We all need a new start. It was 172 years ago that Susan Elizabeth Blow was born to a wealthy family in St. Lewis. In 1871 while on a trip to Europe she got a look at the German Kindergarten movement which helped to plant the seeds of learning in very young children using play. Hence the name kinder which is the German name for children and garten the word for garden. Back in Saint Lewis Susan Blow opened the cities first public school kindergarten in 1873. It was regarded as a model for the nation.

Over time kindergarten became a way to go for most American 5 year olds. Robert Fulghum wrote a book in 1989 called All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten. It became a huge bestseller. We all need a new start and need to relearn the lessons taught in kindergarten.

Share everything

Play fair

Don’t hit people

Put things back where you found them

Clean up your own mess

Don’t take things that aren’t yours

It was like a non-religious 10 Commandments. If you saw the 1990 film called Kindergarten Cop you saw the exact opposite of these basic human suggested behaviors for a decent person to follow. The movie starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Penelope   Ann Miller. She said that kindergarten is like the ocean, you don’t want to turn your back on it. To me life is like the ocean. We have to constantly watch our backs to protect ourselves from mean people. We always have to worry because nothing is ever under control.

These days there is a growing emphasis on pre-kindergarten which already is serving more than one million 4 year olds. A recent report from the Department of Education shows that with roughly 6 and 10 4 year olds not enrolled in public pre-kindergarten, early nurturing is very much a work in progress. I think most adults need a refressure course every few years. Be kind to one another if possible.