I am currently working on a committee for my state to see how closely our preschool standards are aligned in preparing children for the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for kindergarten. It is always delightful to work with a group that is in tune with what is developmentally appropriate for early childhood children. A number of times during our meetings we have come to the conclusion that it is most appropriate for a certain skill to begin in kindergarten, not preschool. It has also been a pleasant discovery to find that our state preschool standards are providing adequate preparation for most kindergarten skills that are in the CCSS.
While serving on this committee, I have expressed my desire that we provide a usable document that an early childhood teacher can use “at a glance” to prepare her lesson plans. Sometimes we create large documents that many teachers do not take the time to read completely or we use terminology that is not always easy to understand. While I think it is critical for us to create a solid complete document, I also think it is important to have a simpler road map for teachers to use on a daily basis. Unfortunately, teachers don’t always have access to complete professional development to help them ‘decipher the code’ of a government document. Hence, my request that we make a document usable for the masses. We must do that if we want the standards taught regularly in the classroom.
The ‘Aviva Great Wall of Education’ marks another step by Aviva, towards building a bright future for underprivileged children and helping them off the streets and into education. Aviva Life Insurance has partnered with CRY’ (Child Rights and You) and ‘Save the Children’ to facilitate education (including other related factors that could prevent a child from attending school) for over 50,000 children by 2012 under the Street to School initiative. In the first year, Aviva will be reaching out to 20,000 children across 9 projects in 5 states.