As a student in the School of Education studying early childhood education, I was very disappointed in the recent article discussing the Early Childhood Learning Laboratory (“For SED students, work becomes play at preschools,” Sept. 26, p. 1). The article made it appear as though I am paying $40,000-plus each year to play with Play-Doh and take naps. To the contrary, I will graduate in four years with a Bachelor of Science in early childhood education — an interdisciplinary major in anthropology, psychology and sociology — and a license to teach.
What the article failed to mention was that in addition to student-teaching in the ECLL (one of the four student-teaching placements early childhood majors complete) and keeping up with three additional classes, students complete at least six credit hours of preschool seminar, in which we learn about how the cognitive, emotional, physical and social development of children in the early years shapes their success in the future. I felt it necessary to inform the Boston University community that work is work, not play, for teachers at facilities such as the ECLL. In fact, we are forming a curriculum in which children play with Play-Doh to develop fine-motor skills and broaden sensory experiences, and take naps to allow sufficient time for neurons to make the necessary connections for growth and learning.
Adrienne Golden
SED ’09
Early Childhood Education
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