In Budapest, there is a mayor for each of the districts who acts like a superintendent of schools. What luck–we got to meet the best one! No really, he was so passionate about education and proud of the work his teachers accomplished–which is every teacher’s dream, right? After a talk at his office about how the school district works, we were off to visit a kindergarten school before an elaborate lunch in our honor. Wow.
Here is the necessary background: Kindergartens can be public or private–many parents opt for private ones because they want the best for their kids (such as smaller class sizes and foreign language instruction…) However, schools in Hungary are not designated by district, but by choice, so teachers and principals work hard to make their programs attractive. This is also important because with twice as many teachers and schools than needed, the threat of having your school shut down is always real. Nonetheless, schools are half funded by the state and the other half comes through district taxes.
Kindergarten is a three year experience; children are approximately 3 to 6.5 years of age. As far as I can tell, there is little emphasis on reading and writing–more on alphabet knowledge before primary school begins at age 7. As you can see, there is naptime for all!
In this case, the children seen in the photos are kindergarten age, but they are part of a summer “camp” that acts as daycare for working parents. The children are allowed to be in the program for as much as 10 hours a day, but most of the school building was closed off since the majority of kids are vacationing with their parents for the holiday.
My favorite part was seeing how much of the school is cared for by the teachers–you can see them embroidering more pockets for the children while they nap. All the paintings, organizers, cubbies are labeled with little pictures to act as identifiers for everything from cups to combs to art folders. Each room has a theme and teachers take pride in the results of parent satisfaction surveys, which are posted in the lounge for all to see.
In the end, there was a sense of familiarity about the place. Pictures of special events in the hallway, schoolwide “zoo” for biology study, a playground full of equipment and even a daily attendance board with name tags. Also familiar are the issues the school faces: children who have unstable homes or learning difficulties are given extra attention and planning.
Every child should be so lucky to be part of such a caring community of learners–the building was almost empty, but the sense of pride was still tangible.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Full-Day or Half-Day Kindergarten?
The U.S. Department of Education is funding an extensive evaluation of full day kindergarten by the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy (CEEP). Although correlational, causal-comparative, and other non-experimental designs appear to support the effectiveness of FDK relative to half-day programs, results from quasi-experimental designs are mixed, probably due to nonequivalence of control and treatment groups. CEEP’s evaluation is a randomized controlled trial comparing the academic development of students who attend full day kindergarten (FDK) classes with those attending half day kindergarten (HDK) classes. For more information go to the Indiana University School of Education Center for Evaluation and Education Policy Full Day Kindergarten website.
A frequently asked questions is, "What is better, half-day kindergarten, full-day kindergarten, or alternate day kindergarten?"
From a practical perspective - there is no single answer to the question. It depends on what is happening the other part of the time. It depends on "What is the purpose of kindergarten?" It depends on the needs, resources and abilities of the parents. It depends on the needs and abilities of the child. It depends on what else is available in the community. And, of course, it depends on the quality of the kindergarten itself. Is not quality an even more important variable than quantity? Would you rather have your child attend a top quality half-day kindergarten or a mediocre full-day kindergarten? How about an awful half day program or a pretty good full day program? Doesn't the answer change?
The argument for a full-day kindergarten program should not be based on making kids smarter but should be based on having the "luxury of time" i.e., time for hands-on discovery, time for experimenting and "making mistakes," time for reading the whole story, time for deeper, richer, more developmentally appropriate learning. Why would we compress kindergarten into half a day and then have many of the children bused home to watch television?
The ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education has helped us look more closely at this issue.
A frequently asked questions is, "What is better, half-day kindergarten, full-day kindergarten, or alternate day kindergarten?"
From a practical perspective - there is no single answer to the question. It depends on what is happening the other part of the time. It depends on "What is the purpose of kindergarten?" It depends on the needs, resources and abilities of the parents. It depends on the needs and abilities of the child. It depends on what else is available in the community. And, of course, it depends on the quality of the kindergarten itself. Is not quality an even more important variable than quantity? Would you rather have your child attend a top quality half-day kindergarten or a mediocre full-day kindergarten? How about an awful half day program or a pretty good full day program? Doesn't the answer change?
The argument for a full-day kindergarten program should not be based on making kids smarter but should be based on having the "luxury of time" i.e., time for hands-on discovery, time for experimenting and "making mistakes," time for reading the whole story, time for deeper, richer, more developmentally appropriate learning. Why would we compress kindergarten into half a day and then have many of the children bused home to watch television?
The ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education has helped us look more closely at this issue.
