Director’s Column: The “Why, What and How” of Bing
By Jennifer Winters, Director
Why we’re so passionate about what we do.
The period between ages 2 and 5 is critical in child development. It’s like no other time in life. It’s a time when personalities are being formed and attitudes toward learning are solidified. It’s a time when children are learning about how they feel about themselves and others, and when they are rapidly assimilating skills and knowledge about their world. It’s a time of great wonder, curiosity and living in the here and now. A positive educational experience in these early years can give children a passion, purpose and appetite for learning that will last a lifetime!
Every year, we welcome 450 children to our spacious indoor and outdoor classrooms as our honored guests, recognizing that they have an insatiable capacity to learn and discover through play. Children are respected for who they are and where they are developmentally—not who or where we expect them to be now or in the future. We see young children as competent and curious individuals, who have endless potential to create and explore the world around them. It is our role to offer them the gift of uninterrupted time and an environment that says, “Yes! Come create, explore and discover.” We believe in the unlimited potential of all children and cherish the opportunity to guide them on a path of lifetime learning.
What we do at Bing.
It is often said that “The environment is the third teacher” and at Bing Nursery School that is an understatement. The three nursery classrooms for 3- to 5-year-olds, which each includes a half-acre outdoor environment, were specifically designed for young children, from the variety and number of trees to the rolling hills designed to promote children’s cardiovascular health and freedom of movement. The classrooms are open to the outdoors and provide a seamless transition for children, bringing the outdoors in and the indoors out. Our founding director, Edith Dowley, PhD, insisted that the architect actually sit down with her, and together they used unit blocks as the medium to design both the indoor and outdoor space. For Dowley, it was essential that the children be able to view the outside when they were inside and the inside when they were outside. This is one reason the classrooms have large windows and doors that open to the outdoors.
The three nursery classrooms for 3- to 5-year-olds, which each includes a half-acre outdoor environment, were specifically designed for young children, from the variety and number of trees to the rolling hills designed to promote children’s cardiovascular health and freedom of movement.
Bing staff set up our classrooms specifically for mixed-age groupings of children 3 to 5 years of age by featuring a variety of open-ended materials: blocks, clay, paint, sand and water. These materials allow for many different levels of abilities. For example, a 3-year-old might stack blocks horizontally or vertically and a 5-year-old might build something more representational, for instance, the Golden Gate Bridge. This plan is optimal for children’s social and emotional growth, as they learn to be both leaders and followers: They learn to compromise and collaborate; to plan and negotiate; to work in a group or by themselves. It is much like a family grouping in that there is a wide range of competencies. Children’s critical skills of self-regulation, empathy and flexible and creative thinking are also well supported in the mixed-age grouping. Children’s cognitive skills are stretched as they communicate with peers of different ages. Our beautiful, naturalistic environment supports children’s growth in all developmental areas: cognitive, social, emotional and physical.
Bing also provides a valuable resource for Stanford’s researchers. Approximately 15 different studies take place in the research rooms at the school each quarter. Most of the researchers are in the Psychology and Linguistics Departments and the Graduate School of Education, but some have been in the School of Medicine, the Human Biology Department and the Design School! Researchers (referred to the children as game room teachers) work closely with our research coordinator, assistant director and director as well as their faculty advisors in planning and implementing their studies.
Taylor Holubar, a fifth-year graduate student in psychology, shows a picture of grapes to a child for his study.
Some of the most seminal research in psychology has been done at Bing (delay of gratification, Walter Mischel, PhD; social learning theory and self-efficacy, Albert Bandura, PhD; theory of mind, John Flavell, PhD; intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, Mark Lepper, PhD; language acquisition, Eve Clark, PhD; language development, Ellen Markman, PhD) and we know that by supporting these studies we are contributing greatly to the fields of psychology and linguistics and to our overall understanding of child development.
Additionally, we teach several courses for the Department of Psychology, includingObservation of Children, Development of Early Childhood and the observation section for Introduction toDevelopmental Psychology as well as Practicum in Child Development (Human Biology). For these courses, students either observe or participate in our classrooms.
In 2009, Gioia and John Arrillaga and Helen and Peter Bing renovated the beautiful and historic Tower House adjacent to Bing Nursery School for our use. This generous gift provided a classroom for our undergraduate classes and a space to hold talks and lectures. In addition, the Tower House has enabled us to launch the Bing Institute to share our knowledge of child development with Bing parents and other educators.
This summer, Bing School offered a one-day symposium, Play: Vital for Development, for both parents and educators. During the academic year, the school invites educators to lectures in curricular areas such as math and literacy and to panel presentations on guiding young children. In the summer, our Bing Institute provides educators an in-depth examination (ranging from 3- to 5-day programs) into topics in child development. Basic materials, creativity, reflective practice and the importance of play are some of the topics the institute has focused on since its launch in 2010.
Panel discussion at the one-day Play Symposium offered by Bing Nursery School in July. Featured speakers are, from left: Stuart Brown, MD; Joan Almon; Jamshid Ghajar, MD, PhD.
How Bing continues to inspire.
Bing is a community like no other, where children’s social and emotional growth is nurtured and guided by empathetic teachers. They understand the importance of collaboration, perspective-taking, being part of a group and making a friend. The skills children form in these early years will be with them for a lifetime. The guidance of a teacher who offers the young child warmth, acceptance and support in these early years is critical. Bing teachers meet children where they are—as capable and unique, each with their own rhythm and beat.
Bing inspires adults as well as children. Through the Bing Institute, the school has opened a rich dialogue among its own staff, parents and educators from across the country and around the world. And the Stanford undergraduates who take the classes offered at Bing often report that their experience at Bing has been life-changing, opening their eyes to the importance of quality early childhood programs and the impact that a sensitive teacher can have in the life of a child. Many of these students become pediatricians, teachers, public-policy shapers and lawyers, and most will someday have the important role of parent.
Bing is a magical place for children and it shares a prominent place in Stanford’s history as well as in the history of early childhood education. For 48 years, Bing has been dedicated to supporting young children’s early development in a play-based environment. Together with our teachers, parents, undergraduates and researchers, we truly are a community that is caring and committed to young children.