Any educator or parent who understands the beauty of reading and the importance of helping a child learn to do it right was appalled to read two recent articles about the subject. Both should make all of us concerned that children are being set up to hate reading. They are being pushed to read earlier than ever before!
Consider the February 1, 2014, headlines of The Oregonian: “Too Many Oregon Students Unready for Kindergarten State Officials Lament.” Seen HERE.
What is the crisis?
- “The typical Oregon kindergartner arrived at school last fall knowing only 19 capital and lower-case letters and just seven letter sounds out of at least 100 possible correct answers, the state reported Friday.”
- “They also were shown a page with 110 letter sounds on it. The average kindergartner could pronounce just 6.7.”
- “Gov. John Kitzhaber, in prepared remarks, called the results ‘sobering’”…
- “‘Things have changed in terms of what is expected when students start kindergarten,’ said Jada Rupley, Oregon’s early learning system director. ‘We would hope they would know most of their letters and many of their sounds.’”
Politicians, venture philanthropists, and even the President, make early learning into an emergency. What’s a poor kindergartener or preschooler to do when they must carry the weight of the nation on their backs—when every letter and pronunciation is scrutinized like never before?
Unfortunately, many kindergarten teachers have bought into this harmful message. Many have thrown out their play kitchens, blocks, napping rugs, and doll houses believing it is critical that children should learn to read in kindergarten!
[Imp. Note…there are also many great kindergarten teachers who work very hard to “cushion the blow” of the harmful reforms they are being forced to do. It is easy for those of us who are no longer teaching to tell those who are that they should take a stand. Well in today’s draconian environment it could cost them their job! Still many teachers walk the tightrope daily trying to do what’s right for their children. You know who you are and we thank you!]
A new study through the University of Virginia has determined that kindergarten is the new first grade! The study, by Bassok and Rorem, from the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, “used two large nationally representative datasets to track changes in kindergarten classrooms between 1998 and 2006.” They found “that in 1998, 31 percent of kindergarten teachers indicated that most children should learn to read while in kindergarten. By 2006, 65 percent of teachers agreed with this statement. To accommodate this new reality, classroom time spent on literacy rose by 25 percent, from roughly 5.5 to seven hours per week.”
What’s wrong with these high-stress pictures?
There is a mistaken idea of what young children should be able to do—what is age-appropriate. Here’s a list of what “typical” children know upon entering kindergarten, from the National Center for Education Statistics report Entering Kindergarten: Findings from the Condition of Education 2000:
- Sixty-six percent of children entering kindergarten recognize letters in the alphabet.
- Sixty-one percent of children entering kindergarten know you read left to right.
- Many kindergartners do not yet possess early reading skills.
- Children might not point to letters representing sounds.
- New kindergartners might not be able to read basic words by sight yet.
- Only 1 in 50 actually read basic and complex words entering kindergarten.
Note this is what occurs but isn’t what young children should necessarily be doing when it comes to reading.
Don’t believe me? Pick up any book about normal reading development and you will find that young children progress when they are ready—at their own pace.
The American Academy of Pediatrics notes the critical factor as to how a student will learn to read “is not how aggressively,” the child is given instruction, but rather their “own enthusiasm for learning.” They also state that many early learning programs “interfere with the child’s natural enthusiasm” by imposing on children to “concentrate on tasks” when they aren’t ready.
Why are young children being made to learn at a faster rate? Why is there this mistaken notion that children’s brains have somehow evolved to a higher level where they are supposed to read earlier and earlier?
All of this emergency talk has filtered into America’s classrooms. That’s why kindergarten teachers now believe all children must learn how to read in kindergarten. Having worked for years with reading and language problems in middle and high school students, I can tell you these new reading requirements for young children are terribly worrisome—even dangerous.
Many children will not be ready—not because they’re slow, not because they have learning disabilities, but because they’re normal and moving along at their own pace! The door should be opened to them in kindergarten and beyond to learn how to read in a relaxed manner. Even when a child has difficulty learning to read (dyslexia for example), you don’t attack the problem by pushing the child to read beyond what is considered normal.
When kindergarten teachers expect every kindergartner to focus on reading and learn it at that age, it opens the door for all kinds of problems. Here are a few:
- No Joy in Reading. Children learn to hate reading. When you assess children too early, currently done in kindergarten with Response to Intervention testing like DIBELS, children learn reading is a chore. It becomes something serious—even fearful for a young child.
- Vocabulary Emphasis. Most memorization is boring. When teachers focus on vocabulary acquisition and word recognition, young children lose interest in the stories. Curiosity is squelched. Some sight word instruction is fine, of course, but focusing so much and tracking every word as a data point is obsessive.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophesy. If a kindergartener is not reading yet (normal), but they are treated like they have a problem, they really could develop a problem.
- Loss of Cognitive Ability/Play. Heavily focusing on reading, at the expense of other important kindergarten tasks, like play, destroys critical aspects of learning. Without play, children lose the ability to think about things on their own. How does this toy work? How do I put the blocks together to build a house? What can I create on my own?
- Loss of Self-Worth. It is fine for some children to show up reading in kindergarten, but children who are not reading yet (perfectly normal) may lose the feeling of self-worth. They could also act out becoming a behavior problem. Adults, after all, never trusted them to learn some things on their own.
- Reading Ability Isn’t Everything. Kindergarten students who already read fluently might have other problems that are overlooked by the teacher. Or they become bored because they are given nothing new to learn.
- A Lack of Socialization. We know through research, like the study notes above, that socialization at this period of development is important, but with the total emphasis on learning to read at such a young age, socialization skills, including play, are pushed aside. Students miss out on developing relationships with other children. How will they get along later interacting with others as adults?
- Too Competitive. Children are taught at an early age that they must compete and win in order to receive approval. They don’t learn to care about others. They know some students read better or worse than they do. The emphasis is on reading not on the students and who they are.
- Disadvantaged Children. While some students from poor backgrounds may not have been exposed to books and a good reading environment early on, pushing them to read through assessment and drill could squelch their interest in reading forever.
- Research. Pushing children to read too soon defies past research by many recognized and well-regarded developmental psychologists and educators whose studies have stood the test of time.
While kindergarten is now the new 1st grade, in 10 more years will kindergarten be the next 2nd or 3rd grade? When will the current reformers be satisfied? When will they quit demeaning children and making them jump through inappropriate developmental hoops?
Enough is enough! Let children be children. Let them be their age. Bring back the joy of learning to read.
Citation
Shelov, Steven P. M.D. F.A.A.P. Editor-in Chief. The American Academy of Pediatrics. Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5. The Complete and Authoritative Guide. (New York: Bantam, 1991) 348-349.
If they discovered that only 1 sixth month old in a thousand could walk, would we find that “sobering” or question the study? Or maybe all the other infants need physical therapy?
Excellent point, Terry. Thank you.
Ha Terry! I was thinking the same thing!!
Oh, so very true. I put a lot of the blame for this push to learn reading before kids go to school on parents who are determined to have the brightest kids in the best position to get into a “good” college, graduate with honors, and make a million dollars a year. If not more. I worked in the middle school of an affluent NYC suburb and the amount of pressure on the kids was unreal. II knew personally kids who would have made great carpenters, sales persons, teachers whose parents were pushing the kids into white collar or professional jobs. The amount of stress these kids were experiencing was also unreal. Why cannot parents give kids the space to discover what THEY want to do with their lives. Guess contentment is not a value. I also worked as a Children’s librarian, with preschool story times as part of my job description. In the last 10 years there has been a strong push to prepare kids for kindergarten by teaching them letter recognition as a part of storytimes. What ever happened to reading for the pure enjoyment of it!!?!
They can read, but do they comprehend what they are reading. Parents should learn to talk about the book to the child and ask them questions. That is helping them understand what they are reading.
To me THAT iOS spot on. We are missing the most important key to reading. Compression. Later in life EVERYONE learns to read, but do they understand what they are reading. At this age kids should listen to books and have group discussions about the book, making them think, details, places, characters, ……it’s comprehension that’s most important
It has been my experience that if you help your infant everyday by moving his legs in a walking motion, there is close to a 90% chance that by the age of 12 months that baby will be walking!
Ha ha ha. That’s my experience, too!
I am a kindergarten teacher and I can tell you that the vast majority of us do NOT “buy into” the “new” kindergarten but since politicians and so-called education “experts” who have very limited classroom experience have set these new expectations, we have no choice but to follow them or lose our jobs because they make sure our evaluations, and therefore our jobs, are tied to students meeting these standards. It breaks my heart that I am expected to enforce these standards on students who aren’t ready and it frustrates me when people assume that we are okay with or don’t care about what’s going on. Teachers have very little power or influence into setting standards or curriculum and even when our opinions are sought out, we are rarely listened to. My priority is, always has been, and always will be MY STUDENTS. Maybe if the people setting education policy and standards had the same priority we could actually get somewhere.
