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- The Playing Field School in Madison
opened its doors in 2016.
- Hi, I'm Abbi.
- This week the school opened its doors
to visiting policymakers and educators from Norway.
- Come on in.
They came to see how a nurturing staff guides children
ranging in age from infant to pre-K
in the lessons of trust and caring and emotional connections.
- You want to fix my hair?
- Yeah.
- The school says its model is intentionally built
to promote attachment between child and caregiver
to build resilience.
Many of the children there have trauma in their lives
whether homelessness or being removed from parents.
They play and learn alongside children
from all economic backgrounds.
The methods are good for everyone.
The vice mayor of Oslo described why
Wisconsin is becoming a model for trauma informed care.
- More and more people are actually looking to Wisconsin
and seeing that, oh wow something's happening there and it works.
- We asked The Playing Field's director
whether she's surprised
her preschool is being held out for international attention.
Umm...
- I think it's kind of unexpected that we would
I mean we knew when we started
we wanted to build a model program.
And I know that what we're doing is ahead of the curve
but it's kind of surprising
to get that kind of acknowledgement
and that recognition.
- It's a rainbow.
- So The Playing Field is about bringing people together
that are from really different walks of life.
The Playing Field is about making sure
that all children have access
to a high quality, early education program
and making sure that
that early education program is not segregated
or separated by what families can afford.
So if we have a child that arrives in need of a bath,
they get a bath.
If we have a child that arrives in need of clean clothing,
they get clean clothing.
And if we have a child that arrives
and needs to have their little mind stimulated,
they get their mind stimulated.
Hopefully they're all getting their mind stimulated.
But it really takes seeing each child as an individual
and being willing and able to meet their needs as a person
rather than trying to give everybody the same thing.
Conscious discipline is built on this brain state model
that says, you know my needs for safety are primary.
I have to know that I'm safe.
Once I know I'm safe,
then my next question is, am I loved?
Do you see me? Do you notice me? Do you care about me?
And then from there,
my next question is, what can I learn?
As educators,
traditionally, we wanted every child to show up and say,
"What can I learn today, teacher?"
But the reality is we have lots of kids
who don't know that they are safe.
And so when we look at a kid who has experienced trauma
or is experiencing trauma,
they see the world through trauma glasses.
They see everything as a threat.