Unveiling of Marker - Mrs. Carl Schurz Honored
Last Thursday night a very large number of our citizens and many from nearby places, were present at the unveiling of the marker at the southwest corner of North Second and Jones streets, erected by the Saturday club in honor of the Mrs. Carl Schurz of this city, who conducted the first kindergarten school in country at that corner in the building now occupied by Charles Heimsehr and his sister. The boy scouts had charge of the unveiling of the marker, and kindergarten pupils scattered rose petals about the stone. The pupils of the three kindergarten classes under direction of their teachers the Misses Adelia L. Siegler, Florence Brownlee and Harriet Blakely, gave a series of dance games, which delighted all present, and the High School band gave a fine musical program. Mrs. E. E. Fischer, president of the Saturday club presented the tablet and the granite marker to the city, and Alderman George W. Block of the city council, made the acceptance speech, the mayor being unable to be present on account of illness. Joseph Schaefer, superintendent of the State Historical Society at Madison, was the principal speaker of the evening’s program at the Elks club, and Miss Hilda Schneider of the High School faculty directed a vocal program by the High school glee club. City Attorney R. W. Lueck was master of ceremonies.
Among other things in his address Mr. Schaefer said:
“Beginnings of great movements are always interesting and since the kindergarten has grown into a tremendous system of education for the children, the fact that the movement had its American origin in Watertown ought to prompt citizens of this town, especially, to feel proud.”
He said that he had spent much time in reading, looking up records and in personal investigations and has satisfied himself that in honoring Mrs. Schurz as the founder of the movement in America that honor is not misplaced, that the kindergarten here was the first one in America and that its influence had brought about the kindergarten system in this country.
Little is actually known of her when one compares it with what is known of her illustrious husband. Coming from a relatively wealthy family, brought up in luxury and comfortable surroundings, with every advantage, it is to her credit as a pioneer that she consented to come to America, and especially to what was then the great undeveloped west. She did so reluctantly, to be sure, but once she had arrived here she made the best of it. Although she always did long for Europe, she nevertheless played her part as a leader in this territory and her influence has been great. Her need for occupation and love of children induced her to start a kindergarten class here.
He praised the citizens of Watertown and the members of the Saturday Club especially for their great interest in perpetuating the memory of Mrs. Schurz. The bronze tablet on the granite stone contains the following .
Among other things in his address Mr. Schaefer said:
“Beginnings of great movements are always interesting and since the kindergarten has grown into a tremendous system of education for the children, the fact that the movement had its American origin in Watertown ought to prompt citizens of this town, especially, to feel proud.”
He said that he had spent much time in reading, looking up records and in personal investigations and has satisfied himself that in honoring Mrs. Schurz as the founder of the movement in America that honor is not misplaced, that the kindergarten here was the first one in America and that its influence had brought about the kindergarten system in this country.
Little is actually known of her when one compares it with what is known of her illustrious husband. Coming from a relatively wealthy family, brought up in luxury and comfortable surroundings, with every advantage, it is to her credit as a pioneer that she consented to come to America, and especially to what was then the great undeveloped west. She did so reluctantly, to be sure, but once she had arrived here she made the best of it. Although she always did long for Europe, she nevertheless played her part as a leader in this territory and her influence has been great. Her need for occupation and love of children induced her to start a kindergarten class here.
He praised the citizens of Watertown and the members of the Saturday Club especially for their great interest in perpetuating the memory of Mrs. Schurz. The bronze tablet on the granite stone contains the following .
150 years America’s First Kindergarten
The event was held on the grounds of the historical society, located at 919 Charles St., Watertown, WI. The public was cordially invited to attend the afternoon festivities which included brief speeches from Mrs. Jessica Doyle, wife of the Governor of the State of Wisconsin, Elizabeth Burmeister, Secretary of Education for the State of Wisconsin, John David, Mayor of the City of Watertown, Joel Kleefisch, State Representative, Dr. Doug Keiser, Watertown Unified School District Superintendent, as well as officials from the Watertown Historical Society. The celebration began at 2:00 pm and after the speeches there was refreshments and a chance to inspect the kindergarten museum building.
The Watertown, Wisconsin, Historical Society, owners and operators of the famed Octagon House Museum and America’s First Kindergarten, paid special tribute to the 150th anniversary of the founding of the kindergarten on Sunday, August 27, 2006.
The kindergarten was founded in America by Margarethe Meyer Schurz, wife of the famous German-American statesman Carl Schurz. Mrs. Schurz was a native of Hamburg, Germany, and as a young woman learned the principles of the kindergarten from its creator, Friedrich Froebel. In the 1850s she came to London, where her sister had founded the first kindergarten there.
