-year-olds create a dance with the May pole.

Maple Syrup TreeAs part of a classroom project focusing on trees, children in East AM constructed trees in the sand area. Following is a dramatic play scenario the children created. For more information on the project, see page 13.

This winter our tree construction took a fanciful turn. Using card-board tubing, paper and craft sticks, the children made a lollipop

tree (inspired by the Burl Ives song), which was then followed by arainbow apple tree and a maple tree, which squirted syrup like afountain. After constructing the trees, the children engaged in elab-orate dramatic play using the trees as props. Farm animals camefrom far and wide to sample the lollipops. Princesses picked thecolorful apples and baked them into plump pies. A pack of dogsdeveloped a hankering for pancakes, which were produced enmasse on an assembly line and topped with syrup collected fromthe maple tree. Then, in a surprising turn of events, the maple tree

began to overproduce. It flooded the sand area, and the childrenquickly built a houseboat, gathered supplies, and climbed on board.Using shovels as oars, they stroked together while chanting, “Row!Row! Row!” They dodged wave after wave, when suddenly a coldwind blew up and froze all the syrup solid. The occupants of thehouseboat jumped out and began to ice skate, jumping and twirlingacross the slick surface. Unexpectedly, there was a loud crack."The ice is breaking!" the children yelled, "Back to the boat!" Thisfreezing and cracking scenario was repeated several times until thesyrup suddenly receded as quickly as it had come, and we all wentin for snack time. –Betsy Koning, Teacher


Each spring, teachers have the oppor-tunity to come together to reflect

on the passing school year and furtherdevelop their skills as teachers. This year,the recent return of seven teachers whotraveled to Italy on a Reggio Emiliastudy tour and the increasing momentumof the Tower House renovation projectmade the spring staff development day aparticularly exciting time to reflect onour own school’s history as well as itsfuture. On April 30, teachers participatedin a full day of discussion, learning, andsmall group work.

In light of the Reggio Emilia studytour, the entire teaching staff read thearticle, Reactions to Visiting the Infant-Toddler and Preschool Centers in ReggioEmilia, Italy by early childhood educa-tion professor Tess Bennett, PhD. Thearticle nicely summarized the philosophy,environment, and classroom culture ofthe Reggio schools. Staff developmentday began with small group discussionsof this article, with each group lead byone of the teachers who participated inthe study tour. During this small grouptime, teachers learned more about theReggio philosophy and then went on todiscuss Bing’s philosophy and identity.

Teachers later came together as a largegroup to share their reflections on theReggio approach as well as the work wedo here at Bing. The staff also enjoyedlooking through some mementos fromBing’s earliest days, over 40 years ago!Director Jeanne Lepper shared a beauti-fully bound book of photographs fromthe school’s opening, as well as Bing’sfirst brochure. Jeanne was a head teacherat Bing when the school first opened,and she has carefully saved these artifactsto remind us of the school’s beginnings.

The staff enjoyed the small-groupdiscussion time. It was great to exchangeand share ideas with colleagues whowork on different teams. It was amoment of collective reflection onBing’s philosophy/practices and those ofReggio Emilia in their own context.

The spring staff development dayprovides a time for teachers to learnmore about the research that is such anintegral part of Bing’s mission as a labo-ratory school. This year, we heard fromseven researchers about their currentwork at Bing. The following studies werepresented: Children’s Understanding ofGeneric Sentences; Monolingual andBilingual Children’s Use of Mutual

Exclusivity Assumption in Word Learning;Understanding Preschool Children’sConcepts of Food Categories; Languageand Social Reasoning; Investigating theImportance of Diversity in Preschool;Children’s Behavioral Inhibition; Beliefsabout Goodness and Helplessness; andBehavioral Investigations of PerceptualLearning. Researchers Aaron Anderson,Andrei Cimpian, Sean Drake, CaitlinFausey, Allison Master, Davie Yoon, andQuin Yow shared the theoretical founda-tions of their work, the protocols they usein the game rooms, and their results thusfar. We also heard from professor LeraBoroditsky about her research investigat-ing the impact that language has onthought. (See page 8 for more informationon Boroditsky’s research.) She has conductedthis research with children and adultsalike, at Bing and around the world.

The day concluded with time for more small group work. Teachers had the choice of working on documentationand classroom portfolios, attending themonthly Bing Writers Group meeting, or working on presentations for theupcoming parent seminar series.

Spring Staff Development DayBy Jamie Leach, Assistant Teacher


Visitors from AbroadClockwise, from top: Twenty administrators and teachers of the Renoir Kindergartenand Elementary School in Taiwan visited Bing in February. Administrators andteachers of the Poppins Preschool in Japan visited Bing Nursery School lastNovember. The teachers met with Bing teachers for a discussion and exchange.Sixteen faculty members and graduate students in the early childhood educationdepartment at Taipei Municipal University of Education visited Bing in January.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT

In the northern region of Italy rests thecity of Reggio Emilia, famous to early

childhood educators all over the worldfor its progressive and creative approachto early childhood education. On April13, 2007, seven Bing teachers made ajourney there to participate in an interna-tional conference. Joined by teachersfrom Australia, Brunei, Canada, India,Indonesia, New Zealand, Singapore, andthe U.K., Bing’s teachers toured ReggioEmilia’s schools and attended lectures onthe region’s educational philosophy andits translation to practice.

The Reggio Emilia early childhoodpublic school system consists of 21infant-toddler centers (for children ages3-36 months) and 20 preschools (for ages3-6 years). The schools are based on theconcept of children as competent learnerscapable and deserving of learning in theirown time and in their own ways. As such,the classrooms are rich with open-endedmaterials, and children are given spaceand time to interact with these materialsas they see fit. Teachers often choose todesign classrooms to focus on a concept,such as light, shadows, or color. Theyclosely observe and document the children’sinvestigations and reactions for laterreflection by both teachers and children.And close attention is paid to the “hundredlanguages” or varied modes of expressionchildren use to explore, interpret, express,and interact with the world around them.

The Bing teachers also shared theirinsights while participating in discussions.Among the topics: the relationshipbetween child development and education,fostering creativity in young children,building supportive communities forschools and children, the importance ofdocumentation, and the intersectionbetween culture and educational practice.

The Bing teachers who made the tripare Adrienne Lomangino, Emma O’Hanlon,Peckie Peters, Karen Robinette, RinnaSanchez-Baluyut, Seyon Verdtzabella,and Beth Wise. They share the followingreflections:

Adrienne Lomangino:Visiting Reggio Emilia was simultaneouslycentering and unsettling, affirming and

inspiring. Although theschool visits, classroomimages, and exhibitsaroused many ideas forthe classroom, I wasstruck more deeply by

the less tangible but salient values andphilosophy that framed the educationalsystem. I was immersed in a communitythat respected and valued children to thepoint that its members had consciouslydecided to make high-quality early child-hood experiences a priority.

