Day 1 in Hawken Kindergarten

The Monday blog I forgot to post:

This morning when I arrived at the lower school, I found myself totally confused and forgetting my way around. When I finally found the kindergarten classrooms, I noticed that my room had changed location from when I was in Kindergarten. I was in B14 when I was in Kindergarten and now B14 has become B15 and was in the opposite room. However, I was still with Mrs. Holtz, my kindergarten teacher. When I came into the classroom, the kids were totally doing their own thing: some coloring, others reading. The differences between Hawken and Village Prep were already beginning to become apparent. At Village Prep, students are required to be silent and follow directions at all times, whereas at Hawken, there is a lot more freedom. Also, parents were bringing in their children in between 8:00 and 8:45 am. At Village Prep, parents must drop their kids off by 8:00 or the kids are marked late. The day progressed and I obvserved a Chinese class, which I never had in kindergarten. We did not even begin to take a language until around 3rd grade. The kids also had gym class, handwriting, and a LONG recess. At Village Prep, the kids do not have recess, because the administrators feel it would only distract students from academics. Hawken has a much different outlook on independence and free-time. They also have rest time, which is nice. I swear all these kids do is color, play with blocks, adn run around. Village Prep students seem to do a lot more reading and writing exercises, but the Hawken kids seem to be just as good readers and writers. The day lasted until around 3:00 pm and I was exhausted. Kids are hard work.

Attached is a picture of the morning message that the students read aloud every morning.