Kindergartens and "developmentally appropriate practice"
I'm working on an essay about how kindergartens have changed over the years and I'd love to get your thoughts on good sources for more information, as well as any anecdotes you'd like to share. I'm in search of national statistics or nationally representative observations of what teachers are expected to teach in kindergarten, what their classroom time looks like, how their routines have changed, etc. The Alliance for Childhood report, "The Crisis in the Kindergarten," is on my desk as is the NAEYC's position statement and books by Singer, Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff. Any other places I should be focusing my attention? Any words of wisdom as I proceed? Thanks for your help! -Lisa
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rae Pica on -
Lisa, those are all wonderful resources, particularly the Alliance for Childhood report. I interviewed Joan Almon last week on the topic of scripted kindergartens. A frightening concept! Seems too bizarre to even consider; yet it's becoming more prominent.
Another possible resource is All Work and No Play: How Educational Reforms Are Harming Our Preschoolers, a collection of essays edited by Sharna Olfman. I found it to be quite good.
I will send your request out to everybody in the Educators and Child Development Experts groups and see if we can get you some answers!
By the way, you should really join all of the groups from which you'd like to glean info and insights!
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Permalink Reply by Brenda Nixon on -
Hi Lisa - as a professional speaker on parenting, I'm often invited to preschools to speak about kindergarten readiness. One thing I've noticed is the push-down effect; what kindergarteners used to have to know is now required in preschool.
In Ohio (where I live) there is a minimal standard of skills preschoolers must have before entering kindergarten. And one kindergarten teacher I recently spoke with said her students must read and by the second half of the year they are already reading chapter books.
However, with emphasis on academics the area in deficit is social development. Most preschool and kindergarten teachers I speak with say that children are entering kindergarten socially unprepared. Some of those skills include:
ability to follow two-part directions,
play in groups and follow rules,
dress oneself,
accept the teacher's authority,
separate from the parent (and at home sleep alone in bed all night),
perform self-care tasks such as teeth-brushing,
say "thank you" without reminders,
stand in line,
share and take turns.
Hope some of these thoughts help you in your essay. In THE BIRTH TO FIVE BOOK: Confident Childrearing Right from the Start, there's an enlightening chapter, "Is My Child Ready for Kindergarten?" which lists many of the social, cognitive, motor and language skills kids today need for a successful start in kindergarten. You can order that book here on the BAM page.
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Permalink Reply by Rae Pica on
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Lisa, you can hear my interview with Brenda, "Being a Confident Parent" on BAM Radio.
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Permalink Reply by Simon Wiltshire on -
I've recently taken on the role of co-chair of a Kindergarten Ready initiative for our local chamber of commerce here in the western metro of Minneapolis St. Paul. Although I'm not well versed in the technicalities and the research, we are getting contributions from a number of organizations in the state and beyond that have done a lot of research in this area. Brenda's comments below are bang on....we are pushing requirements down to pre-school. The statistic we are working with is that 50% of Kindergartners are unprepared for it. Now, the common wisdom is that that is a combination of all kinds of factors, not the least of which is, as Brenda says, pushing higher expectations to a lower age. But I also believe a lot of it comes from the availability and effectiveness of quality pre-school. I think this easily becomes a political football and can be dropped into various politically sensitive buckets related to everything from socio-economic status to immigration and so on. But we're talking 50% here! And studies have proven that - regardless of a student's family background - access to quality pre-school is the number one factor in determining K-readiness and their subsequent success. I think I heard that the most reliable statistic for at least one of the states on how many prisons to build in the future is the level of third grade reading. Think about that for a second! We all know that - up to third grade we learn to read, then after that we read to learn. So I think these kinds of stats tend to push those academic expectations down into the pre-K area. But then, of course, and to Brenda's point, when do we let kids just be kids? Those vital social and inter-personal skills that are needed to develop social learning habits are going to be more and more important in the collaborative world that they will inherit. I do also wonder if many of the 19th century entrenched attitudes to education that still pervade our education system continue to reverberate all the way down the chain. I guess my view is that the new industries and new business models of the future are as unlikely to be created by educational conformists in the future as they were in the past, and so having a broader, not narrower, view of what "ready for kindergarten" means is the most important point.
