<p>"I recall stickers being VERY popular as rewards. "</p>
<p>Yes they are, and she uses them a great deal too. 
Whatever works for the kid. </p>
<p>Education has changed in the last few years. More and more restrictions on time and content come about. That one on one contact time you wrote about is quickly dissapearing. You’ve probably done many things the same way. Chances are you aren’t doing them under NCLB. Basically, if it isn’t going to be on the test, you aren’t given time for it. She really laments about the loss of 1 to1 time with kids compared to the past. </p>
<p>She taught multi-age for the last 11 years until a few years ago. The 2-3 and 4-5 classes were disolved as they aren’t part of the NCLB matrix the district had planned. Regardless if the results for the kids were better. It was different. Different is being pushed out these days in education.</p>