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Tutors For Kindergarten Readiness
We’re counting down the days to the first day of kindergarten over here, so I reacted very strongly to this story on MSNBC. And by “reacted strongly,” I mean, “shook my head and said ‘are people frickin’ nuts?’ ”
It’s about parents hiring tutors for their kids to prepare them for kindergarten. Yes, that’s right, kindergarten. The first mom profiled hired her daughter’s preschool teacher to work on her daughter’s reading skills with her during the summer, although every teacher interviewed said kids are not expected to enter kindergarten able to read.
Experts are really concerned about this shift away from play and into academics (and competitiveness) at an earlier and earlier age. A group called the Alliance for Childhood, headed by a former preschool and kindergarten teacher, issued a report earlier this year decrying the shift in kindergartens “from places where love of learning was thoughtfully nurtured into pressure-cooker classrooms…. Kindergarten has ceased to be a garden of delight and has become a place of stress and distress.”
Some of this can be attributed to “No Child Left Behind,” with its relentless emphasis on testing, but more of it is plain old parental competitiveness. As much as parents claim they just want their kids to be on par with everybody else, they’re doing things like redshirting (keeping kids out an extra year) to give them more of a competitive advantage. Interestingly, my daughter was born eight hours after our state cutoff date and we shopped for a school that would look at her and her readiness versus a date on a calendar because we were pretty sure she was ready, and so was her preschool teacher. Instead of being one of the oldest kids in her class, she’ll be the youngest. She’s also the size of a six year old and has had two years of preschool, so I think she’ll be fine. I’ll be in need of a Xanax prescription when she’s 17 and heading off to college (assuming she never repeats a grade), but she’ll be just fine.
This kind of high-pressure environment is not good for kids; retention rates (the amount of kids held back) in kindergarten and first grade are rising. Many countries whose academic prowess we envy, such as China and Japan, take a play-based approach to school until second grade. And even those kids who respond well to the pressure often find themselves bored and unchallenged.
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17 for college commented on Aug 20 09 at 5:08 pmI was 17 for the first few months of college (graduated about 10 years ago, so this was the pretty recent past) and nobody looked askance at me. Sure, maybe a few people asked if I skipped a grade, to which my reply was always that my birthday was near the cutoff, and everyone accepted that as a totally normal thing with no more questions. But times have changed, and I know now that my kids wouldn’t be permitted to start school at the age I did- they’d be in a classroom with kids two years older and twice their size! Amazing how these things change so much in one generation.
Amanda B. commented on Aug 20 09 at 10:22 pmI was a K-12 substitute teacher a few years ago, and it seems like expectations are very high in the early grades, drop by middle school, and drop even more by high school. I think we expect too much from the little ones but no enough of the older kids.
Amanda B. commented on Aug 20 09 at 10:23 pmoops, *not
tripletmom commented on Aug 21 09 at 8:36 amI skipped two grades and started college at 16, way too young, but my parents made go to a local college until I turned 18 so I could live at home, I transfered then and had a blast, um, a regular college experience. My only regrets are all the things I couldn´t do, both in high school and college because I was too young.
Bluster commented on Aug 21 09 at 8:44 amYour accompanying photo tells you how the ‘learn, learn, learn’ attitude affects a child. She seems to have been taught, ‘who cares’, when what she wants is not on the agenda.
Seattle mom commented on Aug 21 09 at 12:46 pmMy daughter was one of the youngest in her kindergarten class, and did just fine DESPITE being unable to read at the beginning of the year. Mid year, she suddenly caught on, and is now reading at a 2nd grade level. I had no idea kids could “get it” so quickly. Which leads me to think, truly, what is the rush here? When all the pieces are in place, it will suddenly “click” for kids and they will read, whether it happens in K or 1st grade.
What annoyed me was seeing children (usually boys) redshirted. If there was some reason to hold them back, I’d understand, but these kids were developmentally ready! One, by the end of preschool, was reading at a 2nd grade level, telling me that he was developmentally ready to begin K at age 5, and now the poor kid would most likely be bored in class. (He had no behavior issues, either–I think his parents just wanted him to be the best/biggest, etc.)
Em commented on Aug 21 09 at 1:26 pmBluster, are you familiar with the concept of stock photography?
Sue commented on Aug 21 09 at 3:11 pmI am not sure what thr per K tutoring hype is all about. WHY? Is my question. My DD is three and she has ;earned her letters and numbers and colors and shapes all from flash cards and learning games on leapster. she loves playing them she loves to interact with us using them and she is ready to go to school. I think pushing kids to study i not the answer they will excel when it is fun to learn and kids are a blank slate they dont have any bad habits and putting them into a rigid tutoring schedule takes the fun out of learning. As manny parents have spoken about this on http://www.truuconfessions.com
Shannon commented on Aug 21 09 at 11:10 pmSo glad we found a school where my kid can go half-days until she’s 6 and a half. The pre-K and K kids are in a 3-year spread single room. So she can do more kindergarteny stuff or not as she chooses for the next two years. If we hadn’t found a school with that kind of option, we’d just be keeping her home until third grade.
jeannesager commented on Aug 23 09 at 10:39 amThe real trouble these kids will have? When they get into kindergarten and are “re-learning” what has been drilled into them, they’re going to be bored stiff. It’s very literally taking the joy out of learning by doing this to your kids. A few years of pre-school is one thing – that teaches not just the basics but provides socialization and an outlet away from mom or dad – and there’s nothing wrong with counting plates out of the dishwasher, singing the ABC song, reading with your kids, etc. But sometimes the bulk of “schooling” should be left to the school.
By the way, Amy, I skipped a grade when I was a kid and went to college young as well (besides being a July baby). It was fine – the worst part was not being able to do a lot of the things my 18-year-old friends could, ie. rent movies (this was pre-Netflix age), go into clubs, etc.
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