At the zoo: kindergartners reinvent a dramatic play area.(Report)

Background Information

The Fishback Center for Early Childhood Education is located in Brookings, South Dakota, on the campus of South Dakota State University. The program houses three laboratory preschool classrooms and one kindergarten classroom. At the time of the activities reported in this article, 22 children were enrolled in the toddler lab. Thirty-four children were enrolled in the 3- and 4-year-old classrooms, 38 in the 4- and 5-year-old classrooms, and 22 in the kindergarten classroom. Fishback Center has been accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children since 1978.

The threefold mission of the Fishback Center is (1) to be a model inclusive childhood program that ensures optimum experiences for training early childhood teachers, (2) to provide a unique research opportunity for students and faculty, and (3) to serve as a community resource for families. The Center offers an experiential, inquiry-based, negotiated curriculum inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy and emphasizing a rich classroom environment and close observation of children's interactions.

The kindergarten classroom, which is the focus of this article, is part of the Fishback Center as well as a collaborative effort with the Brookings School District. Enrollment is open to anyone in the district; the 22 students are selected through a lottery process. In fall 2007, when the activities describe in this article took place, the classroom population consisted of 9 males and 13 females. Two children were Asian, and the other children were Caucasian. One child's home language was Dutch, and one child spoke Chinese at home. Classroom staff consisted of one head teacher (Sue Brokmeier) and one assistant teacher, both of whom had been teaching in the kindergarten classroom for 3 years. The principal author of this report, who worked with Ms. Brokmeier to plan and implement activities related to the zoo, is an assistant professor at South Dakota State University.

The school district's selected texts and the South Dakota state educational standards are major components for the development of the kindergarten curriculum, but the inquiry approach utilized is similar to that used in the other Fishback Center classrooms. Topics for investigation (ideas, explorations, and projects) emerge through dialogue among children, teachers, and parents.

The daily classroom schedule consists of the following:

 
8:15    Settle in 
8:30    Morning Meeting/Large Group Discussions 
8:45    Reading 
9:15    Choice Time 
10:15   Writing Workshop 
11:00   Recess 
11:30   Lunch 
12:00   Reading 
12:30   Math 
1:00    Large Group (PE, art, or projects) 
1:30    Centers 
2:00    Dismissal