<p>MSNBC/Newsweek has this article on how children and their families struggle to measure up in hyper-competitive kindergarten classes:</p>
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I can’t say I’m surprised by stories like this but I think pressuring 5-year-olds is ridiculous.</p>
<p>When I went to K in the dark ages… we sang, listened to stories, took naps, finger painted, ate paste, and grew sweet peas. Now, kids need tutors!!!</p>
<p>I’d really like to know how all of this pressure is supposed to benefit children. For me, the most stimulating times of my life for learning have been things I chose to do with my free time: hobbies, books, exploring new areas that I haven’t yet learned about. All the overachieving does, in my opinion, is thrust people into structured environments from which they can’t pursue their interests, or devote large quantities of time to specific activities.</p>
<p>Possibly I’m abnormal, but when I start doing something, I tend to become completely engrossed in it, spend lots of time with it, and then when I feel I’ve learned as much as I want to about it, I move on to another activity.</p>
<p>When I was a child these topics were centered around animals, technology, and history for the most part. I’d read as much as I could about rockets, the Romans, or dogs; then, move onto computers, Greeks, or trains. I feel that I made much better use of my time as a child than I do now. In school I “learned about important” things, like math, science, language, and history. Then when I got home, I could actually start learning about important things. The books I read, and the knowledge I obtained in elementary school concerning history has been allowing me to pull easy A’s in every history class, AP and IB included. The same can be said for science when it comes to zoology; I read so much as a child, I’ve never been challenged.</p>
<p>If I had been in a very structured environment as a kindergartener, when I was exploring my interests in tag, building block castles, and hide-and-seek, it’s likely I would be an extremely depressed and anxiety-ridden person. </p>
<p>Unlike some of my “gifted” classmates, I didn’t learn to read at home, so in first grade when we all learned to read books, I was “behind” by some gifted standards. Yet I picked it up quick, tested into the gifted program (which begins in 3rd grade), and have been an avid reader ever since. Would learning how to read earlier have been useful? I really doubt it matters.</p>
<p>Then there’s writing essays in kindergarten! Who ever came up with that idea? Kindergarten is for learning the alphabet, basic math, socializing, and making friends. I’m afraid to see what schools will be like when I have kids, luckily there’s always homeschooling…</p>
<p>If they’re doing all this “academic” stuff in kindergarten, indeed, WHEN & WHERE will the socialization crucial for our society and relating to one another take place? This is a further extension of what we saw a little of when my kids were in preschool. The school I sent my kids to was play based–kids learned colors, how to get along, dress up, listened to & acted out stories, & how to work in a group. My S taught himself to read before pre-school & my D started reading in the middle of 1st grade; both are gifted, avid readers & enjoyed & benefitted greatly from the time to pursue their own interests. S loved dinosaurs, machines, science, animals etc., D loved art, science, creative writing & how people think & feel.<br>
We will indeed have a great deal of burnout if this increasingly early academic testing trend continues. It will make kids fearful, dislike school & accomplish a lot of negatives but I don’t see much in the way of positives (except for the testing companies). <sigh></sigh></p>
<p>Amen! I am a preschool teacher. Today is our first day of school. At our Open House last week, a mother asked me if I would be teaching ABC’s in our class so they would know them by the end of the year…Her daughter is 2 years old!!! I told her that preschoolers learn through play and at age 2 are really not ready for formal instruction. Parents seem to be so afraid that someone else’s child will have an advantage over theirs.</p>
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Thank No Child Left Behind legislation. Yes, essays in kindergarten are real and are here to stay. More’s the pity. They’re entirely inappropriate for age.</p>
<p>essays, kindergarden exscuse me am i reading that right? when i went to k grade(what i call it) In the morning i was in a inclusion class(Im a sped and im proud of it!) and we did work…but nothing stressfull we played to a lot…it was fun i still knew some of the kids from that class of kids(not friends really I picked up new friends when a new batch of girls and a few guys came from the local catholic school which was hated in 6th grade) when i left at the end of freshman yr for another school i also was in a special ed class in the afternoon where everyone was a sped…and we played pretty much thats all</p>
