Writing Our Way to the Post Office: Exploring the Roles of Community Workers with

Four-Year Olds

Davey, L. D. & Elijah, R. (2015). Writing Our Way to the Post Office: Exploring the Roles
of Community Workers with Four-Year Olds. ​Social Studies and the Young Learner, ​28
(1) pp.4-7.

The article, ​Writing Our Way to the Post Office: Exploring the Roles of

Community Workers With Four-Year Olds​, by Linda D. Davey and Rosebud

Elijah feels incredibly relevant in the work of nurturing the development of young

children to becoming engaged participants in their communities (Sawtschuk, p.

26).

The unit sets goals of helping students explore the jobs of people

employed by the post office, to help students understand the role of the

customer, and to help students learn to consider the impact of this work on their

everyday lives. In a larger sense, this unit helps foster understanding of human

interconnectedness, and the responsibilities and privileges that result in

interdependence within community (Sawtschuk, p. 26). I appreciated this article’s

emphasis on developing executive functioning, fine motor skills, social skills,

language and literacy, through authentic social interaction. Students have the

opportunity to explore abstract concepts like communication and addresses,

through authentic experience, like writing letters and cards to their friends and

families for Valentines day (Sawtschuk, p. 26).

I appreciated the authentic experience facilitated by the teachers, that

gave students a reason to write, and cooperate for a purpose that benefitted all.
This was not simply a project designed by teachers to meet learning outcomes,

they created a centre grounded in the curriculum with a focus on social-emotional

skills, intended to act like building blocks onto previously learned skills, and to

support further growth. As a result of reading this article, I would incorporate the

purposeful creation of authentic experience in my classroom, making meaning

from curriculum outcomes that feel relevant to students’ lives outside of school. I

would also be mindful to connect with students’ families through their child's’

learning. The teacher in this article explained that through the classroom’s post

office, parents would send their children letters, and students would send their

families mail. Involving students’ community outside of school with their

community within the school, enriches their learning. With an investment from

their families in the work they are doing in school, they know their school work is

meaningful. A project like the creation of a classroom post office combines the

development of multiple skill sets, through experiential learning relevant to their

lives outside of school. This article makes clear that schools should reflect a

community of citizens working together, which the post office project embodies

(Sawtschuk, p. 27).