Friday, May 3, 2013

Everything you ever wanted to know about Kindergarten...

Admit it. You do it, too.

You wonder:

  • Do other teachers have to teach this?
  • How much prep do other districts get?
  • Have other kindergarten children had their recess time stolen away?
  • Is anyone else teaching their own PE every week?
  • Does ANYONE get art from an art specialist anymore?
  • What is kindergarten like in other countries?
My friends, WE WONDER, TOO!

So, we did something about it. Our mission: to collect data points, about everything from class size to prep time to reading instruction, from as many teachers-of-five-year-olds as we can find, all over the world. 

The survey is intended only for classroom teachers (not administrators, instructional aides, specialists, parents, or consultants) of children who are 5 (or very close to 5) years old at the beginning of the school year. If you are NOT a classroom teacher of children this age, you can still help by skipping directly to step 2, below.


Your job:

1: Click the link below, and answer the survey. We estimate it will take about 10-20 minutes, and there are NO essay questions! You may want a calculator, because we do ask things like: "How many minutes a week do you teach?"


2: Spread the word. Please tweet, facebook, pin, blog, e-mail, fax, snail-mail, skywrite, crayon, the link to EVERY SINGLE TEACHER YOU KNOW who teaches 5 year olds. They do not need to be on Twitter to participate. They do not need to share any information more specific than their country. They just need to spend 10 minutes answering the questions, and then continue to spread the word.

When you complete the form, you will get a link to see the results. Bookmark that page, because we have a feeling the results are going to get pretty darn interesting as we get more and more responses. 

You need the link again? OK, HERE IT IS.

From the bottom of our geeky, curious, nosy little hearts: Thank you.

Oh, wait, if we want this to be Pinterest-friendly, we need an image, don't we?

Okay, here you go, It's like data, done with crayons. Perfect.
What's that, you need the link again? Ok, CLICK HERE.

With so much love;
Amy & Heidi

3 comments:

  1. I certainly will share this. If you are interested, I have a post "The Facts about Recess & Academics" which certainly favors bringing back recess with lots of research linked. It makes me crazy that they won't admit kids need breaks & recess when the research supports it: http://kindergartenbasics.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-facts-about-recess-and-academics.html

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    1. Here is the shortened http with link to Peaceful Playground's Right to Recess Campaign free toolbox (give to parents to help bring back recess): http://tinyurl.com/cbxsqex

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  2. Really? This makes me sad and grouchy. How did this happen? I can't imagine that there are places where students don't have recess and free play time? Not just in kindergarten but all the way up through elementary. Makes me even more thankful for teaching in a place that values recess, play, outdoor time, and daily physical activity for all of our students.

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