By MORIAH BALINGIT
ANNANDALE, Va. (AP) — As lawmakers voted on a budget deal at the U.S. Capitol, a different kind of balloting was taking place a dozen miles away in a sun-filled Virginia preschool classroom. At stake: which animated dog was the best character on the cartoon “PAW Patrol.”
In a heated primary, the 3-and-4-year-old students in room 14 at the ACCA Child Development Center had narrowed it down to two finalists: Chase, a German shepherd who wears a police uniform, and Skye, who wears a pink “pup pack” and is a favorite among girls in the class. The children cast votes by scrawling their names in crayon beneath pictures of the two characters. By mid-morning, it was a dead heat: five votes to five.
Preschool Executive Director Maria Isabel Ballivian, right, listens to her students on what characters of the TV show PAW Patrol they will vote for as their favorite character at the ACCA Child Development Center, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Annandale, Va. The students are getting foundational lessons on how to live in a democracy by allowing them to regularly vote on different things through out the day. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Benejas Abeselome, 4, put his name down for Chase.
“Police take bad guys,” Benejas said. “I wanted police because I like policing.”
It will be years before these youngsters vote in a real election, but ACCA is one of many preschools around the country that have been starting students early on civics education. The goal is nothing short of raising good citizens and strengthening democracy.
At this age, children are not learning about the three branches of government or how a bill becomes a law. Teachers are working with them on how to solve problems with classmates, how to deal with anger or disappointment without being hurtful and how to think about others’ needs. These are lessons, teachers say, that can be difficult to draw from grown-up politicians — especially during a vitriolic campaign season.
Preschool teacher Jasmeet Kaur, left, watches the reaction of her student Naomi when she discovers that her favorite character of the TV show PAW Patrol won the class vote for the room’s favorite character of the show at the ACCA Child Development Center, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Annandale, Va. The students are getting foundational lessons on how to live in a democracy by allowing them to regularly vote on different things through out the day. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
“We’re all here to help develop these children to become better citizens … to be better problem-solvers and to be better equipped socially, emotionally,” said Mary Folks, a teacher at the school. “Because once they have a handle on that, I feel like things they accomplish and things they do will have a better impact on this world.”
The most important civics lesson preschools can impart is “social democracy,” said Dan Gartrell, an early education expert. His book on teaching preschoolers about democracy, “Education for a Civil Society,” is used by ACCA and other preschools.
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Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