Thank you for posting, Jessica. And thank you so much for your work with kindergarten students. I’m afraid I offended you with this post. Let me assure you, most everyone I know recognizes the difficult situation teachers have at this time–especially in early childhood education. I know that jobs are at stake and that you and many other teachers struggle every day to to work around the ill-conceived, damaging ideas others foist upon you. Hang in there. Do what you can to teach your students what they really need to learn. And know that you are appreciated every day.
Thank you, Jessica, for making this point. I often see articles similar to this one that seem to put the blame on the “kindergarten teachers.” I am one, too, and I (along with ALL of my colleagues) am horrified at the direction things are going in this country in early childhood education. And I don’t see it going the other way any time soon!
Please, please, please speak up at school board meetings and Common Core informational session about this travesty, Jessica and Laura. Get rid of the nonsense so you can get back to teaching the good and right stuff.
Fay, instead of asking the teachers to speak up, the parents need to speak up. Teachers, at least where I live, are not allowed to speak against Common Core for fear of losing their jobs. Parents need to realize that we do have more power than we think if we band together and make our voices heard.
I am a newly retired kindergarten teacher and I can tell you without a doubt that this trend to push beyond development will and does cause many problems. It is one reason I decided to retire “early”. I can also say it is NOT coming from the kindergarten teachers, but rather from the expectations put on them.
I so agree with Connie Dobbratz! I retired as soon as I could! I just could not continue to watch this push and the stress it caused. The children were not having time to explore and learn in a developmentally appropriate manner. Hence, they are not learning how to be lifelong learners. They are getting real good at taking tests and spitting back facts.not showing true understanding of information presented. This must stop now! Parents get on board. Look at what countries like Finland and New Zealand do! Learn a lesson from them America!
Unfortunately Ruth, NZ seems to be following in America’s footsteps! National Standards, Charter schools….it’s going downhill. I have only been teaching for 4 years and am already noticing negative changes. The teachers union is pushing for us to follow Finland’s example, but the government is having none of it. I feel so sorry for the children, especially my struggling learners! So much has changed over the last 10-15 years…and not much of it for the better unfortunately.
I would love to know what the problem you see with Charter Schools is?
The problems I see with charter schools across America are many, and negative. Al Shanker would be rolling over in his grave today, these charters are definitely not what he had in mind decades ago. The neighborhood schools have been so defunded and underfunded, starved of arts and pe and music, left in disrepair, that it is a miracle that they continue at all. Then they are called failing and closed, or publicly labeled and left to die a slow death. Next a shiny new charter is brought in, families are given “choice”, but only if they fill out paperwork and jump through the hoops, and don’t have any learning disabilities or language issues. The charter takes the public taxpayer money, which they quickly turn over to a privately run company to spend however they see fit. And no one can find out how that TAXPAYER money is spent. They hire uncertified teachers, new teachers, Teach For Awhile teachers at cut rates…to teach however and whatever they are told…don’t ask questions or you will be fired. They institute “no excuses” discipline policies, and use them to effectively remove any student who isn’t going to help the school’s test scores. They then claim a “miracle”, due to being able to weed out poor test scorers at will. And even after doing all this, the majority of charter schools can show no positive effect on a student’s education and learning.
I support you sentiment about Early Years, The Caribbean needs to follow this path as well..I think sometimes we under estimate parents power.
THat is what i notice also! I have been doing consultations & therapy with young children for decades. HOMEWORK now starts in kindergarten & the view of learning as learning skills has invaded many settings. The standardized tests and anxiety that children will be “behind” seems to have contributed to it.
Thanks for posting this!
I couldn’t agree more. I teach much better when I put my kids before the standards. I have taught kindergarten for 27 years and have cringed watching this happen to kindergarten. Some kids simply aren’t ready to read and decompose numbers as expected by the common core standards.
I agree i used books in kindergarten for many things and always struggled to read the books
I agree 100% with what you said…so I say Ditto! I might also add how upset I am that I have 3 students….one of which is EC that are not performing ‘at standard’. I am being forced to implement RTI for each one because they are not where they are ‘supposed to be in K’ when comparing them to their peers.
I could have written that same post. I agree one hundred percent but didn’t have anything left in me to fight the system, in apite of my going against all my beliefs just to keep my job. My heart broke and I think I’ll write a book about it!
yeah really great post!
I agree I’m a licensed family childcare home and also a full 5 star family childcare home . I know what you are going through I also am having to force academics on my preschoolers who in some cases just aren’t ready and shut down or act out behavior wise , now I fear I’ll be held accountable if these children don’t recognize all upper and lower case alphabet letters , learn to recognize letter sounds , break down simple words and read them so it’s just no kindergarten teachers but also preschool teachers that are feeling the adverse affects of forcing early reading skills on children who are 3,4, and 5 years old .
Great post.
Thank you for this, but this message needs to be understood by policy makers. It is something early childhood educators know well and struggle with daily. How do you stay developmentally appropriate, encourage children to feel successful and recognize the fun and excitement of learning and still meet state mandates? I teach kindergarten with children who are at or below poverty level and are from non English speaking families. Their English is minimal to poor and their experience level is not comparable at all to the typical American born child. The expectations upon them are so unrealistic, and the great progress they make through play and experiential learning is negated because they are not at DRA level 4 and can not identify 100 sight words as is required. If you are already feeling a failure in kindergarten it is really hard to ever feel good about yourself.
Elizabeth, Thank you for posting and sharing this heartbreaking example of the real problems you face teaching kindergarten. Like Jessica, you are a kindergarten teacher who really understands the needs of your students. Don’t you wish those making the decisions that impact you, your teaching and your students would spend a day in your shoes? Take care.
I am a parent of 2 very different children ages 13 and 14. My 13 year old is a high honor student who excelled at reading early on. My 14 year old did not. Unfortunately he had a learning disability with reading which was not caught until just a couple of years ago. I He hates to read now. I wonder if that stems from his being pushed through the system too quickly.
Thanks for posting, Marta. I love the challenge of a 14 year old who hates to read! Though I know it is tough for both of you. It’s difficult to figure out where reading problems start, but there are so many wonderful books (magazines etc.) out their now for young people–both nonfiction and fiction. I wonder what kind of support he is getting in school. If he has trouble reading fluently, of course reading is a struggle and no fun. Now is the time to work on increasing reading speed. My guess is his teacher is working on that.
I have a soon-to-be 4th grader who struggled in 1st grade reading. She was constantly being tested, and tutored and tested again, then remediated. She was tested for disabilities, found none…even though I continue to see her reverse letters and numbers, she does not register as a dyslexic. Luckily we moved, and we had her repeat 1st grade again. Her teacher was wonderful, but it took that second 1st grade plus 2nd grade for her to begin to feel as if she can be a reader. 3rd grade she was still behind, mainly in fluency, her comprehension has always been very good. I am hoping 4th grade will be even better. But it has been a long road…one I feel she would have not had to take if the full-court press to be reading by 1st grade hadn’t been there.
Has anyone told you to have her eyes checked by a vision therapist. She could have a visual processing disorder it is not apparent in a regular vision screenings and can cause letter reversals and other problems.
It’s not only reading. It’s math, science, social studies. Second graders in my district are being asked to analyze how the Tigris and Euphrates rivers contributed to the birth of civilization. Most seven year olds I know can barely tell me their address. How are they supposed to conceive of, let alone analyze ancient rivers halfway across the globe. It’s developmentally inappropriate. And don’t get me started on the standardized tests that require eight year old to sit for exams longer than the SATs. I hope things change soon.
I heard, Bridgette, it was Mesopotamia in 1st grade! I am all for some social studies but it’s too intense, and like you stated so well, some subjects are taught too early! No I won’t get you started on standardized tests. But do check out http://unitedoptout.com/. It’s sweeping the country and one of the best ways to fight high-stakes testing. Thank you.
I agree 100% Bridgette G! I have my 7 year old enrolled in an online public school with the history that you speak of. its insane!
Thanks, Susan. I’m wondering it you are using K-12 Inc.?
I was using the k12 at that time, now my daughter is 10 and home schooled She has been home schooled for 2 years now. I left her alone to discover her love of reading and did not push her. Now she not only loves to read, She reads very fluently now and with comprehension!
We often forget that children can be motivated to learn to turn the pages on their own…if they like the books! I am happy for you child! Thanks for sharing.
Parents need to read more. Start with the comics. REad to their children. Pretty soon the kids will wonder what reading is all about. When they see their parents reading they start to wonder. If parents don’t pick up a paper the kids won’t. We read a lot and our chilren picked it up pretty fast. They are adults now. They read all the time. My kids never went to kendergarden and yet they were always at the top of their class.They watched us read and they wanted to get in on it too.
Great points! I love comics and they are easy for children to pick out words. Thank you, John.
I have a 3 year old who is intelligent. I am amazed at his development, he knows what he needs to know already for kindergarten. I feel fortunate. I have many friends who are teachers. I know they are supportive of their school, but NOT supportive of this push to beat the knowledge into our children, however, I do agree that many have bought into it for fear of losing their jobs. I encourage people to stand up and make themselves heard, and stand up for these children. Our method of “teaching” is sub-par to those of other countries who are far ahead of us in terms of education. That in itself should be a wake up call to our government. Maybe we need to adopt the methods of countries like Australia. Furthermore, not every child in this country has the same advantages, and many are at a disadvantage when it comes to getting off to a good start.
