Wednesday, July 11, 2012

The Preschool Revolution?

About three months ago, I wrote an article about Running Down the Ramp. Hospital administration apparently believes that such behaviour will inevitably lead to a lawsuit because someone will fall down and get hurt.

Every time we go down The Ramp, it stirs up chatter:

"Let's run!"
"No, we can't!"
"Can we, Missa?"
"Not anymore. The people in charge said we aren't allowed to run down the ramp anymore because they think we might get hurt."
"They never said we couldn't skip down it..."
"True, but we are still going to walk down right now."
"We need to wear helmets!"
"Yeah, we need safety... things to protect us so we can't get hurt!"
"What about armor?"
"I think so maybe we should have on some goggles."
"We need gear, like hockey."

I love that these kids, these amazing, imaginative, inquisitive kids, refuse to accept a senseless and (in their eyes) unjust decree imposed on them by such an ambiguous entity as The People In Charge. I love that they start brainstorming workarounds and solutions instead of raging, complaining, or meekly obeying. I love how they seek to address the reason for the rule instead of just finding ways around it. These marvelous, intelligent children have already formed the basis for effecting changes in a democratic society: Critical thinking skills. Granted, they are pretty rudimentary at this point, but am I ever proud of these kids. Obviously we are doing something right.

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