TGSG Note: I originally ran this post in April, but with the new school year upon us, I thought it might me good to revisit it. There is also an article in The Boston Globe, Pressure Cooker Kindergarten, that you might be interested in. See the end of the post for comments made by one of the reports co-authors, Ed Miller. He makes some great additional points to ponder.
The shadow of No Child Left Behind has darkened the rooms of kindergartens across America. We often hear people bemoan this particular piece of legislation, and rightfully so, but you might be surprised to learn that those rumblings come from frustrated educators and parents of kindergarten students, too. Test stress is not just for older children now — it starts at five-years-old.
Kindergarten, it seems, has become the new first grade. While some might call this progress, it ignores the fact that kindergarten was developed based on heavily researched theories and practices of child development, and specifically designed to be different than upper grades — to incorporate the learning styles of young children and engage the whole child, including their social and emotional development needs.
The Alliance for Childhood has just released its new report, Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School. Needless to say, it is an eye-opener. If you are not involved in early childhood education or don’t have kids of that age, you might be surprised at some of the findings, not to mention the increasingly didactic, scripted instruction and prevalence of time spent on test preparation. For five-year-olds.
“Teaching to the test,” is now a phrase that can be applied to the education of five-year-olds, regardless of the fact that experts caution its reliability in children under eight. According to the report, “Standardized testing of children under age eight, when used to make significant decisions about the child’s education, is in direct conflict with the professional standards of every educational testing organization.” And of course, we all know that this is exactly how test scores are being used — to make significant decisions about individual children — their capacity to learn and the educational path where they will be placed.
Kindergarten. Gone are the blocks and water tables. They went by the wayside along with music time, rest period, and space for easels. According to the Alliance, “Too many schools place a double burden on young children. First, they heighten their stress by demanding that they master material beyond their developmental level. Then they deprive children of their chief means of dealing with that stress—creative play.”
The 72 page report is based on the findings of nine recent studies of today’s kindergarten classrooms, as well as on long-respected research in the field of early childhood education. With a forward by Dr David Elkind, author of The Hurried Child, the report makes a call to action for parents, policy makers, educators, and child advocates to bring this issue to the forefront of education reform.
It’s amazing to me that in an age where noted scholars, as well as business and tech leaders are calling for creativity and curiosity as an absolute necessity and the future of the workforce, our education system continues to impose practices and standards that make that virtually impossible to achieve. Among all the failing schools and increasing behavior problems in children, we march forward, putting undue stress on children and educators alike. In our nation’s fever to beat other nations’ test scores, we are only beating one thing — the love of learning out of our children. We are forsaking creativity, resilience, and individual strengths for methods and protocols that do not work. Shame on us.
Obviously, this issue and report are far too large and important for one blog post, so consider this the launch of a series on kindergarten here at TGSG. I would love to hear about your questions and concerns surrounding the issue.
I hope you will join the movement to bring play back into schools. After all, play is serious business.
See ya outside! – The Grass Stain Guru
photo credit: woodleywonderworks
Comment from Ed Miller, Alliance for Childhood
Bethe, thanks for writing about the 2nd-grade teacher who can see the differences between the kids who were in play-based kindergartens and those who had more instruction and academics. The things you named–being excited about learning, having fewer behavior problems, etc.–are not easily measured, and certainly not by standardized tests.
And this is a very big part of the problem we have gotten ourselves into. School reform, in too many people’s minds, must be “data-driven.” And it’s very easy to produce lots of data. But with young children, almost all of the numbers are about things like how many letters they recognize and how many words they know–things that are easy to count, and relatively easy to drill into children’s minds if you are single-minded enough about it.
So kindergarten has been taken over in many places (not all!) by the teaching of these discrete skills and bits of knowledge–and by standardized testing. And the people in charge can point to higher test scores as proof of success. Very few policymakers, however, seem to be aware of the research that shows what happens after a few years. By fourth grade, the early “gains” have disappeared. By age 10 the children who were in play-based kindergartens are far ahead of the others–because of those hard-to-measure qualities like love of learning.
As Einstein said, “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”
Thanks, too, for writing about “Crisis in the Kindergarten,” and to all your correspondents.
