University Daily Kansan
Thursday, Sept. 3, 1970
15
Communication, Values Emphasized Nursery School Made 'Joyful' Learning
By JOHN RITTER
Kansan Staff Writer
Critics of education abound, but seldom does a successful high school teacher sacrifice security to inaugurate an educational experiment embodying ideas contrary to tradition.
One man who did is LeRoy Chittendon, 1935 Ohio, who became dissatisfied with American education after teaching mathematics in Indiana and Topeka and who in November, 1969 founded the Someday School, a nursery school at Centenary Methodist Church in north Lawrence.
"As a result, education becomes impersonal and meaningless. Children don't derive joy and excitement from learning as they should."
At Someday, meaningful communication with children, especially communication of human values, is a theme which permeates the entire program.
THOUGH the 16 pre-school children at Someday are not exposed to classroom situations, a certain amount of "readiness" is, nevertheless, instilled, said Chittenden.
"Most teachers don't communicate with their students," said Chittenden. "They're too concerned about keeping social distance and are unable to convince children that they have a definite value just because they are human beings.
"The role of a nursery school is not to get the kids ready for school," he said. "That comes naturally. But by coming down to their level and making the school joyful, a fantastic amount of learning occurs."
Chittenden outlined four aspects of Someday which he and his staff of three regard as vital considerations for impressionable youngsters.
"A sort of science" or learning about the world, which includes
everything from "technology to biology," many times has the effect of teaching youngsters a kind of causality, said Chittenden.
ONE DAY we took the kids on a field trip to a dairy farm and were surprised at the excitement and reactions in the kids' eyes when the saw a cow close up for the first time."
Experiences such as that stimulate verbal behavior among the
--children, a second concern of the Someday staff.
"We were surprised at the excitement and reactions in the kids' eyes when they saw a cow close up for the first time."
--children, a second concern of the Someday staff.
A PHYSICAL ASPECT, involving touching and symbols of love is also seen as necessary in a child's early development.
"We encourage the children to talk about their experiences—to practice language on themselves," said Chittenden. "Many times in the home children don't find the need to speak and too much communication is done with signals. At the school, since the kids are involved in free playtime most of the time, they really can expand."
"Democracy in action" is a fourth consideration at the school. During play the rights of each child in relation to the rights of others are emphasized.
Chittenden has also established a private kindergarten, scheduled to open next week, which will stress these same four aspects, though at a more sophisticated level, as well as other ideas he has for improving elementary education.
KU Student Court Plans Fall Term
The Student Court of the University of Kansas and the University Judiciary are preparing for their fall terms, said John Hampton, chief justice of the Student Court.
Hampton, a third year law student, said the Student Court would have an organizational meeting at the end of this week or early next week with the tentative date for the first case hearing Tuesday, Sept. 15.
The Student Court consists of a lower court presided over by
three justices, and a court and bank which all seven justices of the Court are present. The justices in the lower court follow a rotating schedule.
The Student Court provides attorneys for both prosecution and defense. All of the Student Court personnel are law students at KU. Hampton said.
He added that traffic violations and problems with student elections consumed most of the court's time. The Student Court meets every Tuesday evening during the semester.
If successful, he said he hoped eventually to expand the curriculum to include all grades.
"THE OLDER the children are, the more important stimulation of the child's mind becomes," he said. "In the early grades, kids should be challenged to explore on their own, which isn't a dominant concern of the nursery school."
Chittenden said he agreed with educators who say that too much emphasis is placed on grades in American schools.
"Kids become cynical about learning after awhile. All they want is a grade. I don't think that approach has too much to do with education," he explained.
explained. Chittenden said too many teachers think learning is supposed to be rigorous and difficult, an approach which he said takes the joy out of learning for students.
students.
"GRANTED THAT learning is sometimes difficult, but it shouldn't be artificially so," he said.
Chittenden also questioned the assumption that there is a basic
academic inequality among students. Rather than be so concerned about whether students pass or fail, he stressed development of a student's propensity to learn.
Like other critics, Chittenden also disagrees with the basic fact orientation which is perpetuated by present testing methods.
"It is hard to say what would be the right approach exactly, but one thing is certain—kids shouldn't be made into mere catalogs of knowledge," he said.
"MEMORIZATION of facts has its place definitely, but we also have computers and research books for that sort of thing."
Chittenden, bearded and bespectacled, would not fit the stereotype of a nursery school director. Yet he said interest in his school and ideas has been better than he expected.
"At Someday all we really want to do is spark something in the kids," he said. For me it's been the most satisfying thing Ive ever done.
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"I get high on just being around kids."
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Taylor said that his office had received requests for approximately $150,000 from various departments, but that figure had to be cut sharply because of the small amount of money available.
Fund Deficit Halts Program Of Work Study
The work study program has exhausted its resources, with the result that there will be no more federally-sponsored student jobs this semester, said Bernard Taylor, assistant director of student financial aid.
Taylor said that originally a total of $179,812.03 was allocated to the program for the period from January 1970 through December 1970.
Approximately $95,000 of the original allocation was left for use during this semester, and that sum has now been used, Taylor said.