Getting Ready for Kindergarten

[Heidi]

My answers are in bold above. Love this discussion!!!

OH YES!!!!!!!! (to your answers in bold)

[nannyde]

Wow! Myth #5 actually says there is a downside to being exposed to preschool!!

"The study measured three areas of social development: “children’s externalizing behavior (such as aggression, bullying, acting up), interpersonal skills (such as sharing and cooperation), and self control in engaging in classroom tasks.”
According to the study’s authors, “we find that attendance in preschool centers, even for short periods of time each week, hinders the rate at which young children develop social skills and display the motivation to engage in classroom tasks, as reported by kindergarten teachers.”

Interesting POV for sure.

We need to research kindergarten teachers. We need to talk to the ones who have at least five years or more. We need to ask them what they need ...... what they are spending their time doing..... what they see is changing..... how long does it take to get to teaching...... what kind of pressures are they facing from parents and administrators that they feel helpless to meet.

I would bet you that experienced teachers will tell you that the biggest hindrence to them doing their job is the behavior of the parents, the behavior of the kids, how tired the kids are, how poorly they eat, how adult dependent they are for their moment to moment happiness, how they are expected to teach kids to read words, write letters, count, identify numbers, etc. but they can't get to it because they are spending the majority of their time trying to just get the kids to mind them.

Our crisis now isn't early education, it's early behavior, early health, early sleep, early exercise, and early respect.

One thing I think we need to come right out and say is that when parents are coming to the preschool table ....... most parents......not all........but most by far are REALLY coming wanting this: My child can read words as big as possible as young as possible. My child can identify and WRITE both upper and lower case letters. My child can count to 20-100 and can identify those numbers and write those numbers. My child should learn colors and shapes by two. My child can do puzzles by two/three.... by five should be able to do large puzzles. Painting, coloring, craft and art is a FUN thing I want my kid to do at school. I want them to have fun and I want someone else to host that.. (do prep, supervise, and clean up) specially the painting and multi layered craft.

So the parent is coming saying what they really want is these specific skills. These skills require a LOT of adult for kids under five AND they are proveable. The kid can either write the letters or they can't. They can read the words or they count. They can identify 38 or they can't. They aren't skills that are in the eye of the beholder.

Ask the parent if they think preschool is about learning to stand in line, wait your turn, mind the adult, button your own jacket, sit at the desk, independently potty, etc. or if they think it's PROVEABLE academic skills. I guarantee 99 of 100 would say they would rather their kid be able to read five letter words at four or five year olds then be able to follow directions and mind an adult. They would rather their kid be able to write all the lower case letters than eat a healthy meal and have a solid deep sleep nap mid day. Sure the would like both but what REALLY matters is the younger the proveable skills the better. They like all the "social, behavior, and self help" confirmations of progress but it aint what pays the "my child is gifted" rent.

So the parents and society want the proveable stuff and as young as possible. The highly funded ece programs like head start so "oh no... it's not academics.. it's a social experience" They know they can't produce the provable stuff no matter how much money they throw at it. We can extend the poor kid research outcomes to the middle and upper middle class but it's not going to get the proveable stuff accomplished at an early age.

The stuff that would REALLY make a difference to get our kids to be good at age appropriate learning are stuff that doesn't appeal to most parents because the root of success in those areas HAVE to come from home or they don't show up at school. Good behavior, good eating, good exercise, good sleep, good manners, others thinking............ can't be taught single handedly at some other place and none of those will make your friends and family agree that your kid is gifted.

We need to redifine what is really important for birth to five and the abc's and 123's need to put on the back burner. We need to get back to the notion that little kids need to eat healthy meals, need to be outside and get exercise, they need to do what the adults tell them to do, they need to be respectful, they need to have SELF control and be the masters of their own self esteem that is wrought from hard work and actual good behavior, they need SLEEP that is decided upon by the adults not themselves, and they need to make their own happiness through their own play. Preschool is what happens BEFORE they go to school. These are the things that need to be done with kids before they go to school.

[Countrygal]

Public school is mandatory for all children in all states.

Sorry, but I have to disagree here. There are still plenty of private schools and homeschooling that are legal in pretty much every state. There ARE options....

