Who's the line leader?

On the way in from the playground one day last week, several children got mixed up in line. One child stopped to peek into the Assembly Room at a familiar adult, then his friends followed to see the excitement. Meanwhile the rest of the group continued on toward the steps. As a result, the whole order of the line changed and many children pushed past others on the steps seeking their original positions. (This behavior is dangerous on the steps, so children are always reminded to hold the rail and walk in a straight line up or down the steps).

When we settled in the Rainbow Room for circle, many children were visibly upset about the line situation. I, too, felt flustered at the commotion and wanted to figure out how to make these transitions easier and safer for the group. The line leader felt like the line should have waited for him. The latter part of the line felt like they had the right to keep going past the small group that had stopped. What a conundrum!

This type of line "dilemma" arises every year. Four-year olds love to be line leaders (as many ages do, too, I'm sure!) and they feel very strongly about maintaining their places in line. Friends also like to walk in line together and children will often pass people to catch up to that special someone (which inevitably upsets the order and balance of the line).

On the one hand I just want to solve this problem by creating order from the chaos. Cris and I could just choose a leader ourselves and require that children stay in a certain order while walking in line. But we don't operate that way in the classroom. We are flexible, understanding of children's desires (of course they want to walk with their friends and lead the group!), and year after year we have consistently experienced the amazing problem-solving skills of the 4-year old.  Having a challenge occur like a "line order" dispute is a gift to the classroom: it lets us think as a group, perform the hard work of negotiating our ideas with the needs and wants of rest of the group. It brings us together, builds our Rainbow Room community, and provides experience in solving difficult, emotionally-charged issues. Here is the list that we compiled that day during circle. Keep in mind these are the children's rules, not mine or Cris'.

1. Don't pass the line leader
2. Stay in your place in line.
3. The same child gets to be the line leader the whole time.
4. No racing in the building. Only walking.
5. The children get to choose the leader. To be fair.
6. Go straight upstairs without stopping
7. Go straight to the classroom and sit down in circle.
8. No jumping over anyone in line.

These rules may sound suspiciously like the things that teachers are always saying to preschool students. But during our heated discussion, children were speaking from their experiences in line- walking. They remembered how it felt to be passed, or to lose their place in line because they were running and the teacher asked them to try again. They really wanted to make a list in circle, to document their thinking about what happened that day.

I particularly like #5. Now when we're deciding who's going to lead the group to the playground, I just remind them of this decision and it's out of my hands. Today I observed two boys who had been leaders today and yesterday invite a girl to be the leader (one that they knew wanted desperately to lead the group today).

To be clear, this list is not set in stone. It is a working document, one which we will revisit to discuss necessary changes, if any, that need to be made. We need to define more accurately how the children choose the leader; that's still up for debate. And the children are still learning their own rules: impulse control and self-regulation are continuing to develop at this age, so sometimes even knowing these rules makes the performing of them difficult- but with practice, learning will occur. It just takes some time.

Four-year olds are compassionate, capable, and creative thinkers who can successfully operate in a democratic classroom. I am amazed every time I participate in these discussions with the Rainbow Room children. Help spread the word to the world about our amazing children!