The Kindergarten Year at Duniway Elementary
Jan Barkhurst's kindergarteners are busy observing their changing world as the seasons roll along. By the end of the year they will have drawn, written, read, sang, and grown with the changing seasons—and they'll provide a public service, too. During their seasonal studies, Jan Barkhurst's students are making books for The Friends of Trees Foundation of Portland. Over the years, The Friends of Trees have planted over 144,000 trees in Portland, quite a few of these on the property surrounding Duniway School. Jan's class has adopted one of the trees as their own, and students draw and write about it as it changes through the year. They observe parallel changes in day length, temperature and precipitation, as well. "We start in summer," Jan says, "Right when school starts. As the year progresses, we study how both our tree and our lives change. We keep track of the changes people make, in how they dress and how they play."

A Careful Approach
Jan takes a measured approach to adding technology to her kindergarten curriculum. Knowing any addition to the program comes at the expense of another activity, she's careful to make sure technology adds value to her young students' short school day. "I'd say computers are used by children half an hour a day," Jan says, "They're available before class, and as a option during choosing time. I have math, reading, writing and drawing programs for kids to use." Classroom technology gets its biggest workout in direct support of Jan's teaching. An electronic class newsletter has replaced the handwritten one, and students dictate their ideas and contribute ideas for the visual elements. "We scan photographs of our class activities, and put those in, too," Jan says.

The seasons project with a technology twist is just right. As it spans the whole year, Jan's students get to repeat activities, which gives them successive opportunities to develop their abilities. As the year progresses, students advance from dictating their contributions to keying some of their ideas in themselves. By June the natural world is in bloom, and Jan's students are blossoming as well.


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