While in London she met and married Carl Schurz, then a fugitive from a Prussian jail. They came to America shortly thereafter and settled at first on the east coast and then in 1855 they came to Watertown where Carl Schurz had relatives. Once here Carl began an active career in politics, while his wife set up housekeeping. But she longed for something that would give purpose to her life, so she began a small kindergarten class in the Schurz family home, which was at one time located at 749 N. Church St. in 1856. The Schurz home, known as “Karlshuegel” or “Carl’s Hill” burned to the ground in 1912.
The class proved to be very successful, but the noise of the children was too much for her husband, so she was forced to move her class to a small frame building located originally on the corner of N. Second and Jones Streets in Watertown. At the time the dwelling was being used as a private home by Carl Schurz’s parents.
It was in this little building that the kindergarten took off. The original class numbered only about five students, the Schurz children Agathe and Marianne, two Juessen girls (cousins of the Schurz’s) and the lone boy Franklin Blumenfeld, son of the editor of the local German-language newspaper. Mrs. Schurz ran her school through 1857 when the Schurz family moved to Milwaukee. The kindergarten continued sporadically here, always operated as a private school, through the nineteenth century, finally becoming a part of the public school curriculum after the turn of the last century.
Mrs. Schurz died from complications of child birth in 1876 and her remains are believed to have been transferred to her native Hamburg, Germany. Her husband, Carl, rose through the political ranks, first aiding Lincoln in his bid for president in 1860, then becoming a general in the Union Army during the Civil War, later Secretary of the Interior under Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes and ultimately he went to work in the publishing field. He died in New York in 1906.
As for the kindergarten building, after the Schurz family left Watertown, the building passed through many hands, becoming a cigar factory, fish store and religious book store. In the 1920s a local women’s club, the Saturday Club, erected a memorial marker to designate the historical significance of the building. Then in 1956, exactly 100 years after the founding of the kindergarten, the little building was in danger of being razed. It was through the efforts of Mrs. Rudy Herman and Gladys Mollart of the Watertown Historical Society that the structure was saved and moved to the grounds of the Octagon House, where it now rests. It has been open to the public since 1957.
The Watertown, Wisconsin, Historical Society, owners and operators of the famed Octagon House Museum and America’s First Kindergarten, paid special tribute to the 150th anniversary of the founding of the kindergarten on Sunday, August 27, 2006.
The kindergarten was founded in America by Margarethe Meyer Schurz, wife of the famous German-American statesman Carl Schurz. Mrs. Schurz was a native of Hamburg, Germany, and as a young woman learned the principles of the kindergarten from its creator, Friedrich Froebel. In the 1850s she came to London, where her sister had founded the first kindergarten there.
While in London she met and married Carl Schurz, then a fugitive from a Prussian jail. They came to America shortly thereafter and settled at first on the east coast and then in 1855 they came to Watertown where Carl Schurz had relatives. Once here Carl began an active career in politics, while his wife set up housekeeping. But she longed for something that would give purpose to her life, so she began a small kindergarten class in the Schurz family home, which was at one time located at 749 N. Church St. in 1856. The Schurz home, known as “Karlshuegel” or “Carl’s Hill” burned to the ground in 1912.
The class proved to be very successful, but the noise of the children was too much for her husband, so she was forced to move her class to a small frame building located originally on the corner of N. Second and Jones Streets in Watertown. At the time the dwelling was being used as a private home by Carl Schurz’s parents.
It was in this little building that the kindergarten took off. The original class numbered only about five students, the Schurz children Agathe and Marianne, two Juessen girls (cousins of the Schurz’s) and the lone boy Franklin Blumenfeld, son of the editor of the local German-language newspaper. Mrs. Schurz ran her school through 1857 when the Schurz family moved to Milwaukee. The kindergarten continued sporadically here, always operated as a private school, through the nineteenth century, finally becoming a part of the public school curriculum after the turn of the last century.
Mrs. Schurz died from complications of child birth in 1876 and her remains are believed to have been transferred to her native Hamburg, Germany. Her husband, Carl, rose through the political ranks, first aiding Lincoln in his bid for president in 1860, then becoming a general in the Union Army during the Civil War, later Secretary of the Interior under Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes and ultimately he went to work in the publishing field. He died in New York in 1906.
As for the kindergarten building, after the Schurz family left Watertown, the building passed through many hands, becoming a cigar factory, fish store and religious book store. In the 1920s a local women’s club, the Saturday Club, erected a memorial marker to designate the historical significance of the building. Then in 1956, exactly 100 years after the founding of the kindergarten, the little building was in danger of being razed. It was through the efforts of Mrs. Rudy Herman and Gladys Mollart of the Watertown Historical Society that the structure was saved and moved to the grounds of the Octagon House, where it now rests. It has been open to the public since 1957.
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