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Permalink Reply by Lisa Guernsey on
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Simon, Brenda and Rae --
Thanks so much for your thoughts on this. Here's another tack I'd like to consider: What do you think of pulling kindergarten (and even other early elementary grades) closer to preschool. In other words, after years of downward pressure from above, is it time for some upward pressure from below? I don't want to advocate for a return to the kindergartens of yesteryear, where children may not have been getting any introduction to academics (the achievement gap shows us that such an approach will not serve our kids well) but I do agree that a more child-sensitive approach in those early elementary years may be called for. Have you seen examples of this happening, where preschools are informing elementary schools and kindergartens are taking a page from the preschool book? Any pointers or shout-outs to particular programs would be helpful.
Thanks,
Lisa
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Permalink Reply by Rae Pica on
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I haven't heard of this happening, but it's a fascinating idea. After all, developmentally speaking, primary-grade children are more like preschoolers than like their upper-elementary counterparts. People tend to forget that, and to treat all elementary-school children as if they're just alike, simply by virtue of the fact that they've walked through the school door.
Lisa Guernsey said:Simon, Brenda and Rae --
Thanks so much for your thoughts on this. Here's another tack I'd like to consider: What do you think of pulling kindergarten (and even other early elementary grades) closer to preschool. In other words, after years of downward pressure from above, is it time for some upward pressure from below? I don't want to advocate for a return to the kindergartens of yesteryear, where children may not have been getting any introduction to academics (the achievement gap shows us that such an approach will not serve our kids well) but I do agree that a more child-sensitive approach in those early elementary years may be called for. Have you seen examples of this happening, where preschools are informing elementary schools and kindergartens are taking a page from the preschool book? Any pointers or shout-outs to particular programs would be helpful.
Thanks,
Lisa
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Permalink Reply by Cathy Puett Miller on -
Lisa,
I expect one of the books you have read from Hirsh-Pasek, et al is "Einstein Didn't Use Flash Cards". It does emphasize the element of play and how important "whole child" development is versus the narrow academic over-emphasis we see so much today. As a literacy consultant, I do know there is a lot of emergent literacy to be developed during the preschool years but not reading. Few people understand the developmental spectrum that is appropriate for young children. I"m actually writing two books - one for teachers and one for parents -- on this subject.
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Permalink Reply by Carol Garboden Murray on -
How is your article going? I am writing a letter to the editor and telling all the parents in our district about "The Crisis In The Kindergarten Report". I am also sending a copy to the superintendent and principal in my district. There's been lots of coverage on this report in various teacher magazines and even in the New York Times. I am asking my district to make a statement in response and take a position of some sort on this topic. We have some of the kindergarten teachers in our district giving spelling tests. Ugh! I think the Alliance for Childhood has posted links for all the articles which are sprouting out there. I am so excited to think about the impact this will have. I hope it is a seed that grows some change! Carol
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Permalink Reply by Cherie Greene on -
It might be interesting to do some research about New Hampshire, where most towns only got public kindergartens within the last few years. In Merrimack, children whose parents couldn't afford private kindergarten wound up spending what should have been their first grade year in something called "Readiness," leading to large numbers of kids whose age peers are in the next grade up.
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Permalink Reply by Cherie Greene on
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One word: Montessori.
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Permalink Reply by Cathy Puett Miller on
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Do you know the book "The Hurried Child"? It is also excellent and will give you even more resources to look into from the references contained there. Both focus on the importance of play. My two books are a little closer to "being born", coming out in November. They address "appropriate practices" indirectly (one for parents - the Family's Everyday Guide: Reading Readiness 1-2-3 and The Educator's Everyday Guide: Reading Readiness 1-2-3). At least they now have titles. Wish they were out now!
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Many thanks for the comments. The essay has run as an op-ed on USA TODAY http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/09/column-kindergarten-need-not...
And I also wrote more extensive about this topic on Early Ed Watch in June. Here's the piece: http://www.newamerica.net/blog/early-ed-watch/2009/some-thoughts-ab...
I'd love to get your feedback. Thanks!
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