Yardsticks by Chip Wood

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?"  Attributed to Satchel Paige

I read the third edition of Yardsticks by Chip Wood this past summer.  The book was recommended to me by two colleagues in another district.  For each age, from four to fourteen years, Wood gives a deep account of the emerging capabilities of children and their very, very different ways of learning.  He recognizes that not all children at every age are the same while providing guideposts that help teachers choose developmentally appropriate activities and tasks.

I teach first grade so I was very interested in his take on being six.  I knew he knew what he was talking about after I read, "In many ways (six) is a key moment, a turning point, an open door.  At six, the child is extremely receptive to new learning.  The eagerness, curiosity, imagination, drive, and enthusiasm of the six-year-old are perhaps never again matched in quantity or intensity during the life span."  I have never read a more accurate description of a six year old.

In a nutshell, Wood offers year by year narratives and charts that clearly depict typical developmental characteristics of children across developmental domains and numerous content areas.  These Yardsticks (or developmental characteristics) are indicators that help teachers and parents understand childrens' growth and plan activities that are developmentally appropriate. 

I am writing this post today because of an email I received from my principal in which she asked if we taught anything related to other cultures.  Because I had read Yardsticks this summer, I knew that a developmentally appropriate unit for six year olds could be built around, "cultural, racial, language, and other differences among people," because developmentally, six year olds are very interested in these topics.  Yardsticks is a wonderful resource for all educators and parents. . .I'm pretty sure other professionals agree because it is currently in its third edition.

"But now I am six, I'm clever as clever. So I think I'll be six forever and ever."  A. A. Milne

"On a bicycle I traveled over the known world's edge, and the ground held.  I was seven."
An American Childhood by Annie Dillard