Coming from a culture that seems tobe in search of the “right” way to teachchildren, I was drawn to the viewespoused by Reggio Emilia educators:that teaching involves an ongoing questto examine important questions aboutchildren, learning, and education. In heropening talk to the study group, CarlaRinaldi (former director of the municipalearly childhood centers in ReggioEmilia) raised questions that shaped myexperiences at Reggio Emilia and willcontinue to provoke ongoing reflectionon my role as an early childhood educa-tor. These questions included: What isour image of the child? Does childhoodexist or is it a construction? What is themeaning of “to educate”? What does itmean to “make the child visible”? Rinaldiposed these not as rhetorical questions toanswer in due course, but rather as ques-tions for us to consider. Thus, long afterI have finished the cheese and chocolateI brought home, I will have questionsfrom Italy to continue pondering.

Emma O’Hanlon:Bing’s founder, EdithDowley, has been quotedas stating that as teachers,it is our responsibility totreat children as our

“honored guests.” We must listen to chil-dren, value what they have to say, treatthem with kindness and understanding,and give them our time, attention, andrespect. This philosophy guides ourteaching practices at Bing and also gov-erns teachers’ interactions with their stu-dents in Reggio Emilia. I found it bothinspiring and moving to learn how this

world-renowned school system attemptsto instill this respect for children not onlyin its surrounding community of teachers,parents, and staff, but also at a politicallevel and on an international level—edu-cating teachers from around the world,and promoting the idea of children ascompetent learners and current world citizens deserving of rights and a voice inthe community.

Peckie Peters:Reggio inspired me notonly to think about how Iview children but alsohow I view all those peo-ple who support children:

parents, teachers, and politicians. I cameaway with new motivation for the need toadvocate on behalf of children and theirneeds. It confirmed my beliefs about theinnate competence of young children andstimulated me to look more deeply athow I support children in their develop-ment. Lastly, it helped me to acknowledgethe many good things we already do foryoung children!

Karen Robinette:One of the highlights ofmy experience was view-ing a Reggio nurseryschool program for chil-dren ages three, four, and

five. The day I visited Robinson School,Reggio’s founding school, built in 1963,five-year-old children were working in asmall room that was divided by a sheercurtain. One half of the room was dedicatedto the exploration of different materialson an overhead projector, while the otherhalf of the room accomodated childrendesigning a town. They were buildingwith blocks and embellishing with drawingsdone on paper with black marking pens.This town had been “under construction”for a while and children were adding to itover time. Four-year-olds were exploringred poppy flowers using the medium ofwatercolors, while three-year-olds wereworking on the coil technique with clay. I felt very privileged to be able to viewanother high-quality model for earlychildhood education. It was an incrediblystimulating and rewarding week of study,

Reflections on a Study Tour in Reggio Emilia, ItalyBy Emma O’Hanlon, Teacher

CONFERENCES A


discussion, and observation. It willundoubtedly take a long while to processall the information gained, but it will surelyinform my own practice from here on.

Rinna Sanchez-Baluyut:Visiting the world-renownedschools of Reggio Emiliawas quite memorable,and seeing the amazingdocumentation of projects

created by the children and the teacherswas very impressive. It was remarkableto see how passionately the teachers, parents, community, and governmentofficials value children and work collabo-ratively to create respectful environmentsfor the children. Additionally, ReggioEmilia teacher Carla Rinaldi’s depictionof a child as rich in competence and possibilities is a wonderful reminder forme that childhood is to be treasured andcelebrated! Our Reggio trip was unfor-gettable and will continue to inspire meas an educator.

Seyon Verdtzabella:In the cultural context ofReggio Emilia, the region’smunicipal schools foryoung children reflect acommitment to remember,

reflect on and revisit its history. This com-mitment is manifest in documentation,which is described by the members ofReggio Children (the organization that

coordinates the international visitors tothe schools) as quite different from deco-ration and certainly much more than display. For Reggio Schools (operated bythe municipality of Reggio Emilia anddistinctive from privately owned schoolsin the city), documentation is the organi-zation of collected materials that further ahistory of the school. Documentation appealsto the passion of educators because itmakes visible what we know occurs butfind so hard to capture, to remember, torevisit. Documentation offers children,teachers, and parents opportunities to “go back” and interact with what hashappened in their school—to rememberbut even more to inspire new possibilities.Documentation is not for someone, it iswith someone. Documentation perpetuallyprovokes thinking about perceptions ofhow young children develop and learn. It also celebrates what we have come toknow about a particular child, experience,teaching method, school, or teacher. We are inspired to think, to observe, towonder, and to formulate and ponderquestions that might be asked again andagain, provoking more thought, morelearning, more sharing. The answers aredifferent in every moment but permanentlya part of the experience that makes aschool wonderful.

Beth Wise:The experience I had visiting the Reggio

Emilia schools reinforcedmy belief in the meaning,purpose, and importanceof the work we do withyoung children. It wasinspiring to be part of a

worldwide delegation of teachers andhear similar comments, concerns, andquestions arise from the group. After avisit to the Sarzi infant-toddler center, agroup of 20 educators had the opportuni-ty to meet with the teachers and peda-gogista (curriculum coordinator) of theschool. Our questions were translatedinto Italian and then answered in athoughtful and often detailed manner. Atone point, a couple from Indonesia thatoperates a school for 300 young childrenaffected by the tsunami, asked key ques-tions about relationships, building trust,and meaningful interactions with children.As their questions were addressed, Iglanced around to see nods of approvalfrom delegates from Australia, NewZealand, the United States, and othercountries. It struck me at that moment howunited we were in our quest to improveeducation for young children throughoutthe world.

For more information on the ReggioEmilia approach to education, visitwww.reggiochildren.com


The National Association for the Education ofYoung Children accreditation system has set

voluntary professional standards for programsfor young children since 1985. Programs areaccredited for a period of five years. Bing hasbeen continuously accredited since 1989. As ofSeptember 2006, the association introduced

revised program standards and criteria and a new level of quality,accountability, and service for parents and children in child-careprograms. The new standards reflect the latest research and bestpractices in early childhood education and development. NAEYC iscommitted to using the newest studies and analysis on positivechild outcomes to ensure young children continue receiving thehighest-quality care and education possible.