I feel really strongly about this, why are we in such a hurry to make our kids so academically smart and not focussing as much on life skills! I haven't read it in years but think I need to go pick up the book "Everything I need to know I learned in kindergarden"

I sooooo agree!!!!

[Heidi]

[QUOTE=nannyde;197251]We need to research kindergarten teachers. We need to talk to the ones who have at least five years or more. We need to ask them what they need ...... what they are spending their time doing..... what they see is changing..... how long does it take to get to teaching...... what kind of pressures are they facing from parents and administrators that they feel helpless to meet.

I would bet you that experienced teachers will tell you that the biggest hindrence to them doing their job is the behavior of the parents, the behavior of the kids, how tired the kids are, how poorly they eat, how adult dependent they are for their moment to moment happiness, how they are expected to teach kids to read words, write letters, count, identify numbers, etc. but they can't get to it because they are spending the majority of their time trying to just get the kids to mind them.
Our crisis now isn't early education, it's early behavior, early health, early sleep, early exercise, and early respect.

Gosh....doesn't that sound familiar?????? It is what we, as care providers, see every stinkin day!!!!

[Heidi]

If you get a chance, read this...

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Why-Are-Finlands-Schools-Successful.html

we need to be french parents and have Finnish schools....::::

I don't know if anyone read this, maybe it looked like I was being sarcastic, I didn't mean that. This is really a good article. Not that it helps, because it's not where the pendulum swings in the U.S. right now.

In WI, they are pushing "Wisconsin Early Learning Standards". I THINK it's an attempt to quantify early learning. I guess the mentality is that if you quantify something, you can measure it's progress, and there's some sort of guarantee that you'll "get your money's worth" when you put money into programs. ????? I wouldn't be suprised if down the line, they try to add some sort of standardized testing for preschoolers, as well...

[Blackcat31]

I don't know if anyone read this, maybe it looked like I was being sarcastic, I didn't mean that. This is really a good article. Not that it helps, because it's not where the pendulum swings in the U.S. right now.

Children spend far more time playing outside, even in the depths of winter. Homework is minimal. Compulsory schooling does not begin until age 7. “We have no hurry,” said Louhivuori. “Children learn better when they are ready. Why stress them out?”

It’s almost unheard of for a child to show up hungry or homeless. Finland provides three years of maternity leave and subsidized day care to parents, and preschool for all 5-year-olds, where the emphasis is on play and socializing.


In that article, the above is the single biggest contributor to their success in my opinion. Parents are the primary teachers for their children the first 3 years. Until we address that issue, the rest is pointless.

[Blackcat31]

I would bet you that experienced teachers will tell you that the biggest hindrence to them doing their job is the behavior of the parents, the behavior of the kids, how tired the kids are, how poorly they eat, how adult dependent they are for their moment to moment happiness, how they are expected to teach kids to read words, write letters, count, identify numbers, etc. but they can't get to it because they are spending the majority of their time trying to just get the kids to mind them.

Our crisis now isn't early education, it's early behavior, early health, early sleep, early exercise, and early respect.

We need to redifine what is really important for birth to five and the abc's and 123's need to put on the back burner. We need to get back to the notion that little kids need to eat healthy meals, need to be outside and get exercise, they need to do what the adults tell them to do, they need to be respectful, they need to have SELF control and be the masters of their own self esteem that is wrought from hard work and actual good behavior, they need SLEEP that is decided upon by the adults not themselves, and they need to make their own happiness through their own play. Preschool is what happens BEFORE they go to school. These are the things that need to be done with kids before they go to school.

BINGO!!!!!

[Heidi]

Children spend far more time playing outside, even in the depths of winter. Homework is minimal. Compulsory schooling does not begin until age 7. “We have no hurry,” said Louhivuori. “Children learn better when they are ready. Why stress them out?”

It’s almost unheard of for a child to show up hungry or homeless. Finland provides three years of maternity leave and subsidized day care to parents, and preschool for all 5-year-olds, where the emphasis is on play and socializing.


In that article, the above is the single biggest contributor to their success in my opinion. Parents are the primary teachers for their children the first 3 years. Until we address that issue, the rest is pointless.

Of course, we'd all be out of jobs...

[MrsB]

Sorry, but I have to disagree here. There are still plenty of private schools and homeschooling that are legal in pretty much every state. There ARE options....

You are correct! I meant to say "school" or an education is mandatory for all children in all states. Thank you for catching that.



