Old friends, new friends

This morning I awoke, with a slight hangover, to a text from Abu Dhabi. A text from my friend Sue who has just arrived there. I text her back and followed up with an email as I know how important contact from friends is when you are away from home. She doesn't have internet yet so I am waiting for a reply.

Today I had the privilege of showcasing one of my kindergartens to two American visitors Lucy and Kate. They were from Pennsylvania and Lucy was a teacher in the early years while Kate was a teacher trainee. We had a long discussion about the difference and similarities of the education systems in our countries, as teachers do when they get together. 

We also had an in depth discussion on teaching children with special needs, an area in which Kate was studying. We talked about inclusion, but I think that the notion of inclusion in Pennsylvania differs to that of New Zealand. There they stream the children through standardized testing, check lists of academic skills. This means that in any class the children are only mixing with children of similar academic abilities. We discussed how this form of streaming limited children's abilities to learn off those more skilled than themselves as we encourage here in New Zealand. 

I also took them to the primary school adjacent to the kindergarten so they could see their reading programme in action, great to be in a new entrant class again. They were most impressed by our curriculum documents and the assessment through individual profile books. 

Lucy and Kate enjoyed their visit and we have exchanged emails. I hope to go and visit some time soon as I've not been to the US as yet.