The staff and administration of Bing went through a yearlongextensive self-study process, measuring the program and its ser-vices against 10 new NAEYC early childhood program standards

(relationships, curriculum, teaching, assessment of child progress,health, teachers, families, community relationships, physical envi-ronment, and leadership and management) and more than 400related criteria. One of Bing’s head teachers, Adrienne Lomangino,was instrumental in the process. She attended sessions at thenational NAEYC conference in November 2006 on the new accred-itation system to help the administration throughout the process.Every classroom was responsible for putting together a portfoliodocumenting these new standards, and the administration alsocompleted many in-depth and comprehensive portfolios.

Bing Nursery School received NAEYC reaccreditation after a three-day on-site visit in August by an NAEYC assessor, who substantiated that the program met each of the NAEYC programstandards. We wish to congratulate not only the staff and admin-istration of Bing on this achievement, but also the parents whohave been continuously supportive and give us feedback yearly onour program!

NAEYC Reaccreditation By Jennifer Winters, Assistant Director

Tens of thousands of educators andchild-care professionals from around

the country descended upon Atlanta lastNovember for the annual conference ofthe National Association for the Educationof Young Children. With nearly 100,000members, the NAEYC is the largest orga-nization in the world that advocates foryoung children, with particular focus onthe education and developmental servicesfor children from birth through eight. Fornearly four days, the attendees were treat-ed to hundreds of sessions and events, allwith the purpose of informing, challeng-ing, and energizing adults who work withyoung children.

Bing attendees included teachersNandini Bhattacharjya, Parul Chandra,Adrienne Lomangino, Emma O’Hanlon,Peckie Peters, Andrea Rees, SeyonVerdtzabella, Chia-wa Yeh, and myself.In addition to choosing from the widearray of sessions, O’Hanlon teamed withRees to lead one session and Bhattacharjya,Peters, and Verdtzabella worked togetherto lead another. Meanwhile, Lomanginoattended sessions focusing on the restructured,multi-stage extensive accreditation process.This year, Bing went through the process,which occurs every five years, and was reac-credited in August. Needless to say, it wasan exciting and exhausting trip.

Of the multitude of topics coveredthroughout the conference, children’splay was one of particular interest to theteachers at Bing. Although play is vital to the cognitive, social, and emotionaldevelopment of children, it is often misunderstood and undervalued by bothchild development scholars and the gen-eral population alike. Conferences likeNAEYC’s offer Bing’s educators expo-sure to the most recent professionalthinking and research surrounding relevanttopics like play. In one session onpreschool early literacy curricula, SueBredekamp, PhD, director of research atthe Council for Early Childhood ProfessionalRecognition, identified socio-dramaticplay (pretend play with roles, rules,props, and situations that persists for atleast 10 minutes) as a highly effectivetool in the development of children’s

early language aswell as the buildingof their emotional literacy. At a roundtable discussion aboutplay, child development,and early childhoodeducation, professorAlice Meckley, PhD,of Millersville Universitywent even further,attributing play as the key to the con-struction of children’s neural synapses,their knowledge and understanding ofsymbols, and ultimately their creation of communities based on cooperation,equity, mutual respect, and sharedknowledge, events, and responsibilities.These communities, Meckley asserted,are the very early building blocks of society.

As might be expected, Bing’s twosessions focused on play. The presenta-tion by O’Hanlon and Rees, “ExtendingPlay: A Teacher’s Thought Process,”used video clips featuring Bing teachersengaged in play scenarios with childrento highlight techniques to extend anddeepen a child’s play experience. Eachclip illustrated a different means ofextending play, such as focusing on children’s social development and rela-tionships, using sand, and using literacy.Some of the many techniques includedfollowing the children’s lead and valuingtheir ideas, asking children open-endedquestions to enlarge thinking and expandunderstanding, serving as an interpreterto enhance communication and collabo-ration between children, undertaking atemporary role in the play before steppingback as play is established, and high-lighting other children as resources. Thepresenters also invited participants tomake comments and ask questions aboutthe techniques.

The other Bing session, “Playing with Gutters and Pipes: Engaging YoungMinds in Scientific and MathematicalExplorations,” discussed the strategiesfor guiding children in their use of plasticpipes and rain gutters to develop andsupport a math and science curriculum.When children piece together actual

construction material such as clear andsolid pipes and rain gutters, they haveopportunities to experiment, inquire andbuild theories. As they use water andsand with pipes and gutters, they buildconcepts in connectivity, flow, cause andeffect, and gravity. Carefully watchingboth water and balls move through clearpipes and water, balls, and wheels movethrough gutters builds kinesthetic intelli-gence and helps construct physicalknowledge. Children have opportunitiesto make and test their own hypotheses asthey create their own pipe and gutter sys-tems, thus laying the internal foundationsof the scientific process. Pipes and guttersalso encourage children to work withpeers, providing important practice incollaboration, perspective taking, and communication.

Additional popular conference desti-nations were any of the wide assortmentof presentations based on Reggio Emilia,an inquiry-driven educational approachthat was born in Italy but has its roots inthe work of an assortment of child devel-opment pioneers, including Jean Piaget,PhD, and John Dewey, PhD. In thisdynamic system, teachers strive to under-stand the processes of children throughrespectful, thoughtful listening, open-endedquestions and extensive documentation.Teachers aim to create an environment ofrespect where children can express theirideas through artistic media. The teachersthen reflect on the work of the childrenindividually, collectively, and in partner-ship with the children and their parents.In the seminar “Relationships BetweenReggio Emilia and Teacher Research:Applications to Daily Practice andTeacher Education,” Lella Gandini, PhD,

NAEYC Conference By Todd Erickson, Teacher


From left: Bing teachers Nandini Bhattacharjya, Seyon Verdtzabella,Peckie Peters, Emma O’Hanlon, and Andrea Rees present at the 2006NAEYC conference.

U.S. representative for Reggio Children,a liaison organization for the municipalearly childhood centers in Reggio Emilia,stated that this vital collaborative workbetween child, teacher and family neededto be “integrated into the social fabric ofthe community” and used as an “instrumentfor social change.” The ideas and practicesof Reggio are quite popular, as evidencedby the 13 sessions devoted to it over thefour days. Bing Nursery School sharesthe value of process- and inquiry-focusedReggio environments, where the child isdeeply respected and where documentationand reflection are used as an avenue towardgreater understanding of the cognitive,emotional, social, and artistic processesof children.

Through the exchange of ideas, concerns,and experiences at this annual meeting,teachers celebrated each other and heldout hope, support, and information thatserved to counter the often daunting andexhausting aspects of this work. Muchwas shared about the struggle to meet thestandards set in the No Child Left BehindAct while also providing a curriculumthat is creative, relevant, and exciting forchildren and teachers. In fact, the twomost heavily attended sessions I witnesseddealt directly with early literacy curriculafor preschool-aged children.