That’s nice to have an intelligent 3 year old, Jude. Be prepared to face unique difficulties when he starts school. It’s hard to compare America’s education system to other countries. They all are run differently. America pretty much tests everyone now. I am, however, enthusiastic about Finland’s schools. Now I will have to go check out Australia. Thank you!
Please – don’t believe that teachers have “bought into” the current teaching methods. They have NO choice in the matter. Signed – a retired teacher.
Thank you for this comment. I am a kindergarten teacher and it makes me sad that I am forced to teach in a way that is completely, developmentally inappropriate. I try very hard to fit in play by trying to create lessons that follow the standards but are also fun. As far as reading goes, when a school system requires a K student to be reading at a certain level upon K completion or performing math tasks that are not within their reach and teachers are constantly being observed and evaluated, teachers do not have much of a choice. If I give my children a 5 minute rest period and an administrator walks in to observe, I could be written up for not being on task according to the schedule they set. My children are not allowed dramatic play or blocks, etc. People can give kudos to teachers who break the rules or walk the line without being afraid of losing their job but I have three children of my own and I must be afraid of losing my job because my own children need a house and food, etc. PARENTS need to work together as well as teachers to change the path of early childhood education but the blame should not be placed on teachers alone.. I can say with certainty that you will find few, if any, kindergarten teachers who believe in the new kindergarten
I myself have 3 very smart children 2,4,5 years old but I have a very stressful job that takes away almost all of my time. Since I am a single parent and I am neither upper or lower class, I can not afford the learning centers or do I qualify for the headstart programs. Meaning none of my girls will get any prior preparation for kindergarten, except Pre-K (which children must be under a certain level to attend). I was completely at lost this year when I put my 5 year old into kinderaten. They wanted to send her to a special class because she was behind. When I spoke to teacher, principle, etc. About how she was denied pre-k last year because there were too many children below her level that needed assistance, I could not get any clear answers. All they keep telling me was that the program was free and they didn’t understand why I had an issue with it. As a tax paying citizen these extra teachers aren’t free. I was told I was the first one to deny the “extra” help and I was just overreacting. My theory on this is that if children are now required to know this long list of things then prior learning must be mandentory as well. After my debate on this policy they changed the “permission” slip for the special teachers to a letter notifying parents the children would be taking this class. The only action taken was to ensure no other parent would confront them about this. I still have 2 children left to start school and I am stressed already knowing what I must do to prepare them in my already limited time with them. How am I going to spend the quality play time with them that is needed?
Absurd that you were not given a spot and now your child has been identified for support. Write a letter make a copy and send it to the school board. Take the extra help for your child but do not let her be identified as special needs which should require a meeting with parents and sped team with your permission an signature. Only take support that is labeled tutorial or extra support not sped. It will only benefit your child . Then find out what is on list as skills deemed needed for entrance.It should not be alphabet, letter sounds,sight words,numbers,etc. Basic skills perhaps primary colors, their name, birthdate, age,some shapes (circle ,square,triangle),count to 10, draw a person with some features, and understanding a few maybe like ice is cold, fire is hot etc. Just some things such as this. You can greatly prepare your other children simply by reading short stories and discussing,coloring with crayons, counting objects at home,singing songs, and learning nursery rhymes. It does not have to be formal children this age learn best by play. Join a mom’s group so your child can play with others or just go to the local library program. Schools are expecting kids to come in knowing too much as first grade has trickled down into kindergarten . This is crazy! Childhood is a journey not a race!
Well said. Parents need to be empowered.
Why did the readers here need to know that you have an intelligent 3year old?
This is educational malpractice, and the only way to stop it is for parents to demand that it stop. Politicians have proven that they will not listen to educators.
I hear you, Melinda. Parents have a difficult time paying for expensive attorneys to represent them. It’s easy for me to say organize, yet it appears difficult to do. But many grassroots organizations are pushing back. Parents are educating themselves and working across the country through social media to be heard. I am happy to know quite a few of them. I learn a lot through their activism. Thank you!
The degree and training I received in Early Childhood Education was so right on in 1969 and I have continued to firmly believe. But “new educators” and “know all politicians” want to think their way of thinking is best for children. This article so true, let children be children and let them be their age.
Thanks, Linda! Those really were good years in education. I mean there were problems, but early childhood education and special education seemed to be headed in the right direction at least.
My 6 year old girl loved reading in Kinder. She read early and was enjoying chapter books by first grade. BUT, then in 1st grade the teacher started AR reading. (The kids read books and then are tested on a computer about the book. They receive a score and can track all the books they have read. ) She was so excited to start this program, but after a couple of “low” scores she has no interest to read on her own anymore. She is so afraid to get a failing mark that she avoids taking the test. I’m going to ask the teacher if she can opt out of this test.
Oh I hate to read this. It happens so often. My daughter experienced something similar with timed reading. It infuriated me. AR has been removed in some school districts, I believe due to its unpopularity. Some students really love it though. I say any reading program that starts to produce stress should be ended immediately. Good that you are asking to opt her out of the tests. Her teacher should be able to tell if she is reading well other ways. Thanks for sharing.
Then let’s do something about the core curriculum – it’s awful and stress – producing for both staff and kids. Also MAP testing where kids starting in K are tested with a test on computer 3 times a year!
And pretty soon it will also be PARCC, Kathy.
My school had RAC, instead of taking a standardized test- which you could opt to do- you sat down and spoke with a teacher, didn’t have to be a teacher you had for class. We talked about parts of the book we liked, which characters we enjoyed more, what did we think about the antagonist, the hero. I developed a very high reading comprehension and by 8th grade as testing at a college level because this way of ‘testing’ reading. I feel it helped students develop a more critical eye for what they were reading while still giving them a way to explain what they read without ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers. The teacher would be able to know just by speaking with the student if you did or did not read the book.
As a parent, I am confused as why you would stop AR. The purpose of the testing, as I understand is to test comprehension. If she is receiving low scores did you consider that she is not understanding what she is reading? It is not about quantity but quality.
As a parent, children’s librarian, and substitute teacher, I’ve seen kids refuse to read wonderful books just because they can’t take a test on it. I’ve also seen kids who could tell you anything you wanted to know about a story if you talked to them about it, but they don’t do well with the format of the computerized tests. Many questions focus on recall which is only one part of comprehension and some of those questions are on tiny, insignificant details. The bulk of the tests I’ve seen come through are heavy on the memorization of detail which doesn’t really tell you if the child comprehended the plot or understood the meaning behind the story.
One of the best teachers my son has had so far was his second-grade teacher who blew off the AR tests and goals in favor of seeing the kids reading whatever interested them. She understood that not every book has a test (it takes a little while for the company to make one after a book comes to market)and even if a test is out there, the school has to pay to make it available to their students. Subscriptions are not cheap and in an environment where everyone is dealing with increasingly tight budgets, those tests may not be the highest priority. Also, if you have a child reading well above their grade level, you tend to run into issues of reading level vs. age-appropriate content.
I think the issue is not that AR can’t be a useful tool, but it can’t substitute for direct conversation and interaction. The feedback is “You got this many correct out of this many possible. Your percent is___” That is just not enough information to determine whether the wording of a question tripped the child up or whether they missed an important detail. It can’t tell you what they found most interesting about the story or what they would do if they were in the main character’s place. It misses the big picture and students who don’t do well frequently get discouraged and start dreading the tests.
As for its not being about quantity, in many areas, that’s not accurate. All the elementary schools here have some level of competition to earn points through taking the tests or at the very least, they have a set goal for each child to earn during each grading period. When you have someone who has issues with the tests and the books they enjoy reading only give them a point or two, that can lead to a lot of stress as the end of the grading period approaches. I’ve seen many kids put down a “meatier” book in favor of several they can use for quick points. Much like cramming for an exam, they retain the information long enough to pass the test, but can’t carry on a conversation about it a week or two later. You’re right, it should be about quality over quantity, but too often, that’s just not the case when assessment is turned over to an automated system.
“it takes a little while for the company to make one after a book comes to market”… and that indicates the real reason for all the testing. Testing has nothing to do with learning or education, but with campaign finance and cronyism. Someone, usually with close ties to government, is making a lot of money producing these tests, and lobbies furiously to keep on doing so.
Very few first graders need to be taking AR tests. The writers of these tests do not necessarily understand developmental stages of reading. Also, I’ve noticed some AR tests contain higher level vocabulary words, for example a first grade level question will contain a fourth grade level word! The first grader may not be able to read or understand the question! That doesn’t measure comprehension, that’s just bad testing!
First graders would do better reading and talking about books both at school and at home.
Second graders, some of them, are ready for a very careful explanation of how these computer multiple choice tests work. For example, the teacher can read a book to the whole class, then project the test questions one by one onto a screen. The class will then “take the test” together…and discuss each question. Why was this answer better than the other? Which one can we eliminate? Why is this question confusing? Let’s read all the answer choices again and make sure. Now the kids are seeing a model of how to be successful at these computer tests.
