ROCK SPRING, GA (WDEF) – The best kindergarten classrooms have an almost magical feel to them, Kara Ledford’s students at Saddle Ridge have seen their room morph into a scene from Swiss Family Robinson complete with a beach and a tree house. Ms. Ledford’s attention to detail and boundless enthusiasm earned her this week’s Golden Apple Award.
“It is such a great start so many of our children’s kindergarten and school career,” Hodge said.
“I am married I have three boys. They are all grown and in college, married. I have one that married. My life has been raising them and being a teacher and helping to share some of the things that I did for them with the kids that are in my school. The social and the emotional aspect of the social and the emotional aspect of the kids is very important to me. I know that they’re gonna learn their, ABC’s, 1-2-3’d, I know they learn that, but I want them to be able to know that failing is part of the process. and the way to succeed is, you might have a few failures but just keep growing. We have a motto. Do you wanna hear a motto? Do you guys wanna tell her our motto? Where as kindergartners… never give up. That’s right,” Kara Ledford, Teacher, Forrest Kindergarten, Saddle Ridge Elementary said.
“My son was able to be in the very first Forrest Kindergarten class. And he is now in seventh grade. And just seen that and how he wasn’t thriving in a normal classroom. He wanted that experience of being a true boy loving bugs, loving to be outside, loving the dirt, loving trees, watching him, grow and learn and be able to do things that I didn’t think he’ll be able to do in kindergarten was amazing,” atie Kinlow, Para Pro, Saddle Ridge Elementary School said.
“I love kids. I think that they need to be children and get to use their imagination and just to be able to… be kids,” Ledford says.
Ledford continues, “We started a program eight years ago. It is a fourth kindergarten where we also take him outside. We have slack lines and zip lines, mud kitchen, we play in the mud, no matter the whether we go outside. If it’s raining, we’re playing in the mud.”
“When I was getting my masters, one of the classes that I had taken gave me inside as to why certain things worked for them, and why it works for all kids. And I just wanted all the children to be able to have an opportunity to experience some of those things. Imagination is so important and with certain technological pains, we don’t get to use it as much. So I’m trying to let them be kids and use their imagination and climb trees, and play in mud. We just get to be there. They use their imagination out there. And we have the best time, out in the forest, Ledford said.
