The havoc that is kindergarten

Mike Swanson

Kindergartners in teacher Marci McLaughlin’s College View Elementary

morning class made applesauce, built towers of blocks and sang songs.

In an effort to settle the class, McLaughlin asked students what

they think of when thinking about something quiet.

Some thought about butterflies, some thought about dinosaurs and

one 5-year-old with dark dreams thought about both.

“A butterfly that’s sleeping and a dinosaur with a friend that’s

walking,” Zachary Glas said. “And can I tell you something? I got a

dream that I was in a dark dark forest and I was scared and I had to

watch out for a trap.”

McLaughlin was reading “The Dark Dark Wood” while asking quiet

questions, then urged the children to switch into whisper mode after

more than half the class shot up their hands to share their dark,

forested dreams as Zachary did.

The 20 students’ collective whispering turned into a sustained,

high-pitched hum in which one child’s words couldn’t be distinguished

from anther’s. .

McLaughlin’s is a PREPPIE kindergarten class, in which more

emphasis is placed on involving children in sensory activities that

increase motor skills than in regular kindergarten classes,

Principal Susan Kemp said.

This particular PREPPIE class has one feature that 4-year-old

Celeste Pickrel appreciates -- Frankie Sanchez, a second-grader who

spends some of his recess time tutoring his juniors.

“You guys,” Celeste yelled. “Look what I made. A picture of

Frankie!”

Little girls gathered around Celeste’s drawing as if it were 1963

and Frankie’s last name was Avalon. Tactfully, she waited to unleash

her creation until Frankie had left.

As most of their classmates’ attitudes toward fun activities

moved, Celeste and 5-year-old Victoria Yamasaki’s attention quickly

turned elsewhere -- this time toward building towers of blocks that

Zachary delighted in knocking down with his toy train. Following a

heartfelt apology from Zachary, Celeste and Victoria agreed with

McLaughlin that the three of them should rebuild the tower together.

Sure enough, as soon as it was up, Zachary took it down again,

this time drawing laughter from his now-partners-in-crime. They built

the tower again two more times, giving each the gleeful opportunity

to destroy it.

“It’s active and playful in here,” McLaughlin said. “That means

learning’s going on in kindergarten.”

It’s not all fun and games in PREPPIE kindergarten, however. Some

children sat at desks hammering through counting and alphabet

exercises, and one took time out of a game of Animal Crackers to go

academic for a second.

The 5-year-old proved his mastery of the most important portion of

the alphabet -- the part that comprises his first name -- when handed

a pocket-sized notebook and a pen. He wrote, “LEON,” then when asked

to add his last name, he wrote, “D.”

“You need a bigger paper,” Leon said.

Leon’s last name is Daemmrich.