Depending on the overall ability of the class, this modeling will take place multiple times before the students are able to begin testing on their own. It does take time to do this. Too many kids are not taught how to be successful test-takers.
And one more thing: The teacher should model that not every good book is a “test book.” Select books that aren’t test books sometimes. Smile and let the kids know that everything we read doesn’t have to be a test book:)
Something that often gets missed is that early reading is a key SYMPTOM of Asperger’s (now part of the ASD disorder). My 10 year old taught himself to read when he was 4 and can now read anything he wants to read. But he doesn’t like fiction (has trouble picturing the story without help) so he struggles in reading in school because they want them reading fiction and at least 45 minutes a day. Why should I force a kid who reads as well as I do to spend his free time doing something he doesn’t like? Give him a book about one of his obsessions and he will read all day long but the school doesn’t think Mario and Pokemon are good subjects.
My other beef is that they push reading heavly in K and 1st grade but here they won’t test for learning disorders until the kids are in 2nd. So many children feel like failures and spend a third year struggling only to find later that they just needed to learn a special way. That one makes my blood boil. Before they decide that a child needs to repeat a grade they need to make sure that they have assessed for learning disorders and that they are being addressed.
Thanks Christi. It sounds like you have quite a self-sufficient guy there, so I can see why his teachers are trying to get him to incorporate other kinds of topics. But it does bother me that the school doesn’t look more into LD. My guess is they are now incorporating Response to Intervention (RTI) in the early grades to supposedly catch difficulties early. Then they put aside discrepancy testing. And I hate to hear about retention. Check out Shane Jimerson’s research http://www.nasponline.org/resources/principals/Retention%20WEB.pdf
Yes. It’s always let’s try this intervention or that for periods of 6 weeks at a time. Then the year is over and the student has not been referred for SPED testing. The next year it’s the same until the child is experiencing so much failure they’re feeling defeated. Parents too. I think the whole interventions idea comes down to money. They don’t want to spend it to test.
The interventions are being required prior to testing by federal law (Response to Intervention). The school has to do it before testing for LD and they’re not saving any money that way. Purchasing materials and hiring staff to provide interventions is costly and the students who are truly learning disabled end up not responding to the interventions and being tested, eventually, anyway.
Christi, my son also has Asperger’s and taught HIMSELF to read at 3! Anyway, he also loves Pokemon and Mario. He is obsessed with owls, and in his younger years LOVED the Guardian of Ga’hoole series. Now that he is older (a senior in hs), his love has grown into fantasy, and Mythology!! He loved the Rick Riordan Percy Jackson
series, and ANYTHING Mythology wise held his attention when he had to read in school.
I teach kindergarten and I would be THRILLED if kids came in knowing 19 capital and lowercase letters, as well as 7 sounds! But even better if they came in knowing how to stay in their own space bubble and take turns sharing toys or talking. Letters can be learned quickly at the right time; what’s the rush?
Amen! Another cool teacher! Thank you!
I volunteer weekly with 4 & 5 year old and I so agree with you. Most of my time is teaching them social skills and not the other fun learning lessons I have prepared. I do not know too many of their parents or the circumstances but you can tell which kids are given attention and which ones are in front of tv/ipad all day.
As a parent, I have worked with my daughter, I have paid for good preschool and pre-k, I never expected her to want to read at this age. But she is reading, because she is interested. If she wants to read, I let her read, if she does not want to read, I read to her. I know she is reading because people are taking the time to teach her on her level, in her way. Both me and my husband, and her preschool.
I am frustrated when I see parents leaving the education of their children to the educators. When they are not reading daily to their kids. When they talk at them and not with them. It does not cost money to read to your kids and a little bit of one on one time goes a long way.
As much as this problem is from unrealistic expectations, this problem is also caused by parents who don’t teach their kids, even how to sit down and listen. Blaming others will never solve your problems.
I believe it is ultimately the parents’ responsibility to make sure their child learns essential skills – whether it’s abcs/reading, tying their shoes, or sharing/other social skills.
Kindergarten is the time when teachers find themselves with the greatest difference in development in the classroom. As a parent of both high IQ and special needs children, I can say every childs’ growth and learning capabilities are different. We need to demonstrate compassion and flexibility in the curriculum. Testing seems more about money/funding, rather than a way to measure progress and evaluate and improve teaching methods.
It is not kindergarten teachers who have put away the blocks and play centers to focus on reading of their own accord. Rather, it is the mandated curriculum, which usually comes from people who have never taught a child to read.
You make a great point. I get this Michael. I know there are great teachers…several commenting here. I am a former special education teacher. I feel sorry for teachers. But my post mentions a study found 65% of kindergarten teachers think teaching reading in kindergarten is fine. Were they forced to respond that way on the study?
But yes. There are a lot of people with no experience with children or education concerning them, now in charge of what happens to public schools. Thank you for your comments.
I wonder how the question on the survey you cite was worded. My teaching colleagues are all concerned about the push to get kids to read, and the impacts that has. Would we disagree that “teaching reading in kindergarten is fine”? Probably not. It’s not the teaching reading that’s a problem (remember, there are many aspects to teaching reading, including read alouds and shared reading, and encouraging dramatic play that involves pretending to read, and games that facilitate learning alphabet letters). I think the issue is what the expectations of outcomes are, and how we define “successfully” completing kindergarten. Are you sure that when those 65% of teachers said teaching reading was fine they were saying it’s fine to do skill and drill activities at the loss of play time? Are you sure they weren’t saying it’s fine to include reading activities in with the other things kindergarteners should be doing ….as good kindergarten teachers have done for decades?
I encourage all of you who are dismayed, as I am, by current educational “reforms” that ignore the joy of learning and appropriate developmental levels, and that are over assessing our children, take a look at the Badass Teachers and Badass Parents facebook pages and websites, and also look for opportunities for your children to opt out of standardized testing. Google opt out and you will find the resources and support you need.
Thanks, Mary.
http://unitedoptout.com/
http://badassteachers.blogspot.com/
What is up with the weird gambling references on that unitedoptout, site. Did the website get hacked or something?
Looks fine to me. http://www.unitedoptoutnational.org/supporters.html I see another site. Not sure what it’s about. How strange.
NO! Teachers don’t ‘buy into’ or ‘believe’ this message. We love our children, we see our work as a mission, and we do everything, EVERYTHING, in our power, to ease these precious children through this confining current educational climate–it is a very difficult and ridiculously stressful tap dance for which we are not compensated with a decent wage, and are rewarded with sweeping generalizations like yours which further demonize the very people who are fighting from within to make sure your children come home every day smiling and happy, loving learning. This post, while perhaps well-meaning, encourages stereotypical and misguided “blame the teacher” thinking.
Hi Robin. First, I’m a former teacher who taught in the area of special education for many years. I attended college to become a teacher. My heart goes out to professional teachers who struggle every day in the classroom with reforms they question but feel forced to teach for fear they will lose their jobs.
Read my other posts or my book Misguided Education Reform: Debating the Impact on Students, and you will know I am on the side of teachers!
My post, however, expresses concern over the study that indicates 65% of kindergarten teachers currently believe reading should be taught in kindergarten, hence making it the new 1st grade. That’s a hefty number of teachers. Not all though, of course.
Why did the 65% indicate they have bought into teaching reading in kindergarten? Were they pressured to respond this way? Is the research off? What do you think? I don’t know why, but it bothers me.
Pushing young children to read early if they are not ready is harmful. That is the main point I tried to get across in this post–not “blame the teacher” thinking. I hope I cleared that up.
I assure you…..I, a kindergarten teacher was not asked my opinion. And I know in my heart that 65% of us don’t feel that way. We are forced and threatened or told, if you don’t like it…change grade level.
That’s sad, Julie. I do sometimes wonder about studies and data. Thank you so much for posting. The sad thing is there are problems in the other grade levels too. What’s a teacher to do? Teachers need to be given back their classrooms!
First…GREAT article! As a kindergarten teacher and a lover-of-that-look-on-children’s-faces-when-they-get-it kind of person, I feel compelled to weigh in on the 65% of teachers agreeing that reading should be taught in kindergarten. Practically EVERYTHING we do “teaches” reading. We point with a read alouds to teach left to right progression, we sing songs and do plays to teach phonemic awareness, we play games and do centers with letters and numbers, we talk and discuss what the story was about and how those words look…and I could go on and on. This foundation IS teaching reading!