Wow. I have a 4 year old, who will turn 5 in May. You would not believe my internal conflict of whether to send him to kindergarten or not. Many folks in my area “give the gift of time.” He’s developmentally ready, he has two older brothers, he’s socially ready, but for kindergarten, not 1st grade. I will be interested to read this series.
My child is in kindergarten (It’s mandatory here in MD), and he gets music lessons, art, PE and rest time. Am I missing something here?
My son is almost 4 and has another year of preschool. My friends with kids in elementary school warn me about the vast amount of homework kindergarten and early elementary school-age kids get every day. It flat out doesn’t make sense to me. Other than spelling tests, I don’t remember getting actual homework until 4th or 5th grade. Teaching to the test is a whole other issue – I’ve got freinds homeschooling their kids specifically because of this mentality.
Another spot on post!
Our oldest daughter is 5. She turned 5 the beginning of last September. In MN between Sept. 1 and 15 you can have your child test to see if they are developmentally ready for kindergarten. She was ready according to the state but we made the decision to let her stay home another year. It was a tough decision but it was the right one for her.
Now we have another tough decision. Where should we send her to kindergarten?
Play is a way children solve problems, think creatively, learn skills, and create meaningful lives. For young children, play is a way to learn how to learn.
Young children need adults to create spaces and places for play. Early childhood education teachers need support from parents and the community to be allowed to create play-filled curriculum and settings.
A student in my college course on play asked, “I know play is important. It’s how I want to teach. But what if I’m not allowed to have play in my classroom? What do I do?” I wanted to give her a simple answer to soothe her concern. I didn’t have it.
Wow– that is fantastic, Nina! I am really glad to hear that. Which county in MD? Is it half-day or full-day kindergarten?
Sadly, not all kids are as fortunate as your child, and are in kindergarten classrooms that include test prep, standardized tests, homework, etc. If you are interested, The Alliance has a 8-page summary of the report coming out in a few days that you might be enjoy reading.
Thanks for the comment. Cheers- Bethe
As an early childhood educator, special educator, & most importantly, parent of a 7 year old…you are right on the money! You have put into words what most of us are thinking! Brava!
In California, class size will go up to 30 kids per teach for k-3rd next year. Our Kinders do not have nap time or as much play time as you would think. Kinder seems to be the place were the children learn to write there letters, and learn simple math. In fact at our school penmanship is not taught after the first grade (until they learn cursive writing).
Another issue that we parents are facing is the time spent on homework. As it is now our children play less at school, have shorter recesses and only 2 days a week for PE, yet when they come home they are faced with up to 90 mins of homework a night(not in Kinder, but by the 4th grade). So even outside of school there is no time to get out to play.
Education needs a whole overhaul or our kids will be in big trouble.
Beth — I hope you will take a look back at my second post: I agree with you on homework! It’s a huge issue. I have invited my friend Sara Bennett, co-author of The Case Against Homework to come guest post here at TGSG.
I need to go through all these amazing comments, but just wanted to put the homework piece out there.
Cheers- Bethe
Interesting topic of conversation happening here….I sorta/kinda/vaguely remember kindergarten…okay I’ll fess up…I do remember it…and yes we learned quite a bit, but also did a lot of ‘other’ activities that fulfilled the day….it was creative….standardized testing though for a five year old? Seriously now…..I mean lil boo should be speaking French, German, Russian fluently by then along with solving all of life’s mysteries!! LOL sure right….The mrs. and I have two years before he turns 5. That will be here at a blink of an eye….
You are completely on the right track with your post. Kindergarten was set up to be a special place and should remain so. I teach in Alberta and we are not “plagued” with testing and hope never to be. Over my 11 years in the KDG classroom, I have observed more and more curriculum slide in. They are required to know so much before going into Grade 1. Thank you for your post and hopefully many “powers that be” will come to their senses and let our littlest students be our littlest children and let them create, imagine, discover and play in the Kindergarten classroom.
I agree with you 100%. As a psychologist with 30 years of experience, I feel a major goal for kindergarten is building your child’s self-esteem. Self-esteem influences how your child achieves, how he/she loves, and all of the choices and decisions he/she will make for a lifetime. My new book, Self-Esteem For A Lifetime: Raising A Successful Child From The Inside Out (Amazon.com), is a wonderful, easy to use guide for both parents and teachers.
