A roomful of preschoolers, play items and teaching equipment is often deafening chaos, but this one is not. There`s plenty of excitement, but the children`s eyes express it much more than their mouths. There is no weighty sense of applied discipline, but there is order as they create handmade paper, learn their letters or the principle of a pulley or a new word. And there`s a feeling of fun.
The place? The Black Walnut School, a private school operated by L. Allan and Diane Balkwill in their Naperville home.
The Balkwills` own son, Joey, 4, is one of the pupils.
”We`re at maximum capacity now with 12 children, ages 2 to 5,” said Diane. ”We`re like a family. Joey loves it. He`s disappointed when it`s Saturday.”
The school is an early childhood education center licensed by the state, and a member of the Association for Child Development. Up to that point, things are pretty much like many other preschool facilities. Beyond that point, the similarities end dramatically. The long, plastic-covered table, the colorful decorations, the quiet suburban setting belie the fact that this is a staging area for revolution.
For starters, the dedicated husband-wife team far surpasses the usual qualifications of educators at almost any level. In the world of business, the Balkwills would be a high-tech power couple. He has 20 years of experience, is a former member of the board of education and school principal in his native Canada. Among other degrees, he has a master`s in education from Northern Illinois University, specializing in outdoor education, and a Visual Arts Specialist Certificate, Province of Ontario Ministry of Education.
Diane Lang Balkwill received a doctorate from Northern Illinois University in curriculum and instruction after acquiring other degrees in education and languages from the Sorbonne in Paris and North Central College in Naperville. She and Allan, known as ”Balk,” even to the kids, have both taught in public schools. They met at NIU.
Usually, such training and experience closely associate with the security of tenure, fringe benefits, a complete insurance package, three-month summer vacations and a certain academic mind set. The Balkwills gave that all up.
Another important difference: ”The male role model in pre-school education,” said Peggy Meyer, a dentist and mother of 4-year-old Jeff who attends Black Walnut. ”Balk knows what boys are interested in and how to hold their attention. He and Diane provide a nice homey atmosphere but with a wide variety of experiences. And they keep the different ages together so they can get to know each other.
”I also like their emphasis on painting, drawing, printing and creativity. My husband and I, (Jeff Meyer, a research chemist at Amoco) have a love for art. Now (young) Jeff talks about becoming an artist and a scientist. I framed the beautiful batik he made at school. It`s done on cloth with wax and colors.”
The Balkwills believe that self-expression through art leads to verbalization and language development. Cooking is another subject full of multiple benefits such as reading the recipe, manual dexterity, mixing of ingredients and the application of heat. If nothing else, these young bachelors of the future will know their way around a kitchen.
When it`s time to sing the getting-to-know-the-animals song accompanied by a video, the children select rhythm instruments from a box. Victoria Crawford`s favorite is a red maraca, which she shakes in time with the lively melody.
Her mother, Tina Crawford, who works at Bechtel Engineering, heard about the center through a friend. ”Other places I checked out were so clinical,” she said. ”The Balkwills provide a loving, supportive atmosphere. Victoria`s an only child, so the social interaction is an important part of the learning, too.”
The learning is mutual and ongoing. While the kids` attention is on the latest stimulus, the Balkwills are studying them. ”We want to know what time of day the kids are most receptive (between 7:30 and 10:30 a.m., they`ve found) and what needs are not being met,” said Diane.
”My son (Timothy, 5) is the oldest in the Balkwills` program,” said Janet Keeting, a science teacher at Waubonsie Valley High School. ”When we moved here from California, Tim was a blank slate. After a year with Diane and Balk, there`s such a difference in the way he thinks. He even hypothesizes now.
”One of the things they do in school is show pictures of famous people, and the kids learn to recognize them, their names and what they were famous for. One day, I took Tim shopping, and we passed a copy of the `Mona Lisa` in a mall window. I pointed it out and informed him it was painted by Rembrandt. He very quickly told me, no, it was by Leonardo da Vinci.
”I`m so happy we found the Balkwills,” continued Keeting. ”I was fed up with the lack of attention I`d seen in other places. I didn`t care what it cost, I was looking for quality in pre-kindergarten schooling. I can`t say enough about Diane and Balk.”
