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Recognizing the children’s interests and planning curriculum in accordance with
it is characteristic of a Reggio-inspired teacher approach. However, worksheets are not
normally associated with a Reggio classroom. Mary believes in the importance of
worksheets for letter recognition and math concepts. She believes the children are
accomplishing tasks that will prepare them for the type of activities encountered in grade
school. She knows from her own experience as a mother that worksheets are an accepted
component of curriculum in the later grades.
I am still very attached to my worksheets. It reinforces what we are talking
about. For parents they can see what the children are working on. For
some parents, learning doesn’t have to be validated by a piece of paper but
for others it does. I guess I am still not there yet. I am not at that level. I’d
like to be one day, but I still feel worksheets serve a purpose. They are
going to get them in grade one and grade two.
Challenges.
Behaviour and control seem to be the primary concerns and Mary’s greatest
challenge. In the focus group, she sought advice from the others and asked whether she
should be requiring the children to sit during meeting time and “put up their hands” when
they had a question. Mary isn’t sure whether she is “allowed to tell the children just to
sit.” Mary knows that “some kids can sit for a length of time and then they have their turn
to show whatever they want to share and they don’t want to listen to anyone else” and
this is frustrating to her. If they can’t listen to others she asks the children “to please just
leave. I get them to go look at a book or whatever. I don’t know. I guess I don’t know
where the boundaries are with Reggio.”
Mary has had little time for active reflection or documentation. As the only one of
the four research participants who doesn’t have preparation time, she finds it particularly
difficult to create project displays. After viewing the documentation brought by the other