Kindergarten Learning Centre:

Welcome to Our Post Office

by Marina Bresba

        In this post office centre, students will have the opportunity to practice their language skills by writing letters, postcards and greeting cards to one another, to their families and to members of the school community. Once a day or once a week, a child can serve as the class mail carrier and deliver that day’s / week’s mail.

        Students will also have the opportunity to design their own stamps, postcards and greeting cards, and to learn more about the postal system through books and posters. Students may also decorate their personal mailboxes. Various other props and costumes will be available to students (see list below).

Language Expectations – General (Ontario Kindergarten curriculum, p 14):

By the end of Kindergarten, children will:

• make sense of simple written materials, using reading strategies that are appropriate for beginners;
• communicate thoughts and feelings, using writing strategies that are appropriate for beginners

Language Expectations – Specific (Ontario Kindergarten curriculum, pp 14-15):

By the end of Kindergarten, children will:

• demonstrate awareness of some conventions of written materials;
• identify most of the letters of the alphabet and demonstrate understanding that letter represent sounds and that written words convey meaning;
• write using a variety of tools and media;
• write simple messages using a combination of pictures, symbols, letter, phonetic spellings, and familiar words;
• print most of the letters of the alphabet, their own name and names of family members, and some short words.

Items at the Post Office Centre:

• Individual mailboxes for each child with name, number, picture of student (made from shoe boxes, tissue boxes, etc.)
• One main class postbox
• Paper (various), postcards (various), cards (various), postcard templates, envelopes (various), envelope templates
• Construction paper
• Writing & drawing implements, glue, scissors
• Templates of stamps
• Stamp-like stickers
• Date stamp
• "Cancelled" stamp
• Mail carrier bag, clothing
• "Hours of Operation" sign
• "Open / Closed" Sign
• Cash register, money
• Scale (for weighing packages)
• Magnifying glass
• Maps, globes
• Poster of stamps, postal system, postal rates
• Books re: mail, stamps
• Postal code and phone books

Various templates can be found here.

        The bright colours, orderly shapes, colourful posters and variety of interesting resources (papers, writing tools) automatically attract students’ attention and invite them into the centre. Even more inviting is the individualised nature of the learning centre: each child has a mailbox with his or her name on it (stacked in the same order as the name/photo chart on the wall above it, for easier reference). In order to invite the children to visit the centre, we placed a letter in each mail box, addressed directly to each student. The fact that the learning centre authentically represents a "real life" activity makes it all the more meaningful to students.

        In order to allow for differentiated and developmental learning, students have been given many choices. They may design and draw stamps and postcards (on their own or following the various examples in the books and posters), they may write letters (in whatever way they are able), they may learn more about stamps and the postal system, etc. Tasks can vary in complexity according to the developmental stage of the child, and students are various levels can play with or (more likely) alongside one another, building on their own particular strengths. A variety of sizes in writing tools, for example, allow participation by students at all levels of gross and fine motor development. The names on the mail-boxes are accompanied by a nearby poster of the names-plus-photos so that children who cannot yet read the names have a tool to help them. Similarly, nearby posters of the alphabet help students who are still learning how to form letters. The presence of the dress-up clothes (mail carrier bag, etc.) as well as the entire post office scenario allows for the pretend play that is so important at this age. And because mail is by its very nature a social thing – one does not send to and receive from oneself, after all – it is a good forum for encouraging children to develop social skills.

        The learning environment of this centre can also be differentiated. For children who are manifesting signs of AD/HD, for example, the multiplicity of choices might be too much stimulation. For such a child, it might be a good idea to help him/her select a paper type and a writing implement, then move away from the "busy-ness" of the writing table, if it proves to be too distracting.

        Most obviously, the post office learning centre encourages students to develop their writing and reading skills as they write to and read letters from their friends. The post office allows them to practice writing their own name and the names of their friends, family members and teacher. Beyond that, however, students can develop their gross and fine motor skills as they write or draw, cut-and-paste their stamps and/or envelopes, stuff the envelopes and deliver the mail. The post office centre also allows students to learn more about our postal system: how mail is delivered, how stamps are made, how to write and address a letter, how to buy stamps, and so on. Finally, this centre offers students a great opportunity to build their social skills: writing to friends, marking occasions (holidays, birthdays) with greetings, and taking the time to acknowledge someone else and make their day nicer. The teacher can encourage this through simple and gentle guidance such as "You had a good time playing with Mahée today. Why don’t you send her some mail to tell her so?" Conversely, building community in this way also builds the self-esteem of students.

        The Post Office Centre is relatively wide open in terms of learning opportunities, for students have a great number of choices to make – whether they use the pre-made material, the templates or the arts and crafts material; whether they write or draw; whether they compose, sort or deliver mail; etc. In order not to overwhelm the children at the beginning and in order to allow the centre to evolve, I would add some of the props slowly, over time (i.e. start with the posters, writing equipment, books, etc., then later add the "retail" and "philately" props).

        There are a variety of additional extension activities available to the teacher. Some of these include:

• Asking a Canada Post employee to visit the class.
• Visiting the Canadian Postal Museum or at least the children’s website which contains games, pictures and information.
• Participating in the Canadian Postal Museum’s Stamp Design Contest.
• Developing a teacher-led activity in which students write to their families / classmates. Students can then actually mail the letter. Better yet, why not organise a tour of the post office, during which they can see the entire process.
• During the summer, either the Kindergarten teacher and/or next year’s teacher can mail a postcard to each student – so that students might experience receiving their own mail.

        Learning centres are an important pedagogical strategy for they provide children with a wide number of learning opportunities (academic, physical, social, etc), all of which are well-integrated with one another. Because learning centres allow students to make choices and to direct much of their own learning, they help in the development of self-esteem, problem-solving skills and creativity. They also allow children to learn at their own speed and to explore according to their particular interests and curiosities. Through play and activities in learning centres, children discover their own potential and capacity for learning and growth. Learning centres provide hands-on experiences which best address young children’s learning-by-doing approach to education. Through hands-on exploration of the capacities of their minds and their bodies, children become active "shapers" of meaning, personally involved in the quest for knowledge and growth. Each new learning, each success inspires the child to take the next step, dig a little deeper, push a little further, solve the next puzzle. Throughout, children learn to think for themselves and therefore develop greater self-esteem.

        In addition, good learning centres reflect authentic, everyday experiences which prove to be interesting and meaningful for children. Donald Graves, in Writing: Teachers and Children at Work (Heinemann, 1983), declares that "Children want to write. They want to write the first day they attend school. This is no accident. Before they went to school they marked up walls, pavements, newspapers with crayons, chalk, pens or pencils... anything that makes a mark. The child's marks say, I am." By providing authentic opportunities (such as this learning centre) for student to "make their mark on the world," the teacher is fuelling this desire in children.

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