At the conference, it became apparent

that as teachers strive to better understandand serve young children, many areincreasingly aware of and stand in oppo-sition to the pervasive negative influenceof the media on minds of young people.Diane Levin, PhD, professor of earlychildhood education at Wheelock College,spoke at a session about problem-solvingdeficit disorder, a new dilemma faced by children with too much exposure tomind-numbing, pacifying media content.“It interferes with their ability to engagein play that promotes optimal development,learning, social skills, and conflict resolu-tion.” Levin offered solutions such asaccessing grass roots media awarenessorganizations; encouraging play that allowschildren to be active, creative, and employopen-ended materials; and creating con-nections between parents and educatorswho support play and problem solving.

Perhaps the most lasting concept Iencountered at the conference was that ofintention. At the aforementioned preschoolearly literacy session, Lesley Morrow,PhD, an education professor at RutgersUniversity, argued that children need“intentional teaching.” Gandini of ReggioChildren described that organization’sphilosophy as “process and intentionali-ty.” Young children, often because oftheir age and size, can be readily discounted,disrespected, and objectified. Consequently,

their work in preschools and nurseryschools, as well as the roles of teachersand other professionals who work withthose children, can also be dismissed anddiminished. It has become increasinglycrucial to early childhood educators thatthey develop a deeper understanding oftheir students, both on personal anddevelopmental levels. This allows teachersto make conscious, intentional classroomchoices, keeping in mind their appropri-ateness for each child. Teachers also needto be able to explain to each other and toparents what it is they do, why it’s impor-tant, and how it will further the develop-ment of children at this crucial age.While the above challenges might appeardaunting, they are essential to meet ifearly childhood educators are to receivetheir deserved respect and significance. I am grateful to have attended the 2006NAEYC conference, where issues funda-mental to young children and those whowork with young children were discussedand debated. It has elevated and energizedmy teaching practice and philosophy.


CAEYC Conference By Lisa Wesley, Teacher

This year’s California Association forthe Education of Young Children

conference, held in San Jose, March 8-10, 2007, began as it always does with a“Leadership Day,” gathering directors,administrators, and others interested inleadership roles in the early childhoodfield. I always love these days becausethey give me a chance to be inspired bymentors in our field. The keynote speak-er, child care management expert RogerNeugebauer, asked people to stand as hecalled out the number of years peoplehave worked in early childhood education,and then acknowledged a few who havebeen in the field the longest. When askedto pass on advice, one of the acknowledged,Beth Coffman—a former supervisor of

mine and director of program operationsfor the California child-care programoperator Child Development Inc.—suggestedthat we be self-reflective in our workwith children and families. I appreciatedthis reminder, knowing that it can be alltoo easy to become stuck in a mindsetthat doesn’t serve us well anymore.

Neugebauer, who is publisher ofChild Care Information Exchange maga-zine, went on to talk about what he feelsare the essentials of leadership: imagina-tion, determination, inspiration, perspira-tion, and continuity. He quoted a varietyof people to illustrate his points. Napoleonsaid that a leader is a dealer in hope.Neugebauer expanded on this by sayingthat as leaders we need to be sources of

continuing optimism. I think this is truefor anyone in the lives of children. Anotherpiece of advice he offered came fromAlvin Toffler, who suggested we thinkabout big things while doing small thingsso the small things go in the right direction.I love this idea!

The next two and a half days werefilled with a variety of workshops, meet-ings, and demonstrations. Some workshoptopics were about healthy foods, designingplaygrounds, brain development, teambuilding, advocacy, higher education, andinfant massage. The program also includedperformances by Ella Jenkins, Hap Palmer,and Greg & Steve, all well-known children’smusicians. One especially interestingkeynote speaker was John Wood, a Microsoft

Observational drawing of a pheasant feather.By Anyi H., 4 years 4 months

executive who left the company to start anonprofit group that builds schools andlibraries for children in Asia.

Bing teachers contributed to the offer-ings. Nandini Bhattacharjya and ParulChandra presented on creative expressionthrough clay. Andrea Hart Rees andNancy and Seyon Verdtzabella presentedon aesthetic setups in a play-based envi-ronment. Beverly Hartman, AdrienneLomangino, and Karen Robinette spoke onfostering literacy in play-based programs.Michelle Forrest and Beth Wise offeredinsights on combining music and literacy,and Emma O’Hanlon and Andrea HartRees discussed extending play. All of theworkshops, including those given by theBing teachers, were packed! It was esti-mated that 4,200 early childhood professionals were in attendance. Peoplewere literally waiting in line to enterrooms even after workshops had begun.With so many workshops, it was hard tochoose, but some of those I attended wereon adult learners, multiracial families, andtwo on special needs children.

I chose the workshop on adult learnersbecause in our field we learn a lot aboutworking with children but seldom learnabout how best to pass that knowledge onto other teachers or parents. We startedthis workshop by sharing information inpairs. The presenters, Judy Ishiura andDiane Harkins, explained that this is astrategy that helps people to feel comfort-able right away and be more likely toshare with the group. Ishiura, a trainerand coordinator for WestEd, and Harkins,director for the Center for Excellence inChild Development at University ofCalifornia, Davis, went on to point out afew things about adult learners that weall know, but might not think about whenputting together a workshop. For example,adults want to feel in control of theirlearning process and they want expecta-tions of trainings to be made clear at thestart. The presenters also discussed theefficacy of various teaching methods.The most effective training methodsinvolved having the participants immedi-ately practice what they learned or teach itto others. Group discussion was also saidto be very effective while lecture wassaid to be the least effective. They alsosuggested using a variety of activities inorder to use everyone’s preferred learningmodality at some point in a training.

The workshop on the multiracial familywas designed for those working withbiracial, multiracial, and transracialadopted children. The presenter, TarahFleming, who directs the MultiethnicEducation Program, a program that createspublications and trainings to meet theneeds of the multiracial community,urged us to be aware of our own bias andfeelings regarding race and identity. Theworkshop was meant to begin the discus-sion of how to talk with children aboutrace and identity. She explained thatwhile love from one’s family helps childrenform a healthy racial identity, discussionis important as well. She also explainedthat those who are bi- or multiracial oftenexperience pressure to choose one racewith which to identify. These childrenneed adult support to process their dual-or multi-race identity, and all childrenneed support in the development of posi-tive racial attitudes. She also reminded usnot to assume we know what parentsthink or want.

I spent quite some time at the confer-ence immersed in the topic of childrenwith special needs. The first workshop I attended on this was given by GingerHarnett from First 5 California SpecialNeeds Project, a program aimed atimproving access to services, and MichelleMartin, parent of a special need child. Ittouched on the process of referring andassessing a child who is not developingtypically and what it is like from the par-ents’ point of view. The presenters talkedabout how the process can overwhelm afamily. They emphasized the importanceof good communication between parentsand caregivers. Martin underscored howimportant it is for parents to research theiroptions so they can ask for the servicesthey feel they need. Also, a parent who

has never gone through the process benefitsgreatly from help from someone withexperience of their own.