The Balkwills selected their home with the school in mind. Set in a wooded half-acre, the site affords plenty of flora and fauna to promote interest in nature.
”The children have learned to identify both male and female calls of all our local birds,” Balk said, smiling. There are also rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, occasional deer and lots of cooperative plants.
Indoors, the 1,000 square feet of space reserved for the school is divided into two areas: the craft room and the play room. Balk, 45, designs and builds many of the exhibits and furnishings himself, items having dual roles and incorporating both amusement and learning potential.
Some of the favorite beds for quiet time (1 to 3 p.m. daily) are designed as a car, a boat, a castle and so on. If there`s a fuss about who naps where or uses what, the contenders are urged to hold a peace conference and work it out for themselves. Then they hang their magnetized name tags on a wall panel designating the agreed-on arrangements.
Gary Elmen, principal at Waubonsie Valley High School, whose youngest daughter, Brittany, 5, attends Black Walnut, called it: ”A very unique little niche, not what you`ll find at franchised child-care centers or pre-kindergarten schools, most of which are merely glorified babysitting. It costs more, but my wife (Beth, who is a teacher) and I feel we`re getting what we pay for.
(Fees at Black Walnut school, which currently has a full enrollment, are $29 for a half day (7 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and $35 for a full day (7 a.m. to 5 p.m.). By comparison, Carmel Montessori Academy & Children`s House in Warrenville charges different rates for different ages, with a minimum yearly rate of $3,300 for four hours per day, four days a week. Children`s World Learning Centers, which has 36 locations in the Chicago area, all with different rates, averages $100 a week for 3- to 5-year-olds attending full days and $70 for half days.))
”Parents are accustomed to the answer `Oh, nothing,` when they ask their children what they did in school any given day. Brittany brings home a list of activities and curriculum, keeping us involved and abreast of what she`s doing each day.”
Lessons are planned six weeks ahead. All the parents mention the resume sheets and illustrated ”Ask Me” cards as one of the things they like best about the Balkwills` approach. The Balkwills welcome the feedback the data generates.
After parents look over the daily topics, they can ask the child specific questions. ”The discussion reinforces the learning process for the child, and the parents are participating in it,” said Diane.
”The new American school we advocate and eventually hope to help establish looks very different from schools as we know them now. Public schools offer little more than custodial care. I`ve seen too many of them where the children are sitting there doing nothing, learning nothing. We believe that schools should serve no more than 20 to 30 students under the age of 13. The students and two teachers would remain together during the entire elementary school experience. The kids wouldn`t be separated by age but would grow together as a heterogeneous group, establishing strong relationships with peers, adults and children of different ages.”
The Balkwills believe the whole overweight, politically controlled body of public education should be reduced and reformed and that America needs to raise its expectations of its children. Accountability is paramount, from students and from teachers. ”Children can`t get lost in the shuffle in such small groups. And teachers are accountable to the greatest extent possible,” said Diane.
”The logical location for many of these autonomous schools is in homes, run as small businesses,” said Diane, 34. ”Educational vouchers would help parents offset tuition costs. The schools would be accountable to the government for the standardized achievement test scores.”
It will be interesting to see how children like Adam Lake do on their first tests. Adam, still the youngest of the Balkwills` group, started at 6 weeks of age when they began the school in 1990.
”I saw their ad when I was 6 months pregnant, before they opened,” said Adam`s mother, Trish Lake. ”I found them very attuned to working parents. Adam is part of the circle even if he can`t participate. Even the reading circle. He`s not excluded from anything.
”I really like the stimulation he gets from artwork. They guide his hand and he does what the other kids do: They cut and paste, do roller printing, ink stamps, work with crayons, pastels and fingerpaint. The experience of texture and feel is important,” said Lake, an occupational therapist at Paulson Center, Hinsdale Hospital.
Susan Baltrus, Tyler`s mother, said that Tyler knew only a few words when they started him in the school late last January. ”Now he`s speaking in full sentences. We got a bonus, too. He was in diapers back then. In a week, they had him potty trained. I couldn`t believe it. Now, barely 2, he`s fully trained. Not only that but he`s gained 6 pounds the last couple of months on their good, nutritious food.”
