PreSchool

Principal's Message

"I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart!"

Who knew this old favorite could be the anthem for educational reform in America? Brain research has been discovering what we preschool teachers have known for years. When children are having fun, they are more engaged and their learning is maximized.

According to Judy Ellis, writing in Education Leadership ("The Neuroscience of Joyful Education," Summer 2007),

Brain research tells us that when the fun stops, learning often stops too.

When we scrub joy and comfort from the classroom, we distance our students from effective information processing and long-term memory storage. Instead of taking pleasure from learning, students become bored, anxious, and anything but engaged. They ultimately learn to feel bad about school and lose the joy they once felt.

My own experience as a neurologist and classroom teacher has shown me the benefits of joy in the classroom. Neuroimaging studies and measurement of brain chemical transmitters reveal that students' comfort levels can influence information transmission and storage in the brain. When students are engaged and motivated and feel minimal stress, information flows freely through the affective filter in the amygdala and they achieve higher levels of cognition, make connections, and experience 'aha' moments. Such learning comes not from quiet classrooms and directed lectures, but from classrooms with an atmosphere of exuberant discovery.

At St. Margaret's Preschool we take fun very seriously! The children learn through play--and laugh a lot, too. Children explore and discover, create and pretend, all the while learning and growing across all five domains (cognitive, social, emotional, physical and creative)--often at the same time.

If you've never visited the preschool, you can find us on campus by following the bubbles...or the laughter!

Ingrid Andrews
Director
Early Childhood Development Center & Wee Tartan Center