The next workshop described a styleof working with special needs childrenthat emphasizes relating to the childrenon their level. It’s called Floortime andwas developed by Stanley Greenspan,MD, an expert on early childhood devel-opment. The workshop was given byNora Daley, Mindy Newhouse, and StacyWasserman from the Center for the WholeChild, a center that provides trainings,consultations, and one-on-one work withchildren with special needs. Daley is aspecial needs family consultant, Newhouse,a speech-language pathologist, andWasserman, a child development specialist.To work with a child in this style, you follow a child’s lead in play while alsotrying to accomplish your goal. This isdone by first observing a child’s play,then joining in by doing what they aredoing. As you develop trust, you find creative ways to extend and expand theirplay. In this style, building the relationshipis important, as well as paying attention toa child’s developmental level and individualneeds. The presenters state that this styleis different from others in that it helps achild achieve planned goals through per-sonal interaction with caregivers instead ofworking on their own.

Between workshops, there was timeto browse the exhibition hall, whereattendees could find CDs, books, the latesteducational materials, and informationabout fundraising and professional growthopportunities. We also had time for net-working with old and new colleagues.These conferences are a great chance tomeet people, get new ideas, learn moreabout a topic, and refresh yourself. Ialways look forward to them.

Back to BingNight—Our FallReception

Back to Bing Night is animportant opportunity forBing parents to meetteachers and other parentsand to receive informationabout upcoming schoolevents and fund-raisers.


Aprofessional development conferencethis summer offered a wealth of

inspiration for enriching programs at Bing.The theme for the conference, “Intentionalityin Early Childhood Education,” grabbedmy interest. The conference organizersdefined intentionality as follows: “Beingplanful and deliberate. Knowing whatyou’re doing and why, and being able toexplain it to others. Having a vision—aseducators, as administrators, as a profession.”

About 2,000 early childhood teachers,teacher trainers, researchers, and admin-istrators attended the NAEYC professionaldevelopment conference, held June 10 to13 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I jumpedat the opportunity to attend—and as theonly Bing staff member at the conference,I shared my observations when I returned.Following are some of the highlights:

Findings about a major child care studySusan B. Campbell, professor of psychol-ogy at the University of Pittsburgh, is oneof the principal investigators for themuch-cited, large-scale, long-term NationalInstitute of Child Health and HumanDevelopment Study of Early Child Care,which has been uncovering how variationsin child care are related to children’sdevelopment. Campbell outlined thestudy design and findings. Among themajor findings is that quality of care mat-ters. For example, children who receivedchild care of high quality scored higheron tests of language and cognitive skillsthan did children who received child careof lower quality. These gains in language

and cognitive development persistthrough middle childhood. Campbellalso noted that family effects are alwaysstronger than child-care effects. For moreinformation on this study, log on tohttp://secc.rti.org.

Teacher researchFour education researchers—AmosHatch, PhD, University of Tennessee;Barbara Henderson, PhD, San FranciscoState University; Ben Mardell, PhD,Tufts University; and Andrew Stremmel,PhD, South Dakota State University–talked about what teacher research is, itsrelevance to the field, and shared someexamples. Stremmel defined teacherresearch as “intentional and systematicinquiry done by teachers toward thegoals of gaining insights into teachingand learning, becoming more reflective,effecting changes.”

Mardell shared his experience in conducting teacher research with his col-leagues at the Eliot-Pearson Children’sSchool at Tufts. To promote school-wideinquiry, the teachers investigated thepower of engagement in small groups ofchildren. Using documentation as a tool,teachers were able to “zoom in on a particular moment” and reflect on theirown practice. One study looked at chil-dren’s “feedback conversation” abouttheir paintings of a pair of roses the classwas focusing on for a 10-day project.Teachers invited children to talk abouttheir paintings. Children also gave eachother feedback. The research found that

four-year-olds are quite capable ofgiving each other feedback. Well-documented examples are availableonline in the “Voices of Practitioners”section in Beyond the Journal on theNAEYC website: http://www.journal.naeyc.org/btj/

An intentional model of professionaldevelopment to support culturallyand linguistically diverse children inprekindergartenFour teachers from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro—Swetha Chakravarthi, PhD, Joanna

K. Hansen, Belinda J. Hardin, PhD, andCinthya Saavedra, PhD—presented amodel of professional development tosupport culturally and linguisticallydiverse children in prekindergarten. Thereplicable model incorporates phasessuch as training and planning, coaching,evaluation and research.

The team stressed the importance ofusing children’s home language. Ratherthan discouraging children to use theirhome language at school, the team main-tains that language is intimately connectedto one’s identity. They suggest it is in factimportant to use children’s home languagebecause one cannot separate languagefrom the self, culture, and ways of know-ing. Through training workshops, meetings,and one-on-one consultation with sixdoctoral students, teachers reported changesin their own beliefs such as the importanceof using children’s home language andunderstanding of typical development insecond language acquisition (i.e., the ini-tial “silent period” when English languagelearners are not speaking). It also raisedawareness of the importance of involvingfamilies, and underscored that knowledgeis socially constructed. The model alsoresulted in changes in teachers’ practices(i.e., collaboration with other teachers),changes in the environment, and theirrelationships with families.

Make-believe play and self-regulationElena Bodrova, PhD, Mid-continentResearch for Education and Learning,and Deborah J. Leong, PhD, MetropolitanState College of Denver, advocatedstrongly for using make-believe play tofacilitate children’s ability to self-regulate.Bodrova and Leong defined self-regulationas “to think first and act later,” whichinvolves “effortful control”—ability tostop doing what is habitual. For example,a child who plays the role of a customerat a pretend restaurant needs to inhibithis/her desire to go through the kitchencupboards and stays in the role, forexample, sitting at the table and ordering.The presenters stressed the link betweenmake-believe play and self-regulation.They also touched on strategies for teachers

NAEYC Professional Development Conference By Chia-wa Yeh, Head Teacher and Research Coordinator


Cherry Tree. By Erika J.,4 years 5 months

Mulberry Tree. By Meg C.,4 years 6 months

Observational drawings of trees at Bing

to support children’s development inmake-believe play. For example, to expandchildren’s repertoire, Bodrova and Leongrecommend field trips. On field trips,they say, it’s important to have the peoplechildren see demonstrate what they doand what they say on the job for childrento gain an understanding of their roles ina social context.