I sooooo agree!!!!

Seems like alot of us are on the same page and have alot of the same views. Why dont they use us in one of their studies!

[SilverSabre25]

Of course, we'd all be out of jobs...

Yeah I'd take it though!

Loving this discussion btw. I don't have much to add because most of it has been said already.

[countrymom]

in ontario our school system is different. At the age of 3/4 they start school (or you guys call it preschool) there are NO tests, you don't have to be ready, all you have to do is dump your kid off at the door and its free. (or like dh calls it "free daycare) they do learn some things but they try to get kids to do more socialization. By kindy you are drilled with stuff. You better know all your alphabets, how to write upper and lower case, use scissors, wash your hands, math, basic reading, how to color in the lines, oh and forget about socializing that goes out the window.

when ds was in kindy, I got comments from his teacher like, "n should play in the house center, n should do work books" well ds comes from a family of 3 sisters, trust me he doesn't lack in playing house, babies, hamsters, post office, father, brother, cashier... and work books we always did at home and the ones at school were boring because he already knew the stuff.

there was no more art, playing was schedualled and imagination was gone. I'm starting to find that now (he's in grade 4) he lacks some of the stuff that I think at the age of 5 he should have been doing. Instead, I find that excerise is so important than having free play. I think by shoving so many things down their throats at a young age is making them hate school more. I would love for them to do a study at the end of grade12 to show how they benifited from having early education forced upon them. How many are going to higher education, getting jobs.

Also, we have a rule that children are not allowed to fail, they can struggle all they want in grade school but you can't fail (this was not the rule many years ago when I went to school) and you need to praise all the time. There are no consequences for not doing homework or handing in assignments because no one cares. I can go on and on.

[Heidi]

Oh, I forgot to mention, but someone said excercise....

In the great campaign against obesity in America,our state is now trying to REQUIRE licensed daycare providers to not only "promote" physical activity, but to actually "teach" physical activity. They want us to provide and hour of teacher led physical activity a day. That means, we get the whole group togehter and do movement things.

going for a walk doesnt count
playing on the playground doesnt count

yeah, our kids are fat because we dcp's don't give them enough of the "right" kind of excercise

its not because they get soda in their bottles, candy every day, and crap for "breakfast" at home (or in the car)....

[AmyLeigh]

Seems like alot of us are on the same page and have alot of the same views. Why dont they use us in one of their studies!

That's because we are in the trenches with the children. Politicians and researchers aren't. We see the children everyday and know their stories, know their personalities, all the little nuances that are missed on a questionnaire.

[sahm2three]

The more I read, the sadder I get. Kids are not allowed to be kids any more. They have to grow up too fast. What is this world coming to?! When I was a kid, I learned my abc's and how to tie my shoes in Kindergarten. Am I a rocket scientist?! No. Did I ever WANT to be one?! NO. The pressures put on kids now is just plain sad! No wonder kids drink and do drugs and commit suicide. Just way too much pressure is put on kids. My kids learn thru play. When parents start pushing with "you need to teach them this and that" I say, sounds to me like you are looking for little Johnny to be in school. I am not a teacher. We learn in play here. I use every opportunity as a learning experience.

[AmyLeigh]

It’s almost unheard of for a child to show up hungry or homeless. Finland provides three years of maternity leave and subsidized day care to parents, and preschool for all 5-year-olds, where the emphasis is on play and socializing.


In that article, the above is the single biggest contributor to their success in my opinion. Parents are the primary teachers for their children the first 3 years. Until we address that issue, the rest is pointless.

Yes!!! We are told on one hand that parents are a child's first and best teacher, then "they" turn around and tell us that our child won't succeed unless we drop them off at daycare at 6 weeks of age (making bf'ing difficult), push them into the state run preschools at 3-4 years of age, and keep them institutionalized (ooops, I mean schooled) until they are 18 or older! Where is the logic in that? :confused:

Obviously, I feel very strongly about this. I completely turned my life upside down in order to stay home with my children and homeschool. That is what is best for my family. My main problem is the fact that people are being told what to do with their children rather than being educated as to the choices that are available. You want to put little Johnny in preschool? Fine, no problem. Do it because you believe he will enjoy playing with some friends there. Don't do it because you are being indoctrinated that you HAVE to do it.