Check it out!
I have to say, my kindergarten-age daughter is definitely learning reading and writing in first grade. And she has very simple homework (this is because the school follows the Malcolm Baldridge guidelines, and Malcolm apparently liked homework). Her homework has mostly been things like going over sight words, drawing a picture, naming words that rhyme with other words, finding a specific word (like “the”) in a book, that sort of thing. I get the feeling that the homework at this stage is meant to get the parents involved in the child’s learning rather than simply to make the child do additional work.
However, she also has art on Tuesdays, music on Thursdays, a rest time every day, and not only PE but outdoor play time. The kids start the day with “centers” (blocks, buttons, listening to audiobooks, sorting, building) and end the day with more play-oriented “centers” (the playhouse, artwork, that kind of thing).
The teacher told me that yes, they are covering what used to be a first grade curriculum in kindergarten — but at this school at least, they don’t seem to be sacrificing the standard kindergarten experience to do it. For which I am thankful.
Things like this are part of the reason we homeschool our kids. Excellent post and I can’t wait to read the report.
I am glad to see that some of your kids are in good K learning environments.
Beth: I cannot IMAGINE 30 5-year-olds in one class.
I think it is important to point out that being play-based doesn’t mean that a K or pre-school isn’t geared toward learning — that’s exactly what they do. They just do it in a manner that is designed for that age group vs. scripted instruction, math drills, worksheets, etc. Academically, play-based ed for that age group is showed to have long-lasting academic & social benefits.
It would be interesting to see how much the fallout of NCLB has had on fueling the homeschool stats in the US. I know anecdotally — lots of people have told me that — and we see that here in the comments. Does anyone know of any studies?
I know a local teacher that teaches in a school where they have a public Montessori pre K & K classes which use a play-based model, and traditional K classes as well. She teaches 2nd grade. All the 1st & 2n grade teachers can tell the kids who went through the play-based classes right off the bat. They are excited about learning, very bright, have fewer behavior problems & the list goes on & on. She is amazed by the developmental & cognitive differences she sees in students from play-based vs instruction based K classes. Having not trained in that area, she was quite taken aback. She is a HUGE proponent of play now, and incorporates it into her classroom as much as possible.
I want to do a post next week on emergent readers, so am not going to get into literacy right now, but we will.
Keep the great comments coming. You all are amazing!!!!!!!
Cheers- Bethe
My friend Mike Lanza has a K series going over on his blog – Playborhood, as well. http://tinyurl.com/dg74fv
Mike is always a good read. Cheers- Bethe
Bethe, thanks for writing about the 2nd-grade teacher who can see the differences between the kids who were in play-based kindergartens and those who had more instruction and academics. The things you named–being excited about learning, having fewer behavior problems, etc.–are not easily measured, and certainly not by standardized tests.
And this is a very big part of the problem we have gotten ourselves into. School reform, in too many people’s minds, must be “data-driven.” And it’s very easy to produce lots of data. But with young children, almost all of the numbers are about things like how many letters they recognize and how many words they know–things that are easy to count, and relatively easy to drill into children’s minds if you are single-minded enough about it.
So kindergarten has been taken over in many places (not all!) by the teaching of these discrete skills and bits of knowledge–and by standardized testing. And the people in charge can point to higher test scores as proof of success. Very few policymakers, however, seem to be aware of the research that shows what happens after a few years. By fourth grade, the early “gains” have disappeared. By age 10 the children who were in play-based kindergartens are far ahead of the others–because of those hard-to-measure qualities like love of learning.
As Einstein said, “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”
Thanks, too, for writing about “Crisis in the Kindergarten,” and to all your correspondents.
Ed: Thank you so much for that comment and to pointing out to folks the discrete skills & how they can’t be tested on standardized tests.
Folks: Ed Miller is one of the co-authors of the report, and is an expert in the field.
Thanks for taking the time out to comment, Ed!