Bringing content to children’s self-directedblock buildingSherry Copeland, PhD, Early ChildhoodDirector, Region 5, Department ofEducation, NYC, and Sydney Schwartz,PhD, Professor Emerita, Queens College,City University of New York shared theprofessional development initiative theyimplemented in New York City. The ini-tiative engaged teachers in identifyinginstructional strategies that strengthenscience, mathematics, and social studiescontent of children’s activities in a blockplay area. Through video clips, photos,and teacher reflection data, the trainersmet with teachers regularly to facilitatetheir professional growth. They firstworked to help teachers increase theirknowledge of content and identify thecontent. Next the trainers providedcoaching on strategies to interact withchildren in the block area. Finally, theyhelped teachers to better communicatethe importance of block play with non-early childhood professionals.

Some strategies for interacting withchildren suggested at the session: ■Validatewhat children are doing after carefulobservation to open route of conversation.For example: “Wow! That building isgetting taller.” “I see you’re trying to fita block to go in between. What do youthink you can do?” ■ Pause, say nothing,give child time to think and respond.■ Follow-up process questions to reviewactions and/or plan next actions. Forexample, “Do you need a lot more blocksto finish?” “How many more do you thinkyou need?” ■ Gracious exit. Give sugges-tion or validation to show that you’reinterested and will check back with them.

I greatly enjoyed this conferencebecause of its focus on teacher trainingand research. It was a great opportunityto hear about the latest research, learn aboutways to implement professional develop-ment, and meet other teacher trainers andteachers from around the country.

Inspired by a children’smusic conference last

fall, Bing hosted a“song swap” this March,bringing together morethan 25 nursery schoolteachers, librarians,storytellers, and musicteachers from throughoutnorthern California. The group gatheredaround Bing’s sunshinyatrium, sharing songs in honor of theMonth of the Young Child and Women’sHistory Month.

Beth Wise, Bing music specialistand head teacher, initiated the eventwhile the two of us attended the Children’sMusic Network conference in Petaluma,Calif., October 10 – 11, 2006. The semi-nars were thought provoking, and theSaturday evening talent show was awonderful forum to meet differentmusicians and composers, and learnfrom a variety of people and styles.Together Beth and I sang one of mycompositions, The Seed, with Beth per-forming on guitar and me on violin.

The Children’s Music Network is anonprofit association of people acrossthe United States and Canada whobelieve in the power of music to inspire,empower, teach, and bring together acommunity. Members of the networkare parents, music teachers, songwriters,performers, storytellers, and radio hosts,who organize local, regional, andnational gatherings to share with oneanother the power and beauty of music.

Aside from spurring the song swap,the conference inspired us in otherways. Beth and I attended a seminar atthe conference led by singer/songwriterTom Hunter, who in recent years hasbeen invited to hold sing-along eventsat Bing School. Hunter led the seminarmuch like a discussion, offering encour-aging insights. He described the plea-sure he has in observing how songs andmusic can encourage children to learn,to experience a full range of emotions,and to tell their own stories. He also

spoke about the value of listening tochildren’s ideas in musical settings:“Listening to children’s ideas is actuallythe first step toward justice,” he said.

Another highlight was a seminarwith Mara Beckerman, formerly aBroadway performer and currently anelementary music teacher. We partici-pated in chants, dance movements, andsongs, while she led using a drum orguitar. Of particular interest to us asearly childhood educators was the dis-cussion about movement and braindevelopment. We learned about scientif-ic studies showing that cross-lateralmovement enhances connectivitybetween the brain’s left and right hemi-spheres. She reminded us in closing thatallowing children to enjoy music and tomove without inhibition has a powerfulaffect on their development.

As the weekend came to a close Irealized that the seminars I went towere motivating because they put intowords the philosophy behind the workwe do at Bing. I left Petaluma withincreased excitement to allow childrento be free to move, think and develop inthe classroom, and I had renewedenthusiasm to be a careful listener andsupporter of their ideas.

The song swap at Bing, five monthslater, provided another source of inspi-ration. The afternoon was so successfulthat the participants have continued toshare song titles and lyrics by email. Wehope to continue hosting this event atBing as a way of building and maintain-ing this relationship with Children’sMusic Network.

Partnering with the Children’s Music NetworkBy Michelle Forrest, Teacher


Singing and chanting promote children’s brain development.


My, how quickly our children grow.As some children and parents are

just beginning to settle into Bing, othersare preparing to take that next big step:kindergarten. “This transition into theformal setting of elementary school isone of the harder ones for us,” said PaloAlto pediatrician Rick Lloyd, MD, to theparents and others attending Bing’s 18thannual Kindergarten Information Night inJanuary. Lloyd was joined by Susan Charles,the principal of the Palo Alto SchoolDistrict’s Ohlone Elementary, and severalmembers of Bing’s staff. Lloyd and Charles’opening presentations about the develop-ing five-year-old child and comprehensivekindergarten readiness were followed by aquestion-and-answer session.

Lloyd, who has more than 30 years ofexperience as a pediatrician, began bydescribing the typical five-year-old childbut reminded parents that children exhibita wide range of qualities. Typically, though,a five-year-old wants to be good, especiallyat school. This desire to please can leadto a very difficult time at home if the childfalls short at school and takes out thefrustration at home. Discipline works wellin response to bad behavior, especially timeouts, Lloyd asserted. In implementing suchdiscipline, however, it is important toremind the child that the discipline is forbad behavior, not because the child is bad.

The five-year-old child, Lloyd contin-ued, becomes enthusiastic for everythinglife offers: friendships, school, ideas, andlife itself. “You often hear them say, ‘I just love this and I just love that,’” he explained. While the child remainscentered on the mother’s influence andsupport, he becomes more emotionallywarm towards others. This is reflected inthe development of playmates into friends,and the growing importance of extendedfamily. Moreover, the child grows excited

about learning—but sees learning as theaccumulation of facts. That knowledgeand the ability to recite is what a five-year-old believes makes her smart.

Lloyd also described the child’sphysical development and needs. He suggested that 11 hours is the appropriateamount of sleep per night. At this age,children generally fall asleep easily andsleep well through the night. Additionally,although toileting is well-established,about 15 percent of boys will still wetthe bed. They like the bath, although theymight not be able to bathe themselves. Thesame can be said of dressing themselves.Around this age, children also becomeincreasingly aware of themselves. Onemanifestation of this growing self-aware-ness is children’s increased conscious-ness of their own abilities and competen-cies, or lack thereof. This self-awarenessextends into greater sexual awareness aswell, which might lead children to stopexhibiting their former glee with bathroomhumor and lean towards play with childrenof the same gender.

