Innovation in Education: Edgewood Highlands

When my eldest son left his play-based preschool co-op to join our local public kindergarten, nothing felt right. I suddenly was excluded from his school experience, left to glean information about his day from the stacks of worksheets he brought home. And what I gathered felt, to my untrained eye, inappropriate for a kid his age. My creative son suddenly asked me if his art was “right.” My curious boy told me learning was “boring.” But with alternative education opportunities financially out of reach, I had no choice but to accept the situation.

But then as my second son prepared to enter public kindergarten, I heard whispers from other parents about The Kindergarten Program from Boston Public Schools being piloted in RI. Rumors swirled. They get to dress up! Blocks are part of the curriculum! Field trips!

My second boy is one of the lucky few public school kindergarteners in the state who this fall entered a play-based, child-led kindergarten program. Only a handful of RI schools offer this curriculum and my neighborhood public school, Edgewood Highlands, is one of them. Edgewood Highlands principal, Marlene Gamba, said of the program, “Cranston is always at the forefront with providing their teachers with opportunities to enhance instruction and encourage student engagement.”

Instead of excluding me from his day, his teacher texts pictures and videos of his learning experiences. Instead of painstakingly copying letters on worksheets, he makes them with Wikki Stix. Creativity, pretend play and building are part of the curriculum, not special treats for plowing through a day of instruction. Gamba says, “Watching the students is inspiring because the program caters to the cognitive development of our kindergarten students.” And as a parent, I couldn’t agree more. My son is free to learn the way kids learn best — through play — and everything about it feels right.