Then there are the differentiated knowledge levels coming into the classroom on Day 1 of school. If with 23 students you have 23 different levels of learning. SOME of them DO know their letters, letter sounds and ARE reading. Some can’t write their own name because they aren’t interested yet and are just getting to the “Oh-that’s-a-letter” stag of development. Play, socialization, and learning how society/a classroom functions is hard enough on the little ones…but it is MY job to find out where they are and make learning FUN enough that they WANT to learn!!! (That’s the best part!!!) So do I agree that reading should be taught in kindergarten…yes, but not in the guise the administration and curriculum and politicians have legislated into being! Reading should be taught without assessing each tiny breath they take. And reading should be taught with fun books, fun activities, and fun fun fun as the objective! THAT is how a child loves to read!
before I went to school my mother read to me often, and I loved it, but from the time I was 3yrs. old until I was 8yrs. old I lost most of my hearing. My parents didn’t know this because, (as they learned later) I could read lips.
Teachers began to put me in remedial reading classes, and I hated to read. I was in a male teacher’s class who Took my hand and hit me on the up turned wrist because he was angry with me because I hated what we were doing.
I learned to love reading when my Dad got rid of our TV and took me to the library and very casually introduced me to some books he had read when he was a kid. I decided to try them and I loved them, and continued to read and got very good at it.
Children don’t think like adults. They don’t have the ability to edit what they hear and receive from those around them. and if they are forced into reading and they feel they are being told they aren’t good enough they will carry that feeling through their life. Any king of teaching needs to be done gently, encouragingly, and with much patience.
Hi Phyllis, I’m so sorry for your early misfortune. What a horrible teacher! But it’s great you had a wise dad who loved the library and taught you to love it too. I love your last paragraph. Thanks for sharing.
So true! (So sad.)
Thank you for commenting, Paula.
As a Pre K teacher, my biggest fear is having the kindergarten teacher tell me “Johnny should be able to read simple sentences by now…” It’s February. But I followed the NY State Common Core Standards and by the end of Pre K my students should…”Recognize and name some upper /lowercase letters of the alphabet, especially those in own name. With support and prompting, isolate and pronounce the initial sounds in words. Demonstrate awareness of relationship between sounds and letters. With prompting and support, demonstrate one-to-one letter-sound correspondence by producing the primary sound of some consonants.”
If the kindergarten teachers would be allowed to follow the Common Core Standards, their students (who were mine in Pre K) would be on target. Yet, they are asked to expect more from these poor kids. It leaves me and the kindergarten teacher doubting what they know is right on a daily basis. Worst of all, the children fall short on a daily basis.
What the heck did they create the Common Core Standards for? They are just going to ignore the standards, push, have unrealistic expectations, blame, humiliate, and be constantly disappointed. I think we should use the Common Core Standards. In my experience and opinion, they are realistic expectations for young children.
Hi Esther. There are a lot of states backing out of the Core or reconsidering it due to controversy. Perhaps that’s why you see teachers doing something different. Thanks for taking the time to post.
I don’t have a little one in school yet but I’m very concerned about things like this. It also seems that if kids are being pushed too soon in the younger grades they aren’t being pushed enough in older grades and we end up with high school graduates that lack basic skills. I’m curious about what the reading expectations are in other industrialized countries?
Hi Joanna. Thanks for posting. Don’t worry. Most U.S. students are not behind like you hear on the news. We test everyone in this country–other countries often separate students into tracks.
But in Finland they don’t start formal reading in schools until around 3rd grade. They have the highest test scores.
Let me assure you…..I, a kindergarten teacher DID NOT BUY INTO THIS!!! We are TOLD what we can and cannot do in our classrooms. 5 or 6 years ago I was TOLD to get rid of our dramatic play center, puzzles and anything else that was considered play. We went to bat for those kids who are not developmentally ready for writing a paragraph in kindergarten. We quickly learned to keep quiet in fear of being moved to a different grade level or even a different school. Sad, sad state of affairs in public school!
Hi Julie, Thank you for posting, although it is sad to hear. You should be treated like the professional you are when it comes to teaching. I wish you the best.
I completely agree with what is being said here. I have taught Kindergarten for 27 years and it just breaks my heart to see all these drastic changes and they are NOT in the best interest of the kids. I know that many teachers across the country are feeling the same thing, the same pressures, the same sense of having their hands tied. Decisions are being made by people who are not “experts in the classroom”. When did my expertise and knowledge of young children become devalued? I know kindergartners better than any Politician! Perspective of what is right for kids is being lost. As frustrating as it is for teachers, who I really worry about are the kids. My BIG questions now are what can we do about this? How do we stand up and make a change? Where do we go from here? How do teachers make their voices heard?
Hi Sheri. Thank you for posting. I know teaching kindergarten is a full time job and probably even more time consuming with the unpleasant changes. But I believe the positive change you seek starts at the local level. Perhaps you can connect with other kindergarten and early childhood teachers along with parents, and respectfully approach the school board. I have always believed there is power in organized numbers and educators and parents around the country are uniting more than ever. If you haven’t yet done so, you might also want to consider social media. I have met some wonderful educators and parents through Facebook. Good luck!
I retired two years ago just as all the testing was starting in kindergarten. I am fortunate to be able to visit my school and “play” with the children any time I want to. To me this is an honor and a gift from my principal! I do see the kindergartens to be very structured and important reading levels being pushed. I was beginning to feel that I was intruding when I arrived with a “water table”. After reading your article, I will continue to push developmental play and learning…as I have always believed. Thanks for the article. Let’s get this in the hands of the politicians!
Thank you, Susan! It sounds like you are doing the right developmental activities that should be regularly done in kindergarten! I hope we can get our public schools back on track and even better than they were before! What you are doing is very important.
I taught kindergarten for 10 years and I am taking a year off because I do not believe in what I am supposed to teach now. I would feel more comfortable working behind a cash register at a grocery store. My kids were begging for a rest time. Kids learn through play! As adults, we have so much pressure why put it on a kindergarten student?
You have great words of wisdom, Connie! I am sorry you are having to take a year off, but I understand. Play is so important for young children and adults! Take care.
Thanks for sharing this information. I have taught for 9 years in the public schools, mostly in the primary grades. I have a young child that is very bright, but she doesn’t “fit the mold” of our school system. I have been watching the school system destroy her love of learning. This will be her last year in public school. (If she makes it through the whole year!) I can’t afford a private school, but I am a stay at home mom so I have the ability to home school and that is the plan. It makes me sad to walk through the schools and see how sad and stressed most of the students are and to see how much the teachers don’t enjoy their jobs because of all of the “reforms” that are being mandated. I hope many parents see this and realize that there is nothing wrong because their child isn’t reading Magic Tree House in kindergarten. I will be sharing this!
Like many of the other posts, this one makes me sad. And I would like to add that few children “fit the mold.” Why would we even want “cookie cutter” kids? I don’t blame the moms who take on homeschooling, but I hate to see parents driven out of public schools because of the draconian changes being made. Good luck, Sarah. Thank you.
Your story sounds like mine, Sarah. I was a teacher for 8 years in public schools, and now I’m homeschooling my children. It makes me sad to think of what’s happening in the schools that I loved.
Unfortunately, I believe the situation is even worse then what you described. Kindergarten teachers must give parents the materials they “need” to get their children “on grade level.” This leads to parents drilling their children at home, in addition to the mandatory math and writing homework, not to mention the reading and reading log, our nation’s children no longer have time to be children – at home or at school!
Oh Carrieann–you are punching my buttons here. Young children should not be drilled at home after being drilled at school. I can think of nothing to make them hate learning more! And the reading log can turn real readers off! Thank you for mentioning this.
This is incredibly accurate! I am the mother of a kindergartener and he is beginning to dislike reading!!!!! He loved it before he started kindergarten!! This makes me want to just cry. I really wish we didn’t have to push our children to the point that they dislike something. We are required to read 10 books a month to our children as part of the curriculum. Before kindergarten we would read that many in a day and now it is like pulling teeth to get him to sit still for one book. Please tell me how this is helping my child!
It’s not helping, Julie. And you are not alone as you can see with many of these posts. Children across the country are experiencing the same thing when it comes to reading. Just keep reassuring your child and see if you can connect with other parents to positively seek changes in your school district. Thanks.
What makes it more interesting is PreK isn’t even mandatory and not every school has it available. It is such a mess. And who gets blamed? The teachers!
Erika, That’s an important point! It makes what they are doing even more unfair. It would, however, be interesting to see if the students without the hard-driving PreK came to school more excited and less fearful to learn. Thank you!
Have you looked into Montessori? It’s based on observation of the children and following them developmentally. In the early days, and to a slightly lesser extent now that we have a set of materials that work for most children, materials were brought in and removed based on the children’s interest. My knowledge of Montessori education leads to me to believe that most children CAN and SHOULD learn to read around age 4.5… but note that I did NOT say they should be taught. See, Montessori schools have teachers who are trained to demonstrate the use of materials, based on the child’s interest, and then back off and just observe unobtrusively. The children are free to explore as long as they are not doing anything dangerous, damaging the materials, or disturbing another child. The only “reading” material they had in the original schools was a set of sandpaper letters on small wooden boards. Children who wanted to learn them were offered instruction, but if they didn’t that was okay, too. It was just tracing the letter and making its sound. Montessori herself believed 3-6 year olds were too young for anything more than that, and that they would learn even that much later, in formal schooling. So it wasn’t urgent, and in any case she looked at these classes as experiments anyway. Her concern was not in making the children learn, but in finding out *how* they learned when no one was imposing a specific curriculum on them. But the children surprised her, and their teachers. In each class, there inevitably came a day when a four year old would make a letter with the chalk that had been provided for drawing. (S)he would write words, and then exclaim something along the lines of “I’ve done it! I’ve written!” The other children would crowd around and try it for themselves and suddenly all the older children were writing. This same scenario happened in classes across the world. Montessori wrote about children writing on everything, even the crusts of their bread, because they were so excited about it. And then, as if their teachers weren’t astonished enough, about six months later some child would look back on something (s)he had written and read it, and tell everyone something along the lines of, “I can read!” Again, the other children would try it and find that they, too, could read. And when adults asked them who taught them to write and read, the children looked puzzled and replied, “Why, no one. We taught ourselves.” And at that point, most of the students were the children of illiterate day workers. They got no academic instruction at home.