Cognitively, the five-year-old child’sunderstanding of the abstract and unrealis still developing. The child has no realunderstanding of the future, the past, orfinality. Death might not mean as muchto them: they see themselves as immortal,and so everyone else must be too, theymight reason. Magic continues to astoundthem because it makes sense to them asif it were reality. Their belief in God canbe very strong, similar to their belief inSanta Claus.

Fairy tales reach a peak as an emotionaloutlet for violence or fears. Other outletsmight reappear, such as thumb suckingand nose picking. However, these shouldnot be causes for concern since the childrenwill soon no longer need these outlets.

Charles spoke next, making one verysimple, heartfelt request for of parents:“Please enjoy your child. They grow upquickly. To them, everything is wonder-ful. Let them enjoy their milestones.”

After these talks, the floor was openedto questions. Lloyd and Charles werejoined by Karen Robinette, head teacherin West PM; Beverly Hartman, head

teacher in East AM and lecturer inStanford’s psychology department;Nandini Bhattacharjya, teacher in WestAM; Peckie Peters, head teacher in WestAM and former special educationteacher; and Jennifer Winters, Bing’sassistant director and a lecturer inStanford’s psychology department.

Should I hold back my kindergarteneligible child with a fall birthday or

send him/her to kindergarten?“A fall birthday alone is not sufficientreason to say a child is not ready,” advisedCharles. Even if a child’s birthday is closeto the district’s December 2 cutoff date,there are many other signs of youngnessthat need to be taken into consideration.Charles encouraged parents to talk to theirpreschool teacher about their child’skindergarten readiness and to believewhat they hear. She urged parents to dis-cuss the pros and cons of holding a childback from kindergarten and consider otheroptions. For example, a child could spendmultiple years in kindergarten if the parentsfeel the child is not ready to move on.

What is kindergarten readiness andhow can I prepare my child for

kindergarten?Charles emphasized the necessity of priorgroup experiences and the ability to payattention in large and small group settings.Robinette replied that children should beable to appropriately use materials, suchas paints and scissors. Problem solving andsimilar social skills are also important. [Formore information, see article on page 33.]

Charles also cautioned parents againstthe current trend to push more and moreexpectations upon children. She said thatchildren do not have to be reading to goto kindergarten—because kindergarten,not nursery school or preschool, is aboutnumbers and letters.

While in kindergarten, parents canfurther help their children by giving chil-dren down time. “Kindergarten is veryhard work for children,” explained Charles.“For the first time, they’re working onsomeone else’s schedule.” It is importantnot to exhaust children. Bhattacharjya

Kindergarten Information Night By Minna Chen, Assistant Teacher

EVENTS AND INFORMATION

Q

Q

—continued in third column on page 33


Observational drawing of an ostrich feather.By Alexander V., 4 years 4 months

shared that she gave her daughter time to engage in dramatic play and individualplay when she came home. This gave her daughter some free time, but alsogave Bhattacharjya insight into whatoccurred at school.

How do I choose which kindergartenis best for my child?

Panelists replied that this is more often a matter of choosing a kindergarten thatthe parent can work with. Parents need to decide whether the school’s approachand philosophy is one with which theyagree. Charles added, “If it feels comfort-able to you, that’s your family’s frame-work and that’s what will probably feelcomfortable for your child.” Moreover,parents need to remember that whenworking with the kindergarten, they dohave power. If parents feel strongly aboutsomething, such as too much homework,they should speak up. It is important forparents to choose a school they feel com-fortable interacting with in this way.

Though it comes as a surprise to some,a play-based nursery school such as

Bing prepares children for any type ofkindergarten, even the most academicallychallenging. This question arose thisyear, as it often does, at Bing’s annualKindergarten Information Night.

At Bing, children play and learn in anenvironment prepared carefully by theirteachers to include age-appropriate, open-ended activities and materials. The settingencourages children to explore theiroptions and pursue their interests. Oppor-tunities to repeat experiences enable chil-dren to gain in skill and knowledge overtime. They learn to work independentlyand are free to find work (play) that issatisfying.

The deep engagement children havewith their play develops thinking, language,and physical skills and promotes emotionalwell-being. It lays the foundation fordeveloping the child’s disposition to learnas well as to find learning rewarding, stim-ulating and intrinsically motivating.

Perhaps the most elemental aspect ofthis preparation is learning how to func-tion outside of the home in “group life.”After nursery school at Bing, childrenwill have had many opportunities to practice important skills that accompanygroup life. These include the abilities to:■ Separate from parents and caregivers■ Self regulate (for example, toilet self,

dress self, calm self, etc)■ Verbally express ideas and needs ■ Resolve conflicts appropriately■ Follow simple directions■ Take turns

Each day at Bing Nursery Schooloffers time for children to pursue theirinterests. But every day also includesmany predictable routines and sequencessuch as the entry routine (selecting anametag, contributing to the snack bas-ket, putting belongings in a cubby andwashing hands), snack time and the largegroup story time. Snack time provideschildren with a regular opportunity tointeract in a small group setting. Smallgroups also form around other activitiessuch as woodworking, block building,sand play or art activities. These types of

activities enable children to listen to othersand begin to take another’s perspective.These are important skills to master forworking with others in any setting.

While playing and working on pro-jects at Bing, children come into contactregularly with many of the materials andtools they will encounter in kindergarten.Their experiences at Bing with blocks,clay, paint, paintbrushes, paper, pencils,sand, scissors and water allow them toenter kindergarten prepared to use thesematerials and ready to further refine theirtechniques. Their experiences with thesebasic materials also promote the child’screative expression, providing insightinto the child’s thinking.

In our outdoor classroom environments,children have ample opportunities todevelop their large muscle skills. It isimportant for young children to spendtime in activities such as running, jumping,galloping, climbing, digging, balancing,and using balls, hoops, and other grossmotor equipment. These activities promotecoordination, balance, and muscle toneand are necessary precursors to the morespecific fine muscle movements requiredto use materials and tools, for example,paper, pencils and scissors. We are fortunate,at Bing, to have half-acre play yards forthe purpose of large muscle development.

At the end of the day at Bing, thelarge group convenes at story time to sharesongs and stories and to recap the day’sevents. This large group experiencerequires that children learn to focus theirattention on the teacher or participant(s).In this setting, children learn the skill ofdelaying gratification as they wait for anappropriate time to take a turn to talk.

The nursery school years are highlyimportant in a child’s development.These early years encompass severalmilestones that are easily overlookedwhen the focus shifts to “pre-kindergarten.”Just as first grade is not “pre-secondgrade” neither should the importantdevelopmental skills of nursery school beovershadowed by the upcoming skillsappropriate to kindergarten-age children.Our experiences tell us that children fromBing make successful transitions to

Q

kindergarten after having this supportive,play-based, child-centered curriculum.

