I’m continuing the conversation from last week by addressing some of the comments and feedback from people—some really good questions have been raised.
I like the theory except that for children who are reading already in Kindergarten (as my oldest was and my youngest at 4 is on the cusp!), what will they be doing while the others "catch up"? This is one of the biggest debates at our school, which is a relatively high SES. The parents of slower kids want the teachers to slow down. What that means for my son....BOREDOM.
Posted by: Michelle | January 13, 2011 at 01:07 AM
This is definitely a concern—and highlights the fact that the “achievement gap” is already in place before Kindergarten. That said, I think that as long as books, drawing supplies, paper and pencil and quality, developmentally appropriate toys are available the kids that are ready for reading and writing will continue to grow and advance. In a way I think what I envision is a little more of the Montessori model of the children choosing what they want to do. A bright reader will read and read and read and copy words and move on to writing sentences and stories using invented spelling because it is FUN for them.
I think that is what Head Start is for, and it is available to anyone who needs it. The kids in the Head Start program I taught at were thrilled to be read to, one on one, or otherwise. They were thrilled for any attention.
From what I've seen in high SES, asking those parents children NOT to be taught to read in kindergarten would be an outrage. I'm all for helping those in low SES, but not by "dumbing down" those in high SES. It is like the new mentality of never having a winner, or offering incentives, because "it promotes unnecessary competition". The real world is about competition. What is wrong with rewarding kids for doing good work, and making the others want to do better?
Posted by: Jenrantsraves | January 13, 2011 at 08:29 AM
Jen posted later about the realities of funding cuts to Head Start. In 2005 there were 21.4 million children ages 0-5 in the United States; approximately 18% of all children live in poverty. Head Start serviced 905,00 during that time. I am a product of Head Start—back in its earliest days, and a huge believer in the program (and others like it). The numbers do show we’re only helping a very small portion of the population that needs these programs.
As to “dumbing down,” I hear your point, but as you see from my response to the first comment I just don’t think you can really hold a bright kid back in Kindergarten. On the competition thing? Sing it, sister! I totally agree (and I’m going to post next week about older kids and realistic feedback).
Forgive me for saying so, I've spent a great deal of time in Kindergarten classrooms in the last 2-3 years and I don't see the "pressure" that is being described. Yes, the standards have been adjusted with the expectation that kids are reading by the end of the year. All but one child in my son's class reached that level of proficiency. Kids are capable of reading at this age (and earlier!). So instead of spending as much time having snack and a nap (which was part of my Kindergarten day), kids are spending more time on educational concepts. This wouldn't be such a detriment if kids played more on their own time. What's wrong with socialization and play time after school. In our district, Kindergarten is half-day which leaves plenty of time for little ones to explore their own interests, play with friends, etc. One of the main problems as I see it is that kids these days are scheduled so that this opportunity is eliminated. When you've got extracurricular activities that take up your after-school time at the age of 5, something is drastically wrong. Kids are wound too tight and under too much pressure not because the standards in Kindergarten have been altered, but because parents have set standards on their kids that can't be attained. My son, and others in his class, were all capable and learned to read by the end of the year. My son also came home and built with legos, read books of his choice, played outside with his friends, kicked a soccer ball with his Dad...you get the picture. We weren't spending that free time shuttling him from soccer to piano, to Kumon...
Something to think about.
Posted by: Michelle | January 17, 2011 at 12:14 AM
Michelle—I probably felt a lot like you do when my kids were young. That was before I got out there and spent some time in schools that were so completely unlike what I was used to. Believe me, the kids I’m talking about that are being pressured and turned off to reading by the regimen of Kindergarten are not the kids you’re seeing. And they’re not being shuttled from one activity to the next—they’re being plunked down in front of a TV under the care of an older sibling; and they’re not playing outside because it’s just not safe to be out in their neighborhood.
In an ideal world we’d be addressing the underlying social problems, but I’m just bouncing around ideas that might be things that could actually be implemented in today’s economic and political climate.
I’m loving the conversation and all the ideas—give me more!