<p>I think it’s really sad to see what they are doing to little kids. A kindergartener should not be feeling like a failure because she can’t write an essay! I shudder to think of what might have become of my younger son had he attended a school such as that. He didn’t learn to read until third grade; however, he tested above grade level by the end of third grade. He just wasn’t ready to read before then. But he was still able to learn a ton through hands-on activities, nature walks, arts and crafts, etc. These academic schools would not appear to offer that opportunity.</p>
<p>And yes, BusinessGuy, homeschooling is certainly a great option–worked for my two!</p>
<p>When I was in K the teacher was glad if nobody ate the paste or fingerpaints. They read stories to us but most of the rest was organized play and socialization. Learning to take direction and stay on a schedule etc. I don’t recall any stress except over being punished for acting up which basically meant a timeout in today’s terms but back then it was being sent away to sit alone behind the piano for a few minutes.</p>
<p>That is incredibly sad that a 5 year old is made to feel like a failure because she can’t read a 130 word list! Good grief.</p>
<p>I want to go to jlauer’s kindergarten!</p>
<p>I think part of the push toward academic kindergartens is the fact that many kids have spent two or three years in preschool/nursery school. In my day (and also apparently in jlauer’s day!) kindergarten was usually the first experience outside of the home. </p>
<p>Even if today’s kids went to daycare since they were six weeks old, that doesn’t mean they are developmentally ready for formal academics at age five! We have an academic kindergarten program in our district and are adjacent to a community with a developmental kindergarten program. Guess what? Absolutely no difference in overall achievement. So why rush the kids?</p>
<p>Not only is this pathetic, it’s likely to backfire. I also attended kindergarten like Jlauer’s. I look back and think it’s a little funny that we did all that playing and still had time for naps in a 2 1/2 hour class! I feel very strongly about letting children blossom at their own pace, and made sure my kids attended play-oriented pre-schools and developmentally appropriate kindergarten.</p>
<p>A few years ago, I took some classes in early childhood education. What I remember most clearly is the statement that the most authentic education and learning was taking place at the preschool and kindergarten level. A lot of research has looked at how young children learn and here’s the magic – they learn through play!!! (As I’m sure all of us moms know) If parents or preschool teachers misguidedly focus on inappropriate academic content, you don’t know what important thing the child is not learning at that time. If they are doing flashcards, they’re not playing with sand or water, and understanding the relationships between quantities, how they flow etc. </p>
<p>So I’m sure the schools are getting pressure from parents and others who focus on testing, and that’s why they structure the classroom this way. If this was my only choice of kindergarten for my kids, I’d homeschool.</p>
<p>As a homeschooling mom, I was constantly reading about education when my kids were young. I remember reading (can’t remember who said it, so I can’t give proper credit) that the important thing in the early years of education was to have lots of experiences in life–seeing new things, hearing new things, touching and smelling and tasting new things, being generally involved in the world around you. Then when you got older, it is time for more formal instruction. And the early experiences will act as “hooks to hang your learning on.” They will enable a child to really understand the things he or she reads later on, and will give that child something to write about, when the time comes for formal writing. A child rushed too soon into formal learning, at the expense of experiential learning, may be able to regurgitate the information, but may lack a real understanding of that learning.</p>
<p>In addition, if a child is burnt out in kindergarten, what happens to the love of learning? Will education become, way too soon, something you do because you have to and that you forget about once you are no longer forced to do it? What a sad prospect!</p>
<p>I just remembered a study I read about at one time. Two kindergartens were set up. In one, the kids did lots of hands-on stuff–science experiments and craft projects. In the other they were taught to read and spent time on phonics and such instead. Predictably, at the end of the year, those in the reading-oriented kindergarten were reading better than those in the science kindergarten. However, when they checked back with these kids later (I think it was around 3rd-5th grade), those in the science kindergarten were the better readers.</p>
