Mollie Is Three: Growing Up in School

by Vivian Gussin Paley

"No adult can escape the adult perspective; but simply recognizing its inevitable limitations in a children's world enables a few gifted educators to accept the existence and validity of whole kindergartens full of different perspectives. One such person is Vivian Gussin Paley. . . . Her books. . .should be required reading wherever children are growing."—New York Times Book Review"With a delightful, almost magical touch, Paley shares her observations and insights about three-year-olds. The use of a tape recorder in the classroom gives her a second chance to hear students' thoughts from the doll corner to the playground, and to reflect on the ways in which young children make sense of the experience of school. . . . Paley lets the children speak for themselves, and through their words we reenter the world of the child in all its fantasy and inventiveness."—Harvard Educational Review"Paley's vivid and accurate descriptions depict both spontaneous and recurring incidents and outline increasingly complex interactions among the children. Included in the narrative are questions or ideas to challenge the reader to gain more insight and understanding into the motives and conceptualizations of Mollie and other children."—Karen L. Peterson, Young Children

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Teaching

162 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Vivian Gussin Paley was an American pre-school and kindergarten teacher, early childhood education researcher, and author.

She taught and did most of her research at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. Despite her status in the field today, she has described the first thirteen years of her teaching career as being an "uninspired and uninspiring teacher."

Reviews

[Carolipoli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is now my 6th/7th Vivian Paley book. This one, as with her other work, does away with developmental checklists/milestones that seek to generalize children’s behaviors, instead it endeavors to understand 3 year olds through the lens of their stories and fantasy play. Again, Paley is critical of her role in the classroom and acknowledges that she often gets children’s meaning and intentions wrong. She discovers, through careful listening and transcribing children’s conversations, that children’s stories and fantasy play are so nuanced that often the best people to interpret the meaning of a 3yr old is another 3 yr old. I have to be honest and say that I did not feel as invested in Molly’s journey as I was in the protagonists of Paley’s other books. I also had a hard time finding connection throughout the book, which is very unusual for a Paley read. I do think it has a lot to do with my reflection process and my own difficulty finding connection between Molly and the 3’s in my class. Still a masterclass in careful and intentional listening though.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this years ago, but decided to reread it since we have a three year old in the family. I'm not sure how well Paley's preschool classroom technique of having the children dictate stories and then act them out has held up over the years, but she did uncover a lot of interesting things about how preschoolers think and interact. She recorded their conversations while playing in the various "centers" of a preschool classroom --the doll corner, sand table and blocks, etc. And her classroom, is unexpendently perhaps for such a seasoned teacher, quite wild and unpredictable. There is a lot of monster talk and shifting of friend alliances and the children mix fantasy and reality so that the teacher is never quite sure what they are thinking and believing. The book is thus a little comforting in that the threes in her class all seem to be a little bit nutty!

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like how it's a new way to look at children's play and how it provides a whole new perspective and her opinions of the experience is very interesting to use when interacting with children.

This is a good book to get a better understanding of children and their world of play between their peers.

[Lisa Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

Digging back into the work of Viven Gussen Paley and her work on child development. While times have changed, some of the most essential parts of childhood and being with children have not changed.

[Buffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, Paley brings enlightenment. Through observing without judgment and reflecting, she opens up the process of child development in a way that makes sense - not clinically, but personally.

I read this at completely the right time. It gave me such a new insight into the uses of dramatic play in building social skills. And made me decide that the chum does need 3 mornings of school so he can learn how to negotiate friendship.

[Megan L.ong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book if one is interested in Early Childhood Education and the conversations that occur in a preschool classroom. This book was a required read for a class I was in and I was able to read it in two days, which is a rarity for me. I enjoyed the perspective and learned about the significance of a multi-age group classroom.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

-understand how children learn through dramatic play
-understand how children learn better from each other than they do from adults
-experience the teacher's mistakes, they're not hidden
-experience the intellectual barriers of 3 and 4 year olds as well as sudden leaps of understanding

[Red · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE these books - they're short, lyrical, beautiful, and hold the children with such tender specificity and realness that I recognize them immediately. Vivian Gussin Paley attacks real questions, offers real moral insight, and can actually write. it's a beautiful combination.