Crossing Boundaries: A Variety of Perspectives on Preschool Stories

Abstract

Emergent curriculum is present in many early childhood classrooms but sharing the deep thoughts, reflections and actions of young children engaged in emergent curriculum is often hindered by the use of traditional report cards. Through the use of year-long preschool stories, teachers write about these young children using the children’s thought processes and experiences as the central data source. This practice illustrates trust of the child and the child’s daily actions as critical in understanding the child. The purpose of this paper is to re-visit previously written preschool stories from multiple perspectives including the child featured in the story, the family of the child, the creator of the preschool stories, and a co-teacher within the community. This reexamination offers another way to consider the preschool stories, opening the work to revision and rethinking.