One of our favorite questions to ask is why do you we have a rule that says children cannot climb up a slide? In recent years, there was a book called “Don’t Go Down the Slide”, and it gave teachers and educators the opportunity to step back and ask themselves, why do some of those rules exist. Outside of the obvious safety reasons why some rules exist, if you can allow children to do so for exploration, then why not allow it?
For example, a slide. If a child can safely climb up a slide to experience what it’s like, and the physics involved of pushing their body up the slide, why not allow them to do that in a safe and controlled setting.
Another outdated rule is not chewing gum in class. Chewing gum has been proven to help students that have ADHD or other things such as anxiety, be able to focus in class. So, if a child wants to chew gum, do it safely and dispose of it safely, then why not allow them to that.
We know it’s a little on the cutting edge, but those are a couple of things we’ve implemented at CCS and we’ve been successful with it.
We find that when children are given the opportunity to rise to a higher expectation, knowing the boundaries and rules are within guidelines that keep them safe, they will do it.
Unless a rule is there for an absolute safety reason, there is nothing wrong with stepping back and asking ourselves why do we have that rule?
