The Sycamore School presents an educational opportunity for young children that is purposefully distinct from many other schools in several ways. This document seeks to provide families and community members with more information about the research and reasoning behind our choices in school structure and content. We believe the research shows the increasing academic rigor and structured school environments seen increasingly today are not only a departure from much time-honored wisdom but is actually contrary to the way the brains of young children work and grow and can hinder their social, emotional, and academic growth.
Preschool, kindergarten, and first grade have changed dramatically over the past 30 years. Increasing academic pressure in higher grades has pushed down requirements so that the things that were previously developmentally appropriate for first and second grade are now beginning to be taught in kindergarten and pre-K. And the things previously focused on in these lower grades, such as listening to the teacher, cooperating with peers, and following school procedures, have been left behind to make room for the increasingly academic curriculum (Shepard & Smith, 1988). These soft skills, along with others such as negotiation, emotional self-regulation, flexibility, and mental strategy, collectively known as “executive control,” are the foundation that enables academic success later and should be a focus of early childhood education prior to high-rigor academics. In other words, children need to train their brains how to learn before they can succeed at school. This is how students are set on the path to critical-thinking skills and creative problem-solving.
Despite the current trend in our country, early formal academic emphasis has not been found to have any bearing on later academic achievement, when the effects of early prosocial behavior such as cooperating and sharing are taken into account (Caprara, Barbaranelli, Pastorelli, Bandura, & Zimbardo, 2000). And distressingly, some research even finds a link between early academic instruction and lower academic achievement in later grades. Marcon (2002), for example, compared urban, at-risk preschoolers in direct-instruction and child-initiated programs and found that the academic gains made by the children in the more academic programs had disappeared by the fourth grade and reversed by the fifth. The detrimental effects of overly academic kindergarten on development and school achievement was found to be especially pronounced in boys (Marcon, 2006). Preschoolers and kindergarteners in more highly-structured, academic programs were also more likely to have a negative view of their academic ability, less pride and more worry about school (Stipek, Feiler, Daniels, & Milburn, 1995). A Vanderbilt study published in 2015 of Head Start students in Tennessee had similar results: children who had attended the full-day academic preschool showed greater kindergarten readiness than their peers who had not attended preschool (Lipsey, Farran, & Hofer, 2015). However, by the end of kindergarten there were no significant differences in academic achievement, and by the end of first grade, the children who had attended the “high-quality” preschool were rated as having significantly poorer work skills and significantly more negative feelings toward school. A Duke University study in 2015 that followed students identified as high-risk for developing aggressive behavioral problems for 10 years through a comprehensive intervention program found that the program’s instruction in “soft skills,” or those executive functions, had a greater impact on positive outcomes in the test subjects than other interventions in the program (Dodge et al., 2014). Developmentally appropriate emphasis on prosocial behavior has also been linked to greater levels of children’s perceived self-competence and their intrinsic motivation (Jambunathan, Burts, & Pierce, 1999). Unfortunately, widespread practice has become that the children who most need a strong foundation for academic success (those in poverty, or with a history of trauma) are in schools with the most pressure to increase academic intensity at the expense of these essential areas of social and emotional development.
The Sycamore School adopts a play-based, exploratory approach to learning as the developmentally appropriate alternative to a highly academic, high stakes environment as the model that best allows for development of these learning-readiness skills. The importance of play to child development is significantly supported by research. The American Academy of Pediatrics states:
Play allows children to create and explore a world they can master, conquering their fears while practicing adult roles, sometimes in conjunction with other children or adult caregivers. As they master their world, play helps children develop new competencies that lead to enhanced confidence and the resiliency they will need to face future challenges. Undirected play allows children to learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills. When play is allowed to be child driven, children practice decision-making skills, move at their own pace, discover their own areas of interest, and ultimately engage fully in the passions they wish to pursue. (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2007, p.183)
Children in playful early-childhood classrooms where learning is child-initiated have shown greater mastery of basic academic skills when compared to children in classrooms that are heavily academic. Play is instrumental is stimulating language development (Weisberg, Zosh, Hirsh-Pasek, & Golinkiff, 2013). Play-based kindergarten programs that emphasize socioemotional development over academic preparation show enhanced academic achievement, especially in reading and among males, with results that persist at least as far as sixth grade (Marcon, Randall, & Brooks, 1992). Other nations that have adopted such a child-centered approach have also seen very encouraging results. Finland, for example, long one of the top-performing nations on international assessments of student achievement, delays formal academics until the age of 7, instead providing for an extended preschool from age 3-6 with plenty of time for unstructured play and outdoor exploration. Even after age 7, Finnish students receive a fifteen minute break every hour, and unstructured play breaks such as this have been linked to greater attentiveness in class and adjustment to school (Pelligirini & Bohn, 2005).