Cheers- Bethe
What a thought provoking post! The challenge of losing creative drove my passion to create new types of computer games for children this age – we recently came out with ItzaBitza (http://ItzaBitza.com) – a magical drawing game for early readers. It is our scrappy company’s humble first step in providing a very fun way to practice reading comprehension and creative expression. I’d love to know what you think of the game.
best,
Margaret.
Another great post on the Kindergarten report from the early childhood experts @ CEE. BRING BACK PLAY!!!
http://www.childcareexchange.com/eed/issue.php?id=2221
I have the privilege of working in a school where play is incorporated into an academic Kindergarten. I am the literacy specialist that services the Kindergarten classrooms at my school. My cooperating teachers couldn’t be more sensitive to the need for play in 5 year olds. This does not, however, interfere with our children’s ability to learn to read. We have whole day Kindergarten and there seems to be enough time in the day to cover both! When I graduated college in 1987 with a degree in Early Childhood Education, I would never have agreed to teach a 5 year old to read, however, after much research and reading on the subject, I am completely committed to my opinion that ‘Yes, children can and SHOULD learn to read as young as possible.’ Our nation cannot afford for our schools to waste one valuable moment, let alone a valuable year, when it comes to accelerating the learning of our youth. The rest of the world sure isn’t waiting and we will pay the price if we do.
Hi Kitty — thanks for your comment. Sounds like you work at a great school with a system in place to support teachers incorporating play. FANTASTIC!
To your point about other nations, I point to Finland as a country that does indeed wait. Children have extended early childhood ed and do not start 1st grade or more traditional instruction until age 7. Finland also gets the highest scores on the respected international PISA exam for 15-year-olds — consistently. Germany also uses a play-based approach in Kindergarten, as does Japan through 1st grade. These are countries that are prized for their educational systems and contributions and advances to the world in a variety of areas. They are not “paying the price,” of respecting the developmental needs of young children, but are in fact, reaping the rewards of doing so.
I understand your point and am really glad that there are professionals with so much passion in education. That said, I contend that what our nation cannot afford to do is produce a generation of adults who don’t enjoy learning, lack resilience, and are more concerned with getting a job done than in doing a good job and taking pride in the work they are doing — whatever that happens to be.
Thanks again for your comments. Cheers- Bethe
Thanks Bethe, for the great exchange of ideas. And thanks for this great site! I have indeed read about Finland’s approach as well as the approaches in areas of Italy (Reggio Emilia). While I am completely committed to developmentally appropriate practices, I am also completely committed to early literacy. I believe the two are not mutually exclusive. The key is, as you stated, passionate professionals. I hope the idea of instructional coaching becomes commonplace and the right coaches are made available to share their passion and professionalism with a new generation of educators.
Hear, hear, Kitty. I think that most folks that find their way to this site want one thing — happy, healthy kids who love to learn.
Very provacative post you have here!
This is the second year of school for my six year old. Private preschool and now public Kg. Private was slightly less drastic but it’s all moving triple time and I’m torn. As an American I see the need, as a mommy, I need balance.
I AM of the opinion that children are resilient, they will adapt and perform. My school seems to be exhausting all resources to find a good medium but the pressure for the educator is palpable. I have learned that all current teaching methods require parent involvement which *I feel* was not so much the case back in the day. I admire and see the vast numbers of homeschoolers; it’s a personal decision. For me, I know I’m not qualified nor trained to do a better job than my current system.
It must be a concerted effort to give our chidren the best of both worlds.
Props to you for bringing this VERY important issue to the table!
I have been seriosuly Angonizing over this for weeks! My daughter turned 5 in July. Never did I think I would be going through this when she was born, she made the cutoff so she goes. Her preschool teacher told us at both conferences that we should wait to send her; give her the gift of the year. I didnt get it for so long, why..she is a bright child and loves school! So I kept asking and then started to observe her more. She is sensitive and maturity wise on the younger side. Teacher urged it would be better to hold her for her self esteem…and I started to understand.
I got so worried about her being able to handle the older stronger personalities in class, esp. when some would be turning 6 just after school started. After receiving her class assignment I contacted the school and came to find that with 19 kids in her full day kindergarten class she would be one of the youngest.