So I firmly believe the issue is not teaching reading and writing at young ages, but in *how* we teach it. I find that most people who are against early academics (at least vocally so) assume that young children couldn’t possibly be interested in reading or math or history. It’s the other side of the coin – legislators believe that all children *must* learn it (now), and detractors believe that all/most children *can’t* learn it (yet)… but Montessori schools have found the opposite. And the reason is that Montessori schools actually ask what the children are interested in and let them demonstrate what they’re capable of. They have all concrete materials. There are no worksheets and no homework. There are art supplies and free movement and building materials and basic activities to care for oneself and one’s environment. Academics are “taught” by the materials themselves, through the child’s interest, and in an environment where social and motor development are just as highly valued as academic learning. There are other benefits of it, but I’ve already written a book so I will just hope people look into it on their own. Suffice it to say that Dr Montessori consistently found that whatever age she developed materials for, it was children just younger who were enthralled by them.
So I hope not to offend you by this statement, but I think articles like this miss the point. The focus shouldn’t be on what children learn when, but on *how* we teach them. When teachers believe children are too young, they usually don’t provide opportunities for the child to prove them wrong, and I think that is just as much of a disservice as pushing them to do things for which they aren’t yet ready. The key is having an environment that includes materials we don’t think they can handle yet, all the way down to materials we think they have outgrown, and then let them tell us what they need by observing what they use and how they use it.
Hi Megan, Thank you for the description of Montessori schools. I by no means meant through this post to imply that young children can’t learn. On the contrary. I think they are like sponges! They learn so much through play and age-appropriate activities. They can learn to read even–especially if they find it enjoyable! But currently students are being pushed and micromanaged with age-inappropriate activities. I think Maria Montessori would be appalled if she were still alive today to see how young children in kindergarten and preschool are treated. But thank you for your post. I agree with much of it.
To Megan and Nancy,
I couldn’t agree more with all you are saying. I am in the process of changing school for my son who is 7, in 2nd grade.
We are a French family, we moved a lot, we stayed 6 years in Scotland, 3 in England and in France. I have an older daughter who is 13 so my children have been in 4 different countries, in many schools.
The elementary school has been a terrible experience for my son. This is the first ever bad experience. Within one month they totally made him change his mind about school. From being happy to go to school in Scotland, now he thinks it is boring. It has been very detrimental too for his self-esteem…he really doesn’t like at all his new school. I am looking to change him to the Montessori school. I am not sure how to be in contact, if you have any spare time for my questions! many thanks Catherine
Thanks for this great article! It feels reassuring to see/hear others feeling the same. I have doubted myself with these feelings you spoke of and the demands/expectations just frustrates me. I have always believed that at kindergarten age and even younger as I have seen some parents and preschools push, kids do NOT need to know how to read…. or add/subtract, or analyze (as mentioned in a previous post above), etc. I agree Nancy..let kids be kids!
Hi Kristi, I’m glad you agree. Thanks for posting. I think the best thing for young children is to read to them, let them look at a lot of picture books and books they are interested in, and take them to a library for story hour. Let them also play.
It is not that the kindergarten teachers have “bought into this “. They are being told,what to do and don’t have a choice. Maybe the general public does not realize that the teachers do not decide what will be taught when. It is dictated either by the school or the state. This article is correct I have taught first grade for 25 years and in the last10 years the curriculum for first grade has moved down to kindergarten. It was not my choice nor was it chosen by the kindergarten teachers. We were told, these are the goals for reading in kindergarten by the principal. We have no choices. So, where is the push coming from? I believe states and federal government. Many are not ready. Reading is a developmental skill. No child beginning kindergarten should be considered behind. We take them where they are. There is so much pressure on teachers they have no choice. It is not right.
Comments like this, Mari, are very sad. I feel like I am watching the destruction of a profession I hold dear. I worry a lot about the future. I hope the parents of your students are supportive. Take care.
I homeschool and my daughter just turned 7 a few weeks ago. Up until now, we’ve explored nature, learning the names of many types of birds, trees etc. We’ve baked cookies and built forts. We read stories constantly as a family and she knows letters and sounds but since turning 7, I’ve started teaching her to read. That was 3 weeks ago. Today she read her first real book by herself AND it was a JOY! Mama is so proud and I am so glad I waited, despite the current trends in society.
You just cheered me up in a minute! Thanks, Jenn! Get her lots and lots of books at the library!
I completely agree with your article. As a parent of elementary school age kids, it is very frustrating to see your intelligent, developmentally normal child pressured to master skills that he’s not ready for. How do concerned parents and teachers work together to affect change before this issue gets worse? Why are we letting policymakers who are not early childhood experts hold all the power? I fear the pressure on our children is only going to get worse.
Hi Amanda, I have the same fears. There is already some concern that young children are acting out more. I think the best thing you can do is organize at the local level with other parents. My website has a section at the top called State Action Groups etc. Soon it will be a better site (I hope). Maybe you can find some information though. Good luck!
Having just left school conferences for my kindergartner this article makes me feel somewhat better that my “struggling” child ain’t struggling at all he is just working at his own pace. It is crazy to me how beurocratic schools have become. Having worked as an ea in an early childhood special ed classroom I often felt like I worked in a laboratory- data data data!!!!
Hi Kimberly, Let your struggling child browse the children’s picture books and have a good old time. Some library story hours are great. There’s some great picture books out there–chapter books too! Have fun! And the data stuff is over-the-top!
I am a veteran teacher of 26 yrs and I have taught Pre-K through 4th grade. I have 12 years experience in kindergarten and I have never been as frustrated as I am this year. I was told at a recent workshop (cheerfully) that Kindergarten is the new second grade! How absurd! I responded by saying you can raise the bar, increase the rigor, and expectations but you cannot change a child’s developmental growth! Piaget’s levels of development have not changed! Just because you stand a baby up at 6 months of age and push it, does not mean it can walk! There are developmental milestones that must be achieved and we are sorely neglecting the child’s emotional and social development as a result! I was told there is no place in the classroom for play, no centers unless reading or word work and no crafts either! “Let your Art teacher deal with that!” Are they serious?? Noone can tell me there is not significant learning taking place in the block area, or dramatic play, when the children are building lifelong skills of cooperation, problem solving and critical thinking. If they are not given the opportunity to interact socially, how do they learn to resolve conflict? I have watched as teachers sadly packed up their blocks and centers, and replaced them with reading silently for up to 45min (stamina) reading with a buddy, and word work along with endless assessments. Believer when I say we are setting these children up for failure, and we will reap the results with more severe behavior issues, social and emotional issues, and learning disabilities. The academics will be the least of society’s concern in the next 5 years if these legislators who know nothing about education continue on their quest! Parents may say “Well, they can play in Pre-K, but they too are succumbing to the pressure to raise academic standards. My advise is to do what you know is right, and always keep the child’s well-being a priority. Hopefully, this too shall pass, but until then, I will continue to let my students go to centers and play, and do crafts, and I will defend my teaching methods to anyone who questions them. My students read by the end of kindergarten for the most part, and love writing! Why do we have to sacrifice love of learning for some mandated agenda?
Second grade! I new it! They just keep pushing don’t they? I am so happy you have the right understanding of what your students need. Children learn so much through play. Thanks so much, Cathy.
My wife teaches second grade and agonizes about this issue daily. I am a librarian who has been “encouraged” by the community to address early literacy issues. Is it a coincidence that we held our oldest daughter out of kindergarten when she was initially eligible to attend? No. We did it because we felt an extra year of purposeful play and maturity would help her. These kids will find their way if we just let them be. Life is not a written test. These kids have no idea how to socialize or make any meaningful connections anymore. They don’t know right from wrong in many cases. They just know that they should answer a question in a certain way. My oldest daughter worried about standardized testing for two weeks leading up to the actual testing. I recall not even knowing that those tests would dictate my life, and scoring really high on them because there was no pressure that I would cost my teacher a job. Not blaming teachers! But I understand the pressure they must feel. Not only can they leave “no child behind”, they can’t allow accelerated children to develop beyond their “expected” performance. “Follow the Curriculum.” Don’t think that one student might be different from another. I could rant forever. Let’s treat our children like people rather than test scores. Please forward to former President’s Bushes and Gov. Scott Walker.
