Emma starts at her new school in just ten days. It’s not a Waldforf school, but I was pretty impressed by what I saw today. The teachers I visited with showed me something called the “tool kit.” It’s a set of ten tools, each one individually written on a large colored piece of card stock and slipped into a transparent slot in a big holder. The kits includes a “listening tool,” “personal space tool,” “breathing tool” (I especially like that one, “courage tool,” and “telling the truth tool.” The entire school uses the tool kit, all the teachers and staff are trained how to use it themselves, with the children, and to help the students work things out themselves.
When asked by a parent who was visiting at the same time I was what makes this school different, one teacher promptly pointed to the tool kit, then also pulled out her previous class’s agreements. Together the children (kindergarten through second grade in each of four classes) with the teacher create a series of agreements about how they will be together. Then they made hearts with their names in the center and placed them onto the list of agreements. This is posted on the wall at school and commonly referred to so that they all remember how they’ve agreed to be with each other. The teacher said: “This is what sets us apart–learning the social skills of being with each other, verbalizing what we need and what we’ve agreed to. Without that learning cannot take place. Academics cannot be taught.”
And I thought, how many homes or work places include a series of agreements developed by the people involved that create a common language and container for interaction. I can’t wait to see what Emma brings home for our agreements, and tool kits. What’s in your tool kit?
{ 0 comments… add one now }