The First Post

"So we want you to know that the name of the book doesn't mean that this is us being six all the time, but that it is about as far as we've got at present, and we half think of stopping there."

-A.A. Milne, Now We Are Six

If it's less than clear from this quotation why I named this blog is "Now We Are Six," let me explain. I like Milne's suggestion that growing up is a process that can't be summed up by numerical age. It's a "one step forward, two steps back" affair. It is true that a student might "now be six," but some of his behaviors and tendencies are those of a five-year-old or even a two-year-old. One of the purposes of education, I might argue, is to match our behaviors and our intellect with our numerical age.

Of course, this is no easy feat. I slip up all of the time, despite the fact that I'm supposed to be a fully-functioning, bill-paying, 401-K contributing young woman. There are still moments when I feel my middle school anxieties creeping to the surface. Teaching, however, pushes me to slip up less often, at least in those 9 hours of the day when I'm modeling "adult" behavior for children.

Milne also reminds us is that "acting our age" all of the time is boring. Young children know this better than anyone, which is why they're so much fun to teach. Just last week, I hung out with a four-year-old who is starting kindergarten in September. She's witty, inquisitive, and sweet, but she has a lot to learn during her first year in school. I know that she'll learn to use her self-control to stop tantrums and get along with other students. The joy (and the challenge) of teaching her will be to preserve her spontaneity and curiosity while teaching her to value her peers.

Over the course of the next year, I'll be documenting my students' first year in school. These twelve months mark a critical transition from age five to age six. It is a year when children begin the long trek into the "educational unknown," a journey that will end when they finish high school...or college....or graduate school. Setting them up for success takes patience, energy, and commitment.

Most of all, though, it takes time. Ten months is about the right amount...

This blog is the story of those ten months.

The End

by A.A. Milne

When I was One,

I had just begun.

When I was Two,

I was nearly new.

When I was Three,

I was hardly Me.

When I was Four,

I was not much more.

When I was Five,

I was just alive.

But now I am Six, I'm as clever as clever.

So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.