Kindergarten versus Primary.

The way of teaching in Kindergarten reflect Gestalt Psychology. The fundamental formula of Gestalt theory might be expressed in the word ‘globalization’. Max Wertheimer is one of the most importants Gestalt's psychologists. He thought that human thinking is based in comprehensives meaningful perceptions, not in collections of combined pictures. In consequence, we only could break a comprehensive perception through an artificial analysis. In other words: when the subject memorizes by studying the whole selection, the details are organized into a total configuration, each element in its proper relationship; the subject who uses the part method learns a jumble of details which have no organization.

In Wertheimer words: “There are wholes, the behaviour of which is not determined by that of their individual elements, but where the part-processes are themselves determined by the intrinsic nature of the whole. It is the hope of Gestalt theory to determine the nature of such wholes” (1924). Then, some important pedagogues adapted Wertheimer studies to the teaching. Decroly, for example, observed that children learn by means of all the senses.

In kindergarten we put a lot of real experiences within reach of the children without separate in subjects. For example, we can teach astronomy planning a party in where the children have to make cookies done to solar system scale. When they are reading the recipe, they are learning language. When they are counting how many planets have to make, they are learning maths. When they are talking about the colour of every planet/cookie, they are learning natural sciences. When they are talking about the flavour of the cookies, they are learning about their selves,…

Generally, in primary school the timetable is divided in subjects. You can make cookies too, but it is not as easy as in kindergarten, because you have to adapt your teaching to a strict timetable, already in primary stage pupils are taught by more teachers. Language class, for example, can be at early morning, after it, children have to learn spanish with a different teacher, later, maths with the tutor again, but maybe the timetable doesn't contain natural sciences this day, for example… The way to draw up a programme is so different, and the activities are not so making with their hands.

The majority of schools use a different method to teach in kindergarten and in primary school. But sometimes kindergarten adopts primary methods, even it is unusual that primary uses kindergarten methodology. Those schools are the most interesting, though. In general, when a school adopts globalization methodology, teachers have to make their own didactic material, because books publishing only make more common textbooks, and it is the books that use the great majority of schools, that is to say, one book for every different subject. When the majority of teachers in a school makes a decision that entails so work, you can be sure that they are hard workers and, in consequence, we can say that one primary stage that doesn’t follow kindergarten methodology can teach with responsibility, but one primary school that follows kindergarten methodology is sure that teach well.

It is very important for the kids that teachers make a bridge between kindergarten and primary methodology. In this way I think that it is a very good option to have a staff with more teachers with kindergarten degree than just the necessaries. It allows that teachers accompany pupils getting in the primary stage. Don’t doubt that it is warmer for the children.

Every child is a neon sign that says "PRECAUTION!"