You hit some great points, Arin! I worry a lot about libraries. They are so incredibly important for students. So glad you are sensitive to your children’s needs. Thanks so much for commenting.
I have a 10 year old with cerebral palsy but bright as a whip… Too smart for his own good we often say, lol. He is behind because of his situation before we adopted him. We started home schooling him because he wasn’t enjoying school and the school wasn’t giving him the proper support. They were so focused on tests and reading and not letting him do and develop at his own pace. Last year the director of special Ed told me that they were not
Going to help him catch up because they didn’t think he could. We started home
Schooling him through online public school and while it has been time consuming and it was a struggle at first I love to see his enthusiasm for learning now. He is doing grade level work and very successfully. There are days that I or whoever is working with him that we are spent for the day and he wants to keep doing lessons. It has been such a positive experience that we started homeschooling his brother a few weeks ago with the same program
And are already seeing improvement in his grades and behavior as well!! When will we let kids develop at their own level? If you just allow them to be kids they will surprise you because they are naturally curious and want to learn.
You stated, “Last year the director of special Ed told me that they were not Going to help him catch up because they didn’t think he could.” I’m wondering if this was a public school and what they meant. I worry about some online programs. You seem to be having luck with yours. I wish you luck with homeschooling. I am sorry you don’t have the support you deserve with a special ed. teacher and a public school that addresses the needs of your children. Thanks for posting, Molly. Best wishes.
Thanks for the insightful article and comments – especially from teachers. As an American living in the UK I am increasingly confused by the discrepancy in approaches to early learning. It varies wildly from country to country. In the UK children start the equivalent of kindergarten at age 4 and are generally expected to be reading by the end of the school year. In France school starts earlier and in Sweden it’s later. I’ve only just begun to try and navigate the debates on testing and assessment and I’m thoroughly confused. My knee jerk reaction is that children are in danger of losing out at the expense of politics; regardless of the country. I’m a firm believer in reading often and early with your child in order to share time together, and ideally instill a life long love of reading and learning. Let’s hope school can support that idea rather than undermine it!
Thanks, Mrs. Brown. I’m interested in the UK as they seem to have similarities with the U.S. when it comes to their educational system. I certainly agree with you about the reading. I like the way Finland does reading starting formal instruction later.
Unfortunately, this is why I left education after 15 years. When creativity and developmentally appropriate practices were exchanged for standards and rubrics and IEP’s, my heart broke. I now believe I will make the largest impact on children by writing for them and through a new website I created to encourage young writers: http://www.kidsarewriters.com. This site hopes to educate and inspire and spark creativity. It is my greatest hope to spark creativity in the next generation of literary voices.
Thank you for the confirmation that I am non the right track.
Hi Michelle, Well I am not a fan in all honesty of Common Core, but your website has some nice features. I too believe writing is key–especially creative journal writing. Good luck!
Nancy,
So good to see your blog post about this important matter! This needs to be acknowledged and addressed in our public schools. I am a Dyslexia Therapist in a Texas elementary school. In the last couple of year there is a growing trend in data showing low reading/spelling/comprehension scores in kinder/1st/2nd. Because of this, I receive a lot of referrals for dyslexia testing. More than not, the student is not dyslexic,(does not have a phonological deficit) but has not been taught spelling skills appropriately(phonics spelling rules)or they just simply have gaps in these same area b/c they were not developmentally ready to learn.
Thank you for your post, Nancy!
Hi Sherri. I find this fascinating! I think it demonstrates the lack of a well-rounded curriculum. What has happened to spelling with all the phonics instruction? Thank you for commenting.
I’m a former teacher and I’m going to email this post to all of the people who don’t understand why I don’t want to go back to teaching. If only the policy-makers had ever actually taught young children.
Thank you for commenting. I’m sorry you felt you needed to leave teaching, but I understand. Feel free to email the post to anyone you would like.
I teach pre-k, as a part of a school district, and most of this is true for my classroom as well. We have 3 hours a day of reading instruction, and at the end of the first semester, because I had 3 students who did not know many letters, I was in a lot of trouble. We have little to no play time, and if I plan an activity that is not directly alligned with the state guidelines, I get in a lot of trouble. It is very sad. Pretty soon, at this rate, kids will have to be reading to qualify for pre-k!
Thank you, Betsy. All I can say is this saddens me and I am sorry everything is so strict where you work. You don’t seem to be alone.
It’s the wording. The way you worded it, makes it sound like the teachers actually have a choice. I have taught kindergarten for 12 of my 24years of teaching, 7 of them over the last 7 years. I cannot understand why the early childhood developmental specialists in this country do not speak up. Their silence is implied concent or agreement.
Thanks for your comments, Earl. Well I’d say teachers do have a choice but it is a difficult one. They can teach the way they are told, or they can speak out and risk getting fired. Not an easy decision when you have mouths to feed at home. Some teachers might have a less strict situation.
I can also tell you there are quite a few childhood developmental specialists speaking out, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Geralyn Bywater McLaughlin, and Deborah Meier to name a few, but they have a hard time getting through too.
Check out http://deyproject.org/about/ and the http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/. http://www.empoweredbyplay.org/
I am a current kindergarten teacher and have been for the past 5 years. I also have a 2 year old that I worry daily won’t be prepared to meet the kindergarten expectations. I haven’t “bought in” to the changes that have occurred but if I don’t have the same expectations of my students and grade them as such, I am then pinned as ineffective. My colleagues and I joke that for the majority of K students to meet the EOY expectations, we need to start providing brochures as women check out of labor and delivery called “What your child should know: the first 5 years.” In all seriousness, parents are blown away when they hear what the end results should be. We’d love to go back to the days of teaching 1 letter a week, painting, and dress-up; it’s just not possible right now.
I’m sorry you face such changes in your classroom, Lauren. I wonder what becomes of the poor children who can’t cut it? Thank you for posting.
Remember the 1989 film “Parenthood”? The Rick Moranis character is obsessed with so-called head start learning and constantly coaches his daughter. He sees the error of his ways and lets his child be a child. One example of Hollywood getting it right.
Hi Phil, I loved that movie! And the Rick Moranis character would have fit in well with the new preschool before his conversion! Thanks!
This is why we have the increase in diagnosis of ADD/ADHD. My son’s teacher showed me a paper that had a good sentence about Christmas written on it. I was stoked….wow my 5 year old wrote a sentence? Wrote, not copied, a sentence! I was so proud, then the teacher started explaining that he would not sit down long enough to write it more neatly and therefore needed to be medicated for ADHD. Huh? NOPE not happening… The requirements are so off base that we have to drug children so that they can meet standards. Goodbye entrepreneurship, goodbye arts, goodbye everyone else who doesn’t fit a stepford mold, hello sheep.
Excellent point, Christi. I’m wondering if your son gets recess? Meds. for children can be a concern. A teacher should never say a child needs meds. She can recommend an evaluation by a physician but not recommend it herself. She is no doctor.
I just resigned this week because of the developmentally inappropriate way I am required to teach Prekindergarten students. Two and a half years ago, my PreK team and I successfully completed a $2.2 million Early Reading First grant. At the same time, we also completed a two year Texas School Ready grant. I learned so many new strategies and developmentally appropriate practices to use with my students. When the grants were over, Prek had to join the rest of the campus and be evaluated by the TAP system. My “Master Teacher”,who has ZERO experience or training in Early Childhood Education, handed me a schedule that looked like a First or Second grade schedule. I tried to explain to her how inappropriate it was and she just said, “the administrators approved it, you have to follow it.” It has been a nightmare for me and my coworkers ever since. The FIRST week of school this year, she asked us how many of our Prek students were reading yet?!?!?!
Here are just a few of the skills that the Asst. Principal has decided that ALL Prek students should master by May:
-Identify ALL uppercase and Lowercase letters
-Identify ALL letter sounds
-Write ALL upper and lowercase letters
-Produce All letter sounds
-Read at least 42 sight words
-Be able to read sight word readers
-Rote count to 100 by ones, fives, and tens
-Identify the numerals 0-20
-Count sets 0-20
-Make sets 0-20
-Write the numerals 0-20
-draw pictures to show sets 0-20
I have NO problem teaching these skills to children who are ready for them. I have a BIG problem expecting ALL to master them in Prek.
During my evaluation post-conference, the AP told me that since the students just play during centers, if my whole group lessons run long that that would be fine with her. She feels that they need more direct instruction than play time anyway.
So, after 27.5 years as an educator, I’m done. I can no longer teach four year olds like they are first and second graders.
For those of you who choose to stay and fight the madness, I Wish You Well!
I’m sorry to hear you are leaving, Artis. How did you get a Master Teacher with no training? Everything you right should give everyone pause. Thank you for contributing.
I’m posting my comment here but responding to many of the parents who are confident that if their “smart kids” who have been exposed to rich educational experiences aren’t in trouble, there’s not a problem.
