News from Traditional Parenting, LLC

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Kindergarten Mourning

Kindergarten-first day of school
Nineteen fifty-eight
Tell me, how'd my child do?
Your child did just great!

She learned to sit at story time
She also learned to share
She learned to pick a word to rhyme
She learned she must play fair.

She picked up toys when play was done
Used scissors, chalk, and glue
Painting was a lot of fun
Look what she made for you!

And now it's noon, and time to go
She'll likely need a rest
Quiet time will help her grow
And make her do her best.

Fast forward to five decades hence,
Senselessness now common sense...

Kindergarten-first day of school
Now, two thousand-eight
Tell me, how'd my grandchild do?
Your grandchild may not rate.

You see, she isn't ready yet
She has a way to go
Her reading goals have not been met
Her math skills are quite low.

She keeps asking when we'll go outside
Did you tell her she would play?
You see, kindergarten's no free ride
As it was back in your day.

And now it's getting on past three
Her homework's in her bag
No time for rest-there's a statewide test-
And we mustn't let her lag.

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     The above poem is the lead-in to my discussion this month of what I like to call "academania," the word I use to describe pressure for premature academics, which has been imposed upon our preschool and kindergarten-aged children for the past decade. The poem contrasts the first day of kindergarten a half century ago with the experiences of contemporary kindergarten students. Even worse than the academic pressures exerted upon our five-year-olds, are the similar pressures exerted upon our preschoolers, who are truly "babies," from a neurological/developmental and psychological perspective.
     I recall my own kindergarten experience more than fifty years ago. I imagine that most people who are over forty years of age might recall an experience similar to mine. Kindergarten was my first academic experience. As was typical in those days, children of stay-at-home moms (the majority back then) remained at home with their parents until they reached age five and were enrolled in kindergarten. Being academic virgins, we were spared the over-stimulation and fatigue that a full-day at school might impose. Kindergarten was a half-day program that began at nine o'clock in the morning and ended at noon. Teachers planned goals for their young students that included learning to play with others, social communication, sitting quietly at story-time, learning nursery rhymes, songs and finger-plays, experimenting with arts and crafts, learning manners and practicing them at play-time and snack-time, increasing physical coordination in active play routines, and stimulating pretend-play. At noon, our mothers arrived to take us home, where many of us napped, and all of us relaxed until the next morning's routine began.
     The scene described above stands in stark contrast to the one that is displayed across contemporary kindergarten classrooms. Children are expected to know not only their ABC song, but also the letter symbols (graphemes) and the sounds they represent (phonemes.) They are expected to be able to rhyme and to sound out many words. They are expected to write letters and short words. They attend full-day programs, many without daily recess, and are assigned homework to occupy their after-school hours.
     Preschools have begun to issue lists of skills that are prerequisite to children's acceptance into their programs. These lists go far beyond just being potty-trained. They include academic and social skills that are often beyond the developmental capacity of average preschool-aged children. Even worse, parents are being brainwashed into believing that, if their children do not attend "a good preschool," they will be forever lagging in academic and social skills. A recent news story told of parents camping out overnight in order to assure that their preschoolers would be admitted to a Tampa, FL area preschool. Another article quoted a preschool administrator as saying that about forty percent of parents on his waiting list registered their children prior to their birth-and, he reported "I had one case where a woman wanted on the list before she ever got pregnant". Among the causes for this preschool frenzy, this article cited "more media attention is given to the need for preschool". A parent quoted in the story stated, "I'm willing to wait for a chance at this program because you can't show up to kindergarten without being in a good preschool." It is as if preschool is to kindergarten what a good preparatory school is to Harvard!
     In my own speech therapy practice, I have witnessed parents under pressure to enroll their three and four-year-old children in full-time preschool programs that are heavy on academic instruction. One parent had been advised that her child would likely be more qualified to secure a "good kindergarten slot", given the accelerated academics of the Pre-K-4 program. Her child often demonstrated attention-fatigue and general tiredness, even during a one-hour speech-treatment session. The stamina and focus required to attend a full-day academic program far exceeded this child's abilities. Her mom stated that she felt pressured by the preschool's administration and by other mothers who implied that, by not enrolling her daughter in the full-time program, she would be depriving her of proper advantage. Pressures and guilt-trips such as these, which are being imposed upon parents, are bad enough; let us also consider the effects upon children. Even the minority of four-year-old children who demonstrate pre-reading and reading skills that seem impressive are often missing the meanings of the words they so aptly decode. Furthermore, they are "burned out" on reading by the time they approach second grade. What I see most frequently among my caseload are children who find reading to be an insufferable chore, rather than the lifelong pleasure that it has remained for those of us who were taught to read when it was developmentally appropriate to do so.

      My book, the ABC's of Childhood-Active Play, Best Educational Practices and Consistent Discipline," researches and discusses electronic media use by children in depth.

For those interested in obtaining a copy of my book, please search by title at http://amazon.com or use the following direct link:
http://www.amazon.com/ABCs-Childhood-Educational-Consistent-Discipline/dp/143828411X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246285093&sr=1-2