<p>The half-day vs. full-day kindergarten gets a regular workout around here. Although I no longer have any stake in the argument, I think a half-day is plenty for a five year old. I wonder if parents in favor of full-day kindergarten think there is really a big advantage or if it is just a free daycare solution. My kids and I have fond memories of baking cookies, doing crafts, grocery shopping, going to concerts, visiting various museums, touring a farm, feeding the ducks, pretending, etc. That hands on experience cannot be duplicated at a desk.</p>
<p>I actually think what Susan describes is true through at least the entirity of elementary school. I am removing my daughter from public elementary school, in favor of a more experientially based private school, precisely because I think that she was already becoming burnt out on school and losing her love of learning…at age 10.</p>
<p>There is no reason to rush children like this. They aren’t even developmentally ready for such tasks.</p>
<p>Update…the child whose mother asked me if I would be teaching letter recognition to the 2 year olds did not show up for the first day of preschool. I was told her mother decided to withdraw her. On another front, I was given the paperwork yesterday to hand out to parents of my 3 year old class regarding signing them up for computer class once a week!</p>
<p>I hope the 2-year-old’s mother finds the right school for her child - and the right psychiatrist since someday her child may need one. Hang in there, PackMom.</p>
<p>My older daughter taught herself to read at three
no flashcards at all- the only thing I did, and only because she seemed interested was to run my finger along the words as I read to her ( it also helped me keep my place)
The public kindergarten seemed fine- except that when the teacher found out she could read she suggested somewhere else.
So I found a 5s co-op program ( she had already been in childcare for about 4-5 hours a day- a kindergarten program that was half that time- would have not really been what we were looking for)- that was about 4 hours a day & had lots of hands on stuff, especially science. No desks
( in fact I don’t think she had a desk till she was in middle school- in elementary they had bins)
I have met parents who are really concerned with “academics” though.
While I really was happy with her elementary school- although I admit they required testing ( which she already had taken as part of her medical care), it was very low key, and experiential.
I was a little shocked when personal computers started to become popular , her elementary class had a black and white classic that was in the loft and ran kidpix and <Boregon trail- but the * preschool* were going to get upgraded to color computers with sounds besides the beep.( some of those old games were the best- I recently found 3in3 now I am trying to get Loom to run)
Of course the people on the board who were most hyper aware that their kids were “gifted” ( always with the quote marks) , had kids in the preschool.</p>
<p>Now I really like computers , and they helped especially my youngest a great deal. She could play a game on the computer and could accept that she made a mistake, and try again, but in class she would withdraw & hide under the table.
I think she is not typical though, and she also had a great deal of time doing things besides the computer- as I am sure the 3 yr old would to, but it does seem a little strange to have a class for 3 year olds</p>
<p>Oregon Trail!</p>
<p>I remember that. I used to volunteer at lunchtime in the computer room of my kids’ elementary school, about ten years ago. The kids LOVED Oregon Trail. They would enter the names of teachers they disliked as the members of their party. Then they would make really, really bad decisions. Then they would watch those names pop up in contexts like “Ms. Smith has died of dysentery.” Great fun, if you’re in the third grade.</p>
<p>The Washington Post had an article about a school that runs a “kindergarten boot camp” during the last days of summer so that kids can learn the school routines and be “ready” for the first day of kindergarten. Good grief! Isn’t learning how to function in a school environment what all of kindergarten is supposed to be about? <a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/10/AR2006081001638.html[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/10/AR2006081001638.html</a></p>
<p>Thanks DRJ4. It can be really difficult to make all the parents happy when you have a wide range of abilities in the same classroom even at 2 and 3 years old.
Our computer program will not be taught by the teachers at our center. It is run by a business called Computer Tots that goes around to preschools and daycare centers and pulls the kids out of their normal class once a week for a 30 minute computer “lesson”. It cost an extra $40 a month on top of tuition. It will be interesting to see how many sign up for it.</p>