Has Kindergarten Become Too Academic?
Has Kindergarten Become Too Academic? by Annie Murphy Paul was originally posted on The Brilliant Blog.
Has kindergarten become too academic? The New York Post has an article about what kindergarten is like in New York City public schools these days:
“The city Department of Education now wants 4- and 5-year-olds to write ‘informative/explanatory reports’ and demonstrate ‘algebraic thinking.’
Children who barely know how to write the alphabet or add 2 and 2 are expected to write topic sentences and use diagrams to illustrate math equations.
‘For the most part, it’s way over their heads,’ a Brooklyn teacher said. ‘It’s too much for them. They’re babies!’
In a kindergarten class in Red Hook, Brooklyn, three children broke down and sobbed on separate days last week, another teacher told The Post. When one girl cried, ‘I can’t do it,’ classmates rubbed her back, telling her, ‘That’s OK.’
‘This is causing a lot of anxiety,’ the teacher said. ‘Kindergarten should be happy and playful. It should be art and dancing and singing and learning how to take turns. Instead, it’s frustrating and disheartening.’
In math, kids tackle concepts like ‘tally chart,’ ‘combination,’ and ‘commutative property,’ DOE records show.
The big test: ‘Miguel has two shelves. Miguel has six books . . . How many different ways can Miguel put books on the two shelves? Show and tell how you know.’
Teachers rate each student’s performance as ‘novice,’ ‘apprentice,’ ‘practitioner’ or ‘expert.’
An ‘expert’ would draw a diagram with a key, show all five combinations, write number sentences for each equation, and explain his or her conclusions using math terms, the DOE says.” (Read more here.)
I don’t know about you, but I’m a little puzzled by the Miguel question—and I’m way past kindergarten!
I’m with the teacher who says, “Kindergarten should be happy and playful”—and so is evidence from psychology and cognitive science (see, for example, the work of developmental psychologist Alison Gopnik).
Parents and teachers: What’s your opinion regarding the rigor of kindergarten these days? Tell us in the comment section.
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Well, no wonder they can’t pass all these standardized tests by the time they get to elementary school. Their brains are exhausted from counting all those book permutations. Egads! My students in high-school math couldn’t do these. What is this world coming to?
You are right Tom. What is this world coming to? This abuse of our children is like (in my opinion) what was being done to them years ago when children became our voiceless workhorses. Wake up America! I am reminded of the song done by Karen Carpenter, “Bless the beasts and the children, for in this world they have no voice, they have no choice….” Who will be the voice for the children? They need an advocate before their childhood is completely taken from them.