Consequently, The Sycamore School adds in the element of a shortened school day to our play-based, child-initiated curriculum. Although this schedule may not be possible for all families, we feel strongly about making it available for those who are able to accommodate a shortened day. More time in school does not necessarily equal greater performance. Again, Finland, South Korea and other nations with high-performing elementary students spend less time in school than most young American children. And not only does the abbreviated day recognize that the developing bodies of young children need more time for rest and leisure than a 7+ hour school day allows, but it also values the role of the family as paramount in the life of each child. We believe, along with the AAP (2007), that:
Young people need the essential character traits of honesty, generosity, decency, tenacity, and compassion. Children are most likely to gain all of these essential traits of resiliency within a home in which parents and children have time to be together and to look to each other for positive support and unconditional love. Many families are successfully navigating a wide variety of commitments without sacrificing high-quality parent child time,but some families’ ability to maintain essential parent-child time may be compromised by this hurried lifestyle. In these families, over scheduling may lead to less emotionally competent, well-buffered
children. (p. 186)
In addition, schools’ ability to engage families in school involvement is connected to higher levels of kindergarteners’ achievement in reading and math (Galindo & Shelton, 2012). We believe education to be a community effort, and for these reasons The Sycamore School labels itself a “cooperative school.” In such a cooperative school, volunteer roles matched to each family create community, keep the school running smoothly, emphasize the importance of each individual, and contribute to student success.
Finally, Sycamore emphasizes the role of outdoor experience for the young child. School time spent outdoors has been linked to a number of benefits for young children. It increases motor skills such as balance and coordination (Fjortoft, 2001). Outdoor time has the potential to increase fitness and decrease obesity. It also provides the perfect opportunity for creativity, problem-solving, and independence within a safe environment, again promoting the executive functions that prepare children for their academic work.
At the Sycamore School, we believe decisions about school environment, structure and content should originate with the needs and of the children, not the mandates of a system. The aforementioned points to the long-term benefits of a socio-emotional focus, play-based exploration, decreased school hours, and the outdoors as important elements in a school experience that holistically promotes healthy, students who enjoy learning and are well prepared for success in many areas.
Please contact us if you would like to know more about the research involved in the design of The Sycamore.
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2007). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds. Pediatrics, 119(1), 182-191.
Bierman, K. L., Nix, R., L., Greenberg, C., B., & Domitrovich, C. E. (2008). Executive functions and school readiness intervention: impact, moderation, and mediation in the head start redi program. Developmental Psychology 20(3), 821-843. doi:10.1017/S0954579408000394
Bergen, D. (2002). The role of pretend play in children’s cognitive development. Early Childhood Research and Practice, 4(1). Retrieved from: http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v4n1/bergen.html
Caprara, G. V., Barbaranelli, C., Pastorelli, C., Bandura, A., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2000). Prosocial foundations of children’s academic achievement. Psychological Science 11(4), 302-306.
Dodge, K. A., Bierman, K. L., Coie, J. D., Greenberg, M. T., Lochman, J. E., McMahon, R. J., & Pinderhughes, E. E. (2014). Impact of early intervention on psychopathology, crime, and well-being at age 25. American Journal of Psychiatry, 172(1), 59-70.
Fjortoft, I. (2001). The natural environment as a playground for children: the impact of outdoor play activities in pre-primary school children. Early Childhood Education Journal, 29(2), 111-117.
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Jambunathan, S., Burts, D., & Pierce, S. (1999). Developmentally appropriate practices as predictors of self-competence among preschoolers. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 13(2), 167-174.
Lipsey, M. W., Farran. D. C., & Hofer, K. G. (2015). A Randomized Control Trial of the Effects of a Statewide Voluntary Prekindergarten Program on Children’s Skills and Behaviors through Third Grade (Research Report). Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University, Peabody Research Institute.
Marcon, R. A., Randall, T., & Brooks, C. (1992). Differential impact of preschool models on achievement of inner-city children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 7(4), 517-530.
Marcon, R. A. (1999). Differential impacts of preschool models on development and early learning of inner-city children: a three cohort study. Developmental Psychology, 35(2), 358-375.
Marcon, R. A. (2002). Moving up the grades: relationship between preschool model and later school success. Early Childhood Research and Practice, 4(1). Retrieved from: ecrp.uiuc.edu/v4n1/marcon.html
Marcon, R. A. (2006). Socioemotional versus academic emphasis: Impact on kindergartners’ development and achievement. Early Childhood Development and Care, 96(1), 81-91. doi:10.1080/0300443930960108
Pellegrini, A. D., & Bohn, C. M. (2005). The role of recess in children’s cognitive performance and school adjustment. Educational Researcher 34(1), 13-19. doi: 10.3102/0013189X034001013
Shepard, L. A., & Smith, M. L. (1988). Escalating demand in kindergarten: counterproductive policies. Elementary School Journal, 89(2), 135-145.
Stipek, D., Feiler, R., Daniels, D., & MIlburn, S. (1995). Effects of instructional approaches on young children’s achievement and motivation. Child Development 66(1), 209-223. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1131201
Weisberg, D. S., Zosh, J. M., Hirsh-Pasek, K., & Golinkoff, R. M. (2013). Talking it up: play, language development, and the role of adult support. American Journal of Play 6(1), 39-54.