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Rogers’ influence also extended far beyond the early childhood education setting. “It made teaching so much fun because you were learning some things together,” she said. The next day, she’d come back with research for an answer or work with her students to figure out the question together. Rather than playing the “because I said so” role of the authority figure, Richards, channeling Rogers’ ability to humbly admit shortcomings and be relatable, would simply say she didn’t know. When teaching, Richards often received questions from students for which she just didn’t have the answers.
#Mr rogers neighborhood childhood nostalgia how to#
More importantly, Rogers taught her how to really listen to children. “I realized that I didn’t have to know it all, that I could provide the experiences and the materials and listen to what the kids want.” “He was like my mentor,” said Richards, adding that Rogers also validated her decision to become a teacher and helped assuage her fears about being in front of the classroom. Her attention to classroom routines, which included cubbies and daily circle time, was a direct reflection of this. She looked to Rogers as a master of routine, pointing to his ironic ritual of taking off his shoes as a small exemplar of this.
You’re Not Just Teaching, You’re Learning Alongside ChildrenĬathy Richards was a special education preschool teacher for 22 years in Freehold Township, New Jersey. “Of course, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was where people felt safe.”Ģ. “It’s really important to make the children feel as if they are an important part of the group, that they are heard, that their feelings are validated,” she says.
#Mr rogers neighborhood childhood nostalgia driver#
It was a major driver in her teaching style. He helped children navigate those difficult waters while always taking their emotional concerns seriously. Helping kids who were new to the classroom receive the emotional space to feel safe and supported was of utmost importance to her as well - and something else she saw reflected in Rogers. On Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, McKitrick saw an environment where young children could learn how to initiate play, how to interact well within a group, and how to begin to form appropriate social-emotional bonds that mirrored her own classroom. When speaking of Rogers, she treats him with the reverence of a sage advisor, someone who practiced what he preached. McKitrick spent years not only teaching infants and toddlers but also mentoring pre-K and kindergarten teachers. “That was what he was all about: the feelings of a young child are every bit as powerful as an adult’s feelings, and those feelings are mentionable and manageable.” “By acknowledging feelings, by giving them a voice, by helping them begin to take another person’s perspective and see things from a different point of view from their own, which is very developmentally appropriate for young children - that process of learning is so important,” says Ann McKitrick, a veteran educator of 40 years who always watched Mister Rogers Neighborhood now works with Nurtured Noggins in Houston, Texas. He made emotional discourse normal and encouraged kids to express their feelings constructively and understand the feelings of others - a tactic that rang true to many educators. Here’s what they learned.įred Rogers took time and care to help kids understand that it was okay to feel angry, scared, or sad. Fatherly spoke to three teachers about Mister Rogers’ impact. During the three decades Mister Rogers Neighborhood aired, teachers tuned in to watch a master of their craft demonstrate best practices.
But Fred Rogers also had another audience - teachers. He cultivated a world where kindness and understanding thrived. He spoke to children with emotional honesty and humility. No, he was no Maria Montessori whose educational philosophy has been taken and used in schools around the world bearing her name and making use of the teaching source material she created.
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