All the parents stressed how carefully they checked out the various people and places they considered entrusting with their children.
Teaching is what the Balkwills are all about, although some of their theories are considered radical. They believe the years before 5 are the most important and at the same time the most neglected and misunderstood. They adamantly believe that during this period of rapid brain growth, a child`s learning capabilities are at their peak, and their potentials are not being fulfilled by today`s schools.
”This is when children develop their life-long attitudes about learning,” said Diane. ”They should be in a learning environment by their second or third year.
”Research tells us the three-month summer vacation is detrimental to learning, leads to boredom and poses problems for children and parents. So we continue year-round with a week off at Christmas and a week off in summer.”
”A child is like a sponge,” said Balk. ”We give them all they can soak up, from art to language to science. We do a science experiment every day. I just set it up and begin. Pretty soon, they all come over and say, `What`cha doin, Balk?”`
”These are not all bright kids,” said Diane. ”Some are slow. They learn at their own pace. But what`s here for them to learn is carefully selected. In public schools, the first thing they learn is how to swear.”
As one child played with his letters in the outdoor sandbox, Balk saw him assemble the ”f,” the ”u” and reach for the last two letters. He walked over and quietly said, ”Uh-unh, buddy, we don`t write that here.” It never happened again.
Whether it`s unacceptable expressions, incorrect grammar, bad manners or disobedience, errors are never ignored but dealt with in a gently constructive way. The parents are quick to mention their appreciation of etiquette, hygiene and safety rules that are taught as well.
Not everyone agrees with the concept of early learning. Thomas Deering, associate professor of education at North Central College in Naperville, said, ”I`m not taken with the idea of taking children out of the home so young. If it`s absolutely necessary, a baby-sitting environment is healthier than a school environment. I think we put kids in school too early rather than too late as it is. And we usually put them there for adult convenience-because parents are working or want to be elsewhere.
”We shouldn`t assume that if a child can learn, he`s ready to learn. There are dangers inherent in too-early education. I`m a critic of the public school system but I don`t know of anything better.”
Madeleine Van Hecke, professor of psychology at North Central College, voices concern about intellectual competitiveness at such an early age. She feels that keeping children in a limited, family-type unit is ideal in many ways but she also believes it`s important for children to have peers.
”I`m not so sure how good it would be to be the only 3-year-old or the only 5-year-old in such a group. I also have concerns for the prospects of children going through eight or more years together, then trying to adjust to public high school. Something similar was tried in Great Britain and it was disastrous for some students.”
Van Hecke does believe that small classes like the Balkwills` that promote students caring for each other are conducive to learning and social enrichment.
Dr. Richard Kamm, retired superintendent of High School District 94 in western Du Page County, has visited the Balkwills when school was in session. ”I asked specifically about the issue of children who aren`t ready to learn,” he said. ”And Diane and Allan assured me they are not in the business of forcing children to learn. Their emphasis on fun defuses any argument of children pressured into learning too soon. I didn`t get any feeling that any of them are being pushed,” said Kamm, now Director of Educational Initiative for Ball Foundation in Glen Ellyn.
Three days a week last summer, Heidi Guedelhoefer, an art and music major at the University of Michigan, was part of the school staff. She is also studying educational psychology. She works with the children outdoors, which often includes field trips and hand-guided rides on her pony.
”The pony is a very gentle pinto,” said Guedelhoefer. ”She responds to verbal commands. She`s 20 years old, a year older than I am. The children get to pet her and brush her, too. City kids really like that.”
Some of the children arrive at 7 a.m. and stay until 5 p.m. How does the Balkwill family weather working so close all day, all week?
”They`re as chipper when we pick up Tyler as when we brought him,” said Bob Baltrus. ”Tyler is, too.”
Diane admits they`re exhausted when the last child leaves. And there is still planning to do and curriculum to write. But they`re doing what they love, staying so busy there`s no overdose of togetherness. ”In fact, we can`t wait to compare notes and say, `Did you see Josh do so and so` or `Did you hear what Rachael said?` Sometimes it`s like a situation comedy. And Joey thrives on it.”
It doesn`t even bother Allan when somebody says, ”When are you gonna get a job, Balk?”
