When a child embarks on the early years of their education, it can be sweet and tender. Initially, we tend to pay a lot of attention to the social-emotional experience of our children's schooling. We are often less concerned with academics and more with significant milestones and how they feel around their peers.
As students progress through our program—from Green Door to Purple Door—they experience a curriculum tailored to their specific classroom and an environment set up to support their social-emotional development. The goal for our students includes nurturing their overall learning and maturing process to ensure they are fully prepared for the next stage of their educational journey.
Prepared For What Comes Next
The importance of a child's early education cannot be overstated. How children view themselves, as students and community members, shapes their outlook on their place in school and beyond, into adult life.
For this reason, we invest heavily in the students' academic and social-emotional skills, their approach to learning, collaboration with others, and the essential skills of self-advocacy and advocacy for others. We have found that, through our unique culture of inclusion and support for individual voices, our students go on to be natural leaders and caretakers of their community.
We credit the success of our graduates to the time and attention we give to what they learn in class and how they learn in each stage of development. We do this by understanding the typical markers of their social, physical, and cognitive development that are expected at each age.
The Messy Middle
In the arc of students' time at Family School, there can sometimes be a season that feels more challenging and full of doubt for both students and parents. This is the 'Messy Middle,' which can occur in the 2nd and 3rd grade years in Red Door. This is a time when students are gaining confidence, but their academic abilities and social maturity may not have developed to match.
Students in this developmental stage might still be challenged by reading or math concepts. They might still need help learning to raise a hand or take a turn. While they know the right thing to do, this age group can still have difficulty practicing self-control and focus. They might go through periods of moodiness and worry, or feel overly competitive with their peers.
These are all normal characteristics of these ages, and it might be helpful to have a snapshot of what’s going on inside the process.
Transition to Higher Expectations: In 2nd and 3rd grade, students feel an increase in academic demands and the need for longer periods of focused work. This age likes to work in groups but can also be bothered by mistakes or inconsistencies. They need the time to work slowly and finish what they start. Industrious and motivated, this age is full of ideas and ready for new challenges.
Cognitive Development: During these middle years, between the ages of 7 and 9, children develop critical thinking skills, but they may still struggle with more complex concepts in math and literacy. They shift from learning to read to reading to learn, which can be a big jump at first. They have the advantage of being able to work for longer periods of focus, but they need short exercise breaks to help with prolonged concentration. This age has a better ability to listen, but cannot easily retain everything they hear.
Social-Emotional Factors: Peer relationships and social dynamics become more significant in these grades. Students sometimes have a “best friend” and just as easily feel like no one likes them. Students can be talkative and excited and also serious and reserved. They love working in groups and explaining their ideas to each other. They might also be moody and sulky, or express “hate” for something. Arguing with peers can be common. They’re also bothered by mistakes and work hard to make their work perfect.
Physical Development: Students typically enter Red Door as six- to seven-year-olds and leave as eight- or nine-year-olds, so a lot of physical development happens in these two, short school years. Red Door students go through big growth spurts, develop a sense of humor, talk a lot even when asked not to, and apply rules to others but not themselves. Pushing limits is normal behavior as coordination is better, and restlessness is easy to come by.
Trust the Process
For these reasons, we sometimes hear from concerned parents about these sometimes concerning markers of this age range. It’s a complex time with huge developmental strides that sometimes look like going backward or not developing skills as fast as their peers.
Expectations are essential, and so is the long view of childhood development. The learning process can often follow what feels like two steps forward and one back before catapulting into a new ability. Before a significant breakthrough, a student might need more time, patience, and help, all of which we offer as support while their brain catches up with their ability, and vice versa.
We find that students, no matter the classroom, all learn at their own rate. Because we honor the process of loving to learn, we find that our Red Doors arrive to Purple Door as enthusiastic students, ready to take ownership of their learning. As a result, our graduates transition into middle school with greater ease and a developed skill set that supports the next season of learning.
At SYV Family School, education is a journey that is both academically minded and forward-thinking about personal development. As we look at the process of education in the early childhood years, our goal is to foster a holistic approach and set our beloved students on a path to future success.
For more information on the SYV Family School, please visit https://www.syvfamilyschool.org/ and follow along to see what’s happening around campus on our IG @thesyvfamilyschool.
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