I reviewed the book “NurtureShock” on the General Parenting forum because most of it wasn’t directly related to early learning. But my favorite section (other than the one based on “Mindset,” which we’ve already discussed), was on developing self-control and focused on a program called “Tools of the Mind.” This program, in turn, is based on the work of a scientist called Vygotskian. Unfortunately my library system doesn’t have anything about or by Vygotskian, so I’ll have to wait a bit to read his work. But there is a summary of the program in the chapter. If anyone has any more information, I’d love to hear it!
First, the things he says a Tools of the Mind preschool teaches: higher test scores (of course - the Holy Grail of all these studies and programs), but also less disruptive behavior, the ability to sustain interest in one thing, understanding symbolic thought (this chair is a truck - same thought as this word means a tree), private speech (talking oneself through an activity to help remember), recognizing the right answer or the best answer (the best-formed letter), impulse control. These are sounding pretty good to me.
He only tells a few of the things the class uses to develop these things. The calender is a line, not a grid. Instead of a list of the alphabet, there is a sound map, with similar-sounding letters together (d and t, for instance, separate from s and z), “buddy reading” (one kid gets a picture of ears, one of lips; the lips kid tells a story and the ears listens and then asks questions, then they switch), and playing restraint games, like Simon Says" or drawing on paper and stopping the pencil when the music stops.
He goes into more detail on how the kids make play plans before imaginative play. This helps them sustain interest and play the same role for half an hour, rather than getting distracted. The teacher talks them through things: learning to write C, she’ll say “start at the top and go around.” All the kids repeat it as they write a page of Cs. Eventually they only say it in their heads, but it helps them concentrate. Kids correct each other’s work so they can see the difference between right and wrong answer. For the same reason, after writing that page of Cs they’d circle the best one. They set weekly goals for what they’re learning.
So all of these things sound great in this short overview. I don’t have any experience with it, but it sounds worth buying the book and seeing what I can incorporate into my home preschool with my kids. What do you think?
Amazon has a book called “Tools of the Mind: The Vygotskian Approach to Early Childhood Education” that seems worth reading, from the reviews, but it’s $25 so I’ll wait a little. It is an interesting idea of play. I like it, though, at least as I understood it in NutureShock. It seems to me that kids do like to set up rules for play, and my daughter throws a fit if I’m “doing it wrong.” So it makes sense to support that and use it to help her concentrate for a longer time. Obviously, not all play needs a play plan. But for half an hour a day, it might be useful. I should read more detail on it, though.