The more I spoke to people the more confused I got but after along talk w/a K teacher of 36 yrs I called the registrar and said we will wait another year.
Of course I am still worried if I am doing the right thing for her, I wish I had a crystal ball!
#TheNewSchool Kindergarten Crisis Part 1: Revisited | The Grass Stain Guru: TGSG Note: I originally.. http://bit.ly/39mdd
I would check out this article my Michael Chabon. He very nicely state what a lot of us think about play….
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22891
I know the article quite well. David. Thanks!
) ~ Bethe
#TheNewSchool Kindergarten Crisis Part 1: Revisited | The Grass Stain Guru: TGSG Note: I originally.. http://bit.ly/39mdd
Thanks for posting anew, Bethe. My son is about a week away from starting kindergarten (five days a week, half day). I’m excited for him, but grow nervous, too, when I hear some members of the school community talk of “competition” and such. My daughter’s early teachers at the same public school embraced the concept that learning should be fun during formative years, making play an integral part of the classroom experience. (They seemed to recognize that the joy of/for learning, if instilled, would take students farther….) I hope my son enjoys this same “gift,” for my daughter thrived, but I realize only time will tell. Be it in an academic setting or at home, so many wonderful benefits come from play. I resolve to always make time for it. Important for my kids. And me too.
RT @balmeras: http://bit.ly/P2PAU Revisiting an TGSG article from March on the state of today’s Kindergarten classroom. #edreform #play
As a kindergarten teacher for the last twenty-two I have witnessed the changes in kindergarten first hand. I agree that k is the new first grade.
Teachers are now held accountable for teaching skills that students are not developmentally ready to learn. It can be a frustrating and frightening situation for teacher, parent and student. The way I deal with this problem is that I have turned my classroom into a living experience full of many plants and animals. My classroom environment is alive. My plan now is to create a model outdoor environment for learning and to keep bringing my students outdoors.
Yes even if I have to use creative reasons to bring my kids outside! Sometimes we have stand up for what we know is right. How do I know I’m right. I just ask my thirty kindergarten students. They will always be honest.
RT @balmeras: http://bit.ly/P2PAU Revisiting an TGSG article from March on the state of today’s Kindergarten classroom. #edreform #play
RT @tweetmeme Kindergarten Crisis Part 1: Revisited | The Grass Stain Guru http://bit.ly/ueFWi #ece
If you have pre-schoolers, this might be of interest: http://bit.ly/P2PAU
RT @balmeras: If you have pre-schoolers, this might be of interest: http://bit.ly/P2PAU
RT @tweetmeme Kindergarten Crisis Part 1: Revisited | The Grass Stain Guru http://bit.ly/ueFWi
RT @balmeras If you have pre-schoolers, this might be of interest: http://bit.ly/P2PAU
Thanks, Chuck!
All, I have had the honor of spending time with Chuck and seeing his classroom and outdoor classroom first-hand. It’s amazing, and so is he!
Keep up the great work, Chuck. And cheers to a great new school year. Hugs- Bethe
RT @tweetmeme Kindergarten Crisis Part 1: Revisited | The Grass Stain Guru http://bit.ly/ueFWi #ece
If you have pre-schoolers, this might be of interest: http://bit.ly/P2PAU
RT @balmeras: If you have pre-schoolers, this might be of interest: http://bit.ly/P2PAU
RT @tweetmeme Kindergarten Crisis Part 1: Revisited | The Grass Stain Guru http://bit.ly/ueFWi
RT @balmeras If you have pre-schoolers, this might be of interest: http://bit.ly/P2PAU
In case U missed it: Kindergarten Crisis, Revisited. http://bit.ly/P2PAU
RT @balmeras In case U missed it: Kindergarten Crisis, Revisited. http://bit.ly/P2PAU [as mom of a kindergartener, very interesting]
In case U missed it: Kindergarten Crisis, Revisited. http://bit.ly/P2PAU
RT @balmeras In case U missed it: Kindergarten Crisis, Revisited. http://bit.ly/P2PAU [as mom of a kindergartener, very interesting]
Kindergarten Crisis Part 1: Revisited: http://bit.ly/JI6av (via @balmeras) #ece #parenting