Did your high school have an elective class where the students basically helped in a pre-k?
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JLeslie (
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June 12th, 2021
I wish Auggie was here, because she might have a better memory than me about the details of the class, we took it together.
In our high school we had Child Development class. The way I remember it, it was two periods long, and I took it for a semester. It was basically a pre-k or nursery school in the high school. The teachers who ran it were there all day. The other teachers in the school could put their children in the class and also other people in the community could utilize it, I don’t remember if there was a fee. We students who took the class helped to plan the activities for the young children, and did the activities with the children.
The other opportunity we had if we took the class was we could go to an area elementary school and assist a teacher there. I did that at the elementary near my house. At first I helped a fourth grade teacher and later a fifth grade teacher.
I think it was a good set up, especially for teachers who wanted to have their very young children there at the school. Plus, the high school students were free labor, and they had the opportunity to learn about taking care of and teaching young children. I don’t think I have ever heard anyone else talk about a similar program in their schools, but I have never asked.
What do you think about the class, and have you heard of that being done anywhere else?
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9 Answers
In grade school we sometimes had 21 year olds teaching class. Only three years older than some high school students. Fresh out of university Bachelor of education degree graduates.
When I was in high school (late 1960s) there was no such thing as pre-K. It was called nursery school and people paid someone (church, synagogue, etc.) for that.
My kids were in high school (suburban Atlanta) in the 1998–1999 time frame, and I don’t remember them having an option to help in pre-K.
@elbanditoroso I went to nursery school also, which would be in 1970,71,72. My mom got me into kindergarten early because that was free. I took the class in high school in 1984.
I think in NY they still use the term nursery school. I remember a jelly here several years ago was still using the term. Maybe it is regional.
I guess pre-k is literally the year before k, while nursery school can be any time before k and maybe is the same as a day care? I don’t know if there are actual legal or technical differences. I think of nursery school as post infancy. I know I had to be out of diapers to attend. Whatever the case, it is a place to put your kids before they start school.
5th and 6th graders in my grammar school went to the 2nd and 3rd grade classes to read to them in “Reading Circles”. I learned to read upside down.
@Tropical_Willie Of topic, but I have always been able to read upside down, I always played scrabble upside down. I didn’t know until I was a teenager that some people have trouble with it. Upside down is just as easy as right side up for me. Having said that, I am not great at reading to begin with. I guess I’m average.
My first year of college Child Development was an elective I chose. Two days a week the class helped at a nearby Head Start program. It was an enjoyable way to earn credits.
I asked about the class in my Facebook alumni group and one of my classmates confirmed it was “pre-k” so mostly 4 year olds. I don’t think it was called pre-k though back then. Her younger brother was one of the kids who went to the class. That was probably convenient for her parents that their high school kid and 4 year old could go to the same school building.
I took a child development class in highschool. We went to the elementary school next door and acted as teacher’s aid for a morning session twice a week. I had planned on being a teacher, but through that experience, I discovered I didn’t have the stamina required.
We did for FTA, Future Teachers of America. I hated it and chose another path. :)
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