How Play-Based Nursery Schools Prepare Children for KindergartenBy Karen Robinette, Head Teacher

Editor’s note: We would like to reassureparents that Bing Nursery School prepareschildren for reading and writing. Theprogram offers ample opportunities tointegrate language and literacy activitieswith play, for example, taking orders at apretend restaurant or making a sign forroads built with blocks. Writing materialssuch as paper and pencils are availablethroughout the environment—both insideand outside. Children often dictate theirideas and stories to adults. [See page 16for a classroom project on storytellingand page 18 for how children practicedifferent roles through dramatic play.]“Fostering Literacy,” one of the Bingparent seminars this year, addresses themany facets involved in young children’semerging literacy. [See page 10 for asynopsis of the presentation. For reprintsof full-length coverage of the seminar,contact the Bing office.]

—continued from page 32


Drum Beats of AsiaFree Family Performance

A special free family concert featuring the Drum andDance Ensemble of the Thailand College of DramaticArts was held on February 21 at DinkelspielAuditorium as part of the annual Pan-Asian MusicFestival at Stanford University. Jindong Cai, Bing parent and the music director and conductor of theStanford Symphony Orchestra, organized the specialperformance for children and families. Helen andPeter Bing generously sponsored the event. Manycurrent and alumni Bing families attended the concert,which was also open to the public. Several drummersvisited Bing School during the day for a preview ofthe concert. Inset photo: Helen Bing, right, with Cai’swife, Sheila Melvin, and their daughter Cecilia Cai.

Bing Tour forCAEYC Conference

In March, Bing Nursery School wasone of the early childhood educationprograms on the California Associationfor the Education of Young Childrenconference demonstration tour. Morethan 40 administrators and teachersattended the tour at Bing. CAEYC hasa membership of 9,500. The confer-ence attracted 4,200 early childhoodprofessionals.

Bing Children’s Fair and Alumni BreakfastOur Spring Community Event

Special thanks to co-chairs Jennie Bernheim and Jill Malottand all the volunteers for a successful fair on May 20, 2007.Left: The Stanford Band and Dollies perform to a largecrowd. Above: Shri, ’94, second from left, and her parentsVikram and Veena Vyas with Bing teacher Parul Chandra,left, at the alumni breakfast preceding the fair. Shri is afreshman at the University of California in Berkeley.


The Harvest Moon Auction fell on theeve of October 28, 2006, making it a

true Harvest Moon. This year, the ArrillagaCenter for Sports and Recreation was festooned with pumpkins, fall leaves, and colorful balloons for the 18th annualcelebration. The auction benefits the BingNursery School Scholarship Fund, thisyear raising a substantial $250,000.

Bing is one of the few nursery schoolsin the country that offers a scholarshipprogram. We provide financial aid tomore than 20 percent of our families. Thescholarship program is an important partof the mission of the school and it enrichesthe experience for everyone at Bing.

As in previous years, the Arrillagacenter provided ample room for auctioningoff more than 1,000 items.The main stage was burstingwith colorful hand-paintedpumpkins. Jan Wahl (a localmovie critic for KRON andthe owner of many colorfulhats) was this year’s auction-eer and she did an incrediblejob helping people emptytheir pockets during the live auction.

Some of the exciting live auctionitems were lunch with PresidentHennessy; a birthday party put on byBing teachers Nandini Bhattacharijyaand Peckie Peters; a week at Big Sky Skiresort; KRON-TV tour and lunch withJan Wahl; gourmet meals for a month; aBing Children’s Playhouse; Tiger WoodsMemorabilia Lunch; football throwingwith Steve Young; a weekend in LasVegas; a weekend at the romantic andarchitecturally amazing Post Ranch Innand the perfect 2000 Chateau Latour!

Raising $250,000 in one evening isby no means an easy feat. First, we owea tremendous thank you to Helen andPeter Bing who generously donated a$50,000 gift. We also thank all of the

hard-working volunteerswho spent countless hourssoliciting auction donations,picking up items, trackingand packing items, movingthe inventory, assemblinggift baskets, correspondingwith donors, putting togetherthe entertainment, setting upthe venue, checking guestsin and out, monitoring

finances and tickets—and of course,cleaning up.

We really want to give a big round of applause to our Harvest Moon AuctionChairs, Dale Race-Hampton and LaurieQuinn for doing such an outstanding job organizing this incredibly successfulevent.

We also extend our sincere thanks andappreciation to all who donated, volun-teered, attended, and participated and welook forward to seeing everyone at nextyear’s auction, “Moon Over Paradise” onNovember 17, 2007.

Harvest Moon AuctionBy Jennifer Winters, Assistant Director


2006-2007 Annual Fund ReportThanks to the contributions of Bing parents, friends and our staff members, we met ourgoal of $250,000 to help support our annual budget. In addition, we received gifts exceed-ing $300,000 to add to our Bing Nursery School Endowment. We're deeply grateful for thisgenerous support. We would like to extend a warm round of thanks to the parent fundrais-ing chairs Jennie and Doug Bernheim, Linda Yates and Paul Holland, Kathy and ChadHurley and their committee members for their efforts and support. In 2006-2007, the par-ticipation of our current Bing families reached 66 percent. In 2007-2008, we are strivingfor 100 percent participation!

The annual fund is an important part of the school budget. We depend on this fund to sup-port staff development, additional assistant teachers in each classroom, specialists andscholarships. No gift is too small or too large. Our goal is for every family to participate insupporting the school. Please join us as we maintain the excellence that makes Bing sucha special place for young children. A big thank you to all.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

375

246

As of 08/31/2007, 246 families (66%) of our375 families have made a contribution to theAnnual Fund.

Total number of families at Bing

Total number of families who havemade a contribution to the Annual Fund

Auction Co-Chairs

Donations

Data EntryGraphic Design

Display and Set-upDecorations

CorrespondenceCreative Writing

InventoryClass gifts/Events

Food and BeverageEntertainment

RunnersTicket Trackers

Check-inCheck-out

Packers and MoverClean-up

Bulletin BoardBing Campout

Laurie Quinn and Dale Race-HamptonGudrun Enger andNeela GentileAlex Von FeldtMaria LindGinny MahasinKelli GlazierKim BomarJody BuckleyXimena PavlikMara WallaceBenetta AveryMelissa KrausDana WohlgemuthDiane KumarChris RobinsonJulie HallMike CallahanMayra and Tom CramerKathy HurleyMark Baker

Auction Committee Chairs

Eager participants place bids at the auction.

Harvest Moon Auction Co-Chairs: Laurie Quinn, left,and Dale Race-Hampton.

Documents

The Bing Times 2007 · thank Simon Firth, writer and Bing parent, for contributing the story on a parent seminar,The Musical Story. Firth’s child Michael currently attends Bing