By Martha Beach
When Catherine Hickey’s youngest daughter was in kindergarten, the teacher organized the class into rows. Some parents were up in arms: preschool was supposed to be all play, and now the kids were expected to sit in a line? But the teacher had a plan and she knew how to manage the class to reach her goals.
“Within four months, my daughter was reading,” says Hickey, a teacher and mom of two in West Nyack, NY. “The teacher knew the testing level of her children and she had good, clear structure.” Sitting in rows to keep kids focused on the teacher was an integral part of that structure.
Martha Beach lives and works in Toronto as a freelance fact-checker, editor, and writer for a wide variety of publications. When she’s not working, you’ll find Martha on her yoga mat or hanging out with her daughter and husband.
