One November morning, a little after 8 a.m., Jessica Arrow and 14 of her kindergarteners are sitting in a circle on a rug in her classroom at Symonds Elementary School here.
Some sit cross-legged, others bounce up and down on their knees. Arrow is teaching math concepts using block-like structures called Cuisenaire Rods, which represent different numbers or groups of numbers through their colors and lengths. With a little coaxing, the students raise their hands to tell Arrow what she shows them鈥攖hat the number 60 is made up of six groups of 10, or six orange rods.
One or two boys in the class fail to respond routinely to Arrow鈥檚 questions, which are meant to test their conceptual knowledge represented by the colorful manipulatives. But that changes in a few minutes when she switches gears and has the students stand up and spread out. In this format, every student is locked in.
Projected onto a big white board in front of the room is , an 鈥渆du-tainer鈥� who takes the students through a number of commands like 鈥渁rm circles and count鈥� and 鈥渢wist and count"鈥攚hich has the students following directions, using gross motor skills, and practicing counting out loud. By the end of the song, the students have counted to 100, and they look slightly exhausted. It鈥檚 only 8:35 a.m.
Within minutes, the students pull out some hearty snacks from home (mostly yogurt, fruit, and cheese) and spend time eating and talking with classmates at their assigned tables before preparing for the most exciting part of the week: outdoor learning.
The morning has barely begun and, already, how Arrow structures her students鈥� day looks far different than in most of the nation鈥檚 public kindergartens today.
A federal push in recent years for greater academic rigor at increasingly younger ages has dramatically shifted the experience of kindergarten for most American children. Critics argue that such academic expectations for kindergarteners are developmentally inappropriate鈥攅specially for boys, tend to mature more slowly than girls.
鈥淭he very thing that some educators and [creators of] educational policies think they鈥檙e doing, which is ensuring that kids become able to think and read and do higher level鈥攐r what they think of as higher level鈥攁cademic tasks, is actually thwarting them by not giving them a chance to do it the way that they need to do it when they鈥檙e little,鈥� said Susan Engel, a psychologist and founding director of Williams College鈥檚 Program in Teaching. 鈥淚f you aren鈥檛 given a chance to think the way you think best, which is with your body and with your voice in play, you鈥檙e not going to think as well.鈥�
For an upcoming book project focused on kindergarten, Engel recently spent time in 29 kindergarten classrooms that spanned socioeconomic and racial demographics. There were some bright spots, Engel said, but overall, she was left with the impression that modern-day kindergarten is not meeting the needs of all students, especially boys.
鈥淭he majority of kindergarten classrooms I observed were repressive in a way that鈥檚 going to be harder for a lot of boys than it is for girls,鈥� said Engel. Such classes maintained a rigid schedule and offered students very little time to socialize or jump around, she said.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e a little boy and you鈥檙e squirming around because at 5, you鈥檙e likely to squirm and want to move your body and jump around, and you just don鈥檛 have the impulse control not to鈥攊f you fail at that [impulse control] again and again, imagine what it does to your receptiveness to everything about school,鈥� Engel said.
In New Hampshire, play is once again the cornerstone of kindergarten
Meanwhile, Arrow has bucked the 鈥渁cademic rigor鈥� trend and, instead, made deliberate changes to how she runs her class鈥攊nfusing play, movement, and exploration into all aspects of learning. It鈥檚 an approach in line with her state鈥檚 vision for kindergarten.
In 2018, New Hampshire passed legislation requiring to be reinstated as a cornerstone to public school kindergarten statewide. The decision鈥攚hich says that kindergarten teachers should facilitate play-based learning that incorporates movement, creative expression, exploration, socialization, and music鈥攊s informed by the latest on early childhood development.
Before heading outdoors, the Symonds kindergarteners reconvene on the rug, with Arrow sitting among them in the circle. She dives into a lesson on the autumnal behavior of squirrels, describing the nut-gathering and burying process in great, animated detail, encouraging the students to mimic a squirrel digging a hole.
Arrow pulls out three stuffed animal squirrels鈥攁 mother and two babies鈥攁s visual aids, and repeatedly uses lively vocabulary words like 鈥渟curry鈥� and 鈥渟camper鈥� to explain the animals鈥� behavior. Then she passes out an acorn to each student, instructing them to guard it carefully and bring it with them to the woods, where they鈥檒l bury it鈥攋ust like squirrels do.
A little after 9 a.m., acorns in hand, the class heads outside to a clearing in the woods that abuts their school. Every week, they spend a dedicated hour to 90 minutes outside. It鈥檚 not a free-for-all. The class joins in a circle, starting with a song about their surroundings. Then Arrow, using her stuffed squirrels, reviews the animal behavior she taught inside.
She tells the students it will soon be their turn to bury the acorns she handed to them earlier, and asks them to share with her where they plan to put them. Before they run off, in groups or by themselves, Arrow bellows, 鈥淎ctivate your squirrel power. Dig!鈥�
After the students scamper like squirrels and bury their acorns in the dirt under the pine needles, they return to the circle to review some guidelines about free play, like how to safely carry sticks of different lengths, and Arrow suggests some ways the students might spend their pending free time. Then, before the students run off to either build forts with large fallen branches, create fairy houses with tiny sticks, or play a game that they make up, they each check in with Arrow and, again, share with her their plan.
Before long, some students have gathered around a stick that鈥檚 a few inches wide around and much taller than they are. One boy is balancing on one end of it, while another boy bounces on it, trying to break it in half.
