Savannah officials call for expansion of early childhood education opportunities | savannahnow.com

Six pudgy little index fingers shot up overhead.

Pre-kindergarten teacher Sherrell Robinson asked everyone seated around the activity station to raise their reading fingers while she passed out colorful nursery rhyme cards.

“Now put your wiggly on the words and repeat after me,” she said.

As Robinson read the rhyme, the six students pointed down at their cards and followed along with their fingers.

“Hickory, dickory, dock,” Robinson read enthusiastically. “The mouse ran up the clock.”

The 4-year-olds repeated.

“Hickowy, dickowy, dock!”

It was a typically busy day in the pre-kindergarten classes at Spencer Elementary. Small groups of students went to activity stations around the room for lessons designed to help them build strong social and academic skills.

Some read stories, some drew pictures of what they had seen on their field trip to Forsyth Park and others learned the letters in their names. Then they used chubby, yellow pencils to trace over simple sentences and write words related to their lessons.

“We’re showing them how to read and write from left to right and getting them to discuss their ideas and express them in writing,” Robinson said.

Everyone was interested and eager to participate — from 4-year-old David Coates, who was already able to read Dr. Seuss’ “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” on his own, to Za’Miah La’Nasia Worthen, who was mastering her writing skills.

via Savannah officials call for expansion of early childhood education opportunities | savannahnow.com.