Comments on: Summer Camp and the Responsive Classroom® approach

By: Elizabeth Nash

Elizabeth Nash — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:29:16 +0000

Leslie, it’s amazing that your son was so articulate at 5! From reading Chip’s work, I have to believe that many, if not all, children share his awareness that the typical school just does not feel right, although they may not be able to speak their insights as he did. What an eloquent voice for his fellow children! I trust that he has survived the demands of his post-kindergarten “education” with his love of real learning intact.

By: Chip

Chip — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:59:38 +0000

Leslie – Very touched by your son’s response. How many millions of children carry the same wisdom inside as they begin their school journeys this Fall? Now we are going to “Race to the Top”. Yikes! When will the politicians and policy makers listen, indeed. Thanks for your reminder to us all. Chip

By: Leslie S. Leff

Leslie S. Leff — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:11:20 +0000

Thinking about kindergarten reminds me when my son (now 13) just started kindergarten. Two weeks into school, I asked him what he thought of it. He replied, “they teach you all sorts of boring things like reading and math, but they don’t give you time to think and to learn, you have to think.”
His incredible intuitive wisdom has stayed with me through the years and has reinforced my gut instincts about parenting, informed my teaching and my self-awareness as a learner. It has helped me recognize the necessity for time for pondering, for creative imagining, exploring, and simply, play…
If only the politicians and policy makers would learn from the wisdom of children.