Arrow watches, doing a balancing act of her own. She鈥檚 constantly weighing the risks versus rewards of letting children experiment with activities like this.
Some students take longer than others to decide what to do in the small forest space, where Arrow reminds them that wherever they choose to go, they must be able to see her at all times. One boy who, when inside, answered far fewer of his teacher鈥檚 questions about math concepts than most of his classmates, was the first to share his plan of fort-building in the woods, quickly establishing himself as the lead fort-maker among a handful of classmates.
鈥淓specially with boys, it鈥檚 a pattern I often see: Those that struggle in the classroom thrive during choice time or in the forest,鈥� Arrow said.
Boys thrive during meaningful playtime
The kindergarteners are not just moving their bodies. They鈥檙e also engaged in activities that 5-year-old boys see as meaningful鈥攁rranging branches to create a fort, hiding nuts in the forest to mimic a squirrel鈥檚 behavior, or building something out of blocks.
鈥淚f you can tap into the why for boys, and the exciting benefits of learning, then they are buying into it,鈥� Arrow said.
Back in Arrow鈥檚 classroom by 10:30 a.m., the students prepare for choice time. 69传媒 must pick the center where they want to play and see if there are openings (most are limited to two or three students). Once they reach their selected center鈥攆eaturing pretend play, a doll house, a nature table, art supplies, blocks, books, and more鈥攕tudents problem-solve, negotiate, and get creative. For instance, the children decide who will play which role in the 鈥減retend鈥� corner, choose what to build with Legos or Play-Doh, and imagine what to create in the art center.
鈥淐hoice time is another period that allows children to be natural leaders,鈥� Arrow said. 鈥淭hey inspire each other. They teach each other.鈥�
It鈥檚 also the best time to address statewide standards, Arrow believes.
鈥淚 often think to myself how much less practice the kids would get with these standards if we don鈥檛 have this 45 minutes to an hour every morning [during choice time] to actually be utilizing and expressing verbally鈥攅specially for those students who aren鈥檛 yet communicating as much verbally,鈥� she said. Boys, incidentally, tend to develop later than girls.
Young boys may not be ready for a focus on academic rigor
Arrow said that early in her career, she felt the pressure that came with federal accountability measures and an emphasis on academic standards and standardized testing. Her days were full of worksheet dittos, direct instruction, and lots of redirecting. None of it felt particularly meaningful or developmentally appropriate, she said.
The standards-based reform movement of the past few decades have placed core academic standards at the center of an assessment-driven education environment, and the trickle-down effects have reached kindergarten鈥攁nd may have, in particular, been a setback for young boys鈥� learning development.
鈥淭ypically I see boys who are older being more successful in a modern, public school kindergarten where they鈥檙e being asked to learn their letters and sounds and write their letters,鈥� Arrow said.
Her observations align with a growing number of child advocates who, like in his popular book Of Boys and Men, recommend that boys start formal education a year later than girls.
鈥淚n the 21st century, elementary schools have changed in ways that seem to impact boys more than girls,鈥� said , a psychology professor at the Harvard Medical School whose expertise includes boys and the current elementary school environment. 鈥淭here has been a decrease in the amount of recess time. Boys seem to need more movement breaks than girls. Learning to read used to begin in 1st grade. Now it begins in kindergarten. Boys enter school behind girls in the area of pre-reading skills so they are disadvantaged by this change.鈥�
As a new teacher focused on standards and test scores, Arrow didn鈥檛 feel particularly successful engaging her students, whom she felt she was constantly reprimanding.
鈥淭hey looked unhappy,鈥� Arrow said. She felt unhappy, too.
That鈥檚 all changed as Arrow has incorporated more movement, playtime, and outdoor learning into her classroom. She has found that letting young children engage in hands-on, experiential learning can be the most effective way to address academic standards.
Arrow, now in her 18th year at Symonds Elementary, serves as an example to her colleagues of how effective early learning can look different. The school administration has not only supported the changes to the way Arrow runs her classroom, but has encouraged her to share her methods with other teachers.
鈥淛essica has played an instrumental role in this entire district, helping educators to understand what play-based learning is, to bring it to life, and to keep it moving forward,鈥� Principal Susan Grover said.
Arrow also spreads her knowledge statewide; for instance, presenting on play-based coaching and teaching at summer workshops for the University of New Hampshire鈥檚 . But her immediate concerns revolve around maintaining a classroom environment that allows all of her students to thrive.
As for the boys in her class, Arrow said, 鈥淚 think they are feeling more successful in a classroom in which they can pursue their interests and discover their strengths.鈥�
This story is part of a special reporting project exploring why boys, overall, are doing worse in school than girls鈥�and what can be done to reverse the trend.
Why school isn鈥檛 working for many boys: Teachers report in a new survey that boys are less motivated and focused than their female counterparts.
The data are clear: Girls, on average, find more success at school than boys. Explore key data points highlighting these disparities.
Reimagining what schools can look like: Find out how four schools get boys excited about learning.
Student-teacher relationships matter: The key to inspiring boys in the classroom is a strong student-teacher relationship, experts say. Here鈥檚 how to make it work.
Why boys don鈥檛 want to become teachers: Boys would benefit from more male role models in the classroom. Here鈥檚 what schools can do about it.
A downloadable tip sheet: Boys are relational learners, experts say. Here are eight key strategies on how to reach them.
