Does this seem normal for a kindergarten classroom?
My daughter, who has a teaching certificate, recently took a job with a kindergarten, but it is not at all what she expected, and she is wondering if her expectations are off, or if the school is a little.. questionable.
She discovered the classroom has no visuals aides at all. The children receite the pledge to a blank wall, there are no alphabets or pictures on the wall.
She was told they do not teach a curriculm, per se, instead, they ask each child what choice they made today, write down whatever the child says, even if it is gibberish, and praise the child for telling them what their choice was.
They are forbidden to sit on the floor or the mats with the children, as they are told that appears lazy. They are also forbidden to use time outs or "anything negative" in disciplining children. Even when one child was biting another child, they were told, "do not put him in time out, just tell him that he needs to play here instead and redirect him to the other side of the room."
They do have some activity centers, which are play stations. They cannot, though, direct a child to any particular center, they are to let the children choose for themeslves, and if they choose a full station, then they are told to ask the student to choose something else. If the child has a fit, they are told to ask one of the other children to leave and make room for that child who is having the fit.
Is this type of thing "normal" teaching for 4 and 5 year olds now days?