This issue isn’t limited to kids who don’t receive rich educational experiences or have major learning disabilities. In preschool my child suffered severe anxiety and teachers told us that she was very willful, did not like tablework and was not learning. They encouraged us to have her tested. We went through a complete day of testing when she was four. The results? Very Superior on the verbal portion of the WPPSI, Very Superior or Superior on every Woodcock Johnson test they gave her, a nine MONTH fine motor delay, the observation that she tends to be very slow, and the suggestion to delay kindergarten (she has an August birthday). We took the advice and put her in a transitional program prior to K.
Fast forward to today (kindergarten–she is the oldest in her class.) She introduces herself, “Hi, I’m [name of child]. I’m in kindergarten, but I’m old enough to be in first grade. She KNOWS something is “wrong” with her. She reads on a fourth grade level. She powers through online science curriculum that we provide for her at the 3rd-4th grade level. But in school? She STRUGGLES. She doesn’t need to do any of those things at school. She she needs to be able to read a little (okay, not a problem for her.) But she also needs to be able to write and draw quickly and accurately at a level she simply can not write and draw yet.
Her entire educational experience is wrapped up in not being good enough at that yet. She misses recess, class parties, center time, gets her conduct marker moved down. The work is writing, cutting, pasting, drawing–and she just can’t do it well enough or fast enough. No matter how much we wish she could be in first grade and getting some of her more advanced needs met, every day we are reminded that based on how school works today, we did the right thing by holding her back.
But here’s what else I have noticed. The slowness often happens because she’s exploring materials. I’ve watched her do it. It is actually a great strength. To squash that in her so she isn’t so much of a failure at school is very difficult. But that’s what happening. I notice it happening to other kids too, in different areas. By squashing their “stuff,” whatever it is, we’re often taking their greatest strengths away from them before they’ve even hit first grade.
Another thing I’ve noticed: being held back has really allowed her to learn math well. She can decompose numbers, but still doesn’t quite understand place value intuitively enough to decompose numbers consistently and accurately above 10. First grade is all about double digit addition and subtraction. If she were in first grade, we would have to teach her the traditional algorithms for addition and leave it at that. She wouldn’t have understood the why. (And this is child, don’t forget, that scored in the superior range on the Woodcock Johnson tests she was given in math as a young four year old.) Because we don’t have to rush her, she has the opportunity to truly understand place value and base 10 before she does double digit addition.
There are some straight-ahead kids that fit the mold perfectly that will be okay. But in general, this push for complete synchronization of children is hurting nearly ALL of our kids in one way or another.
I love this post, Laura, because it shows how students move at their own pace. Your daughter excels at many things yet she benefits from working and mastering other skills. I think that’s exactly what all children should be doing! I’m only sorry there is the grade focus. Thank you for posting!
My oldest son was able to recognize, write, and read his letters and their sounds in preschool. It was there he learned his number, shapes, and colors as well. They spent 30 minutes a day learning these things. Even my two year old can recognize his entire alphabet by sight. Although he taught himself that. I don’t think it’s asking too much that kindergarten’s know these things as long as all children have access to preschools that teach it.
Keri, what is right for your children might be more difficult for other children. I have no problem with young children learning material quickly–at a higher level. It is when it becomes mandated that’s the problem. Thank you for sharing your opinion though. Please note the post by Artis above.
I have taught kindergartern for 23 years. I have witnessed this theory that Kindergarten is the new First Grade. It is a big mistake. It is not developmentally appropriate. Teachers that I am working with have bought into this theory. I retire next year and have given up trying to make them see. I have had to change my way of teaching. All play area things have been taken from my classroom…play loft, kitchen set, puppet stage, and large trucks and cars. Nap time has been eliminated. Everyone wonders why behavior becomes an issue. Students are required to sit and “work” without any movement. Where is all this energy suppose to go?!?!?!
My hope is that this will all change someday.
Ugh. I bet they get little recess. How sad. Thank you for posting, Gail. I hope things change too.
I am a Whole Brain teacher (blended private Pre-K and Kinder)and using this program has really changed my classroom. I use so much of their brain while I am teaching ,there is very little room for misbehaving. Ants in their pants and can’t sit? I solved that one too. We take brain breaks (I am sure most do) playing a game as well as turn and teach the lesson. I involve the students in the lesson plan so they teach each other. They stay busy and involved while learning. Lots of gestures as they speak. The kids say I am the best teacher ever! No, I just love teaching and found what works for my class. It has been magical for me. Love teaching again.
It may not be for everyone but it definitely works for me.
I do not believe it should be shoved on a child or expected but trying many different ideas, I found how I can reach and teach each child according to their learning style.
19 kids in class they all read and love to read. I think part of it is delivery! I make it FUN!
Julie, I appreciate your comment, however, your classroom sounds regimented. Tell me. Do your students get recess? Are they allowed to play on their own under your supervision? Or are they constantly working? You mention games or “brain breaks” but it sounds to me that you have them so busy they don’t have much time to explore on their own. Let me know if I misunderstood. I agree learning styles are important but I’m not sure I am comfortable with your delivery even though you make it fun.
I thank God every day my son is in a self contained Special Education Classroom were he can learn at his developmental level. I would not be in education today if I was not working with these extraordinary individuals. I’m a SLP and all of my cousins home school their children. I can’t say I blame them. Their parents are an assortment of Doctors, Engineers, Former music teacher ect. The stress of school and the demand of age appropriate is not developmentally appropriate. My mother taught 25 years as a Kindergarten teacher and she says what they do in Kindergarten today is a disgrace. It should war against anybody’s good moral conscience since we have taken the humanity out of it all.
Please feel free to forward this e-mail onto Gist our Rhode Island Commissioner.
Thank you, Bonita. It is too bad that public schools are losing the diversity you mention.
I agree with you WHOLEHEARTEDLY, Nancy. I work as a kindergarten aide in a charter (public) Waldorf school, where we are immersing children in the beautiful, rich language of stories, poems, songs, games, and verses, presented orally. The children hear and imitate, and many of them MEMORIZE the material and teach their parents at home. They really love it and TAKE IT ALL IN, and when they go to first grade, they have varied and rich vocabulary stored in their memory, and, just as important, a LOVE of language and what it can do. In other words, they are ready for the world of written language. If you are an educator frustrated by what is happening in kindergarten, and schools in general, you may want to take a look at Waldorf education. We and other public Waldorf schools are working hard to keep our curriculum rich and developmentally appropriate, while still aligning to the standards. It’s not easy: the accountability pressures are intense, but it’s worth fighting for. A good place to start is Rudolf Steiner College’s “Applied Waldorf in the Public Schools” trainings.
Hi Shelia, While Waldorf schools do quite a few things that are developmentally correct, they are also controversial due to concerns about Rudolf Steiner’s beliefs, as we discussed. Interested parents should ask questions and review the research, like any school, to determine if a Waldorf school is right for their child. Thank you for posting.
One of my best students came through the Waldorf schools–she wrote papers about it, described it to me–I was truly impressed.
In England children learn to read at five years of age. I think differentiation is the issue here. Those keen and ready, begin reading, those not play.
Hi Jen. Thanks for posting. How much play do children get in England?
I agree with this article and with much of what people are saying in these comments. It is hard to be an early childhood educator (or any educator) in this educational/political climate. My question is “What can we do about it?” Early childhood teachers know what is right and yet there are mandates placed on us that go against the nature of how children learn. We can’t all quit, but we also can’t stand by and allow children to feel greater and greater stress and pressure in school. How can we have a voice for the voiceless and still do the job we need to do with love, passion, and integrity? I really do want to know.
Thank you for putting it so well, Meredith. I think speaking out in little ways, trying to push back as much as you can without getting fired, and joining groups and organizations that believe like you do can help. Social media is another avenue. It is amazing how many are fighting to do the right thing on Facebook and Twitter by connecting and helping one another. There is much power in groups! Take care.
Unfortunately, this expectation of a push-down curriculum isn’t just an American phenomenon. Even here in Papua New Guinea in our international early childhood setting, parental expectations for their children’s academic achievement are implausible. Homework – a series of flashcards (sight words) for an 18month old!!!!I don’t; think so! It is distressing to see that the right to a childhood is beginning to have less and less of a value in our society and that this is perpetuated and fed by politicians who have no background in education let alone child development. They grow up too soon – let them be little!
I’m sorry I overlooked this comment. It is fascinating to learn what other places are doing when it comes to reading even if it is inappropriate. Thank you, Kerry.
Interesting that they were worried about what kids did and didn’t know BEFORE they started school. They haven’t started school yet. Why are they supposed to already know what school was created for in the first place? Sheesh.
Interesting point. Thank you.
I began teaching kindergarten in 1991 and taught that grade level for 13 years. I then taught 3rd grade for 3 years and have spent the last 9 years as a principal of a pre-k – 2 building. I can tell you that this push down is nothing new. As a kindergarten teacher with an early childhood degree I constantly fought to maintain developmentally appropriate practices, but I also recognized the changing landscape and when mandates came down I implemented them as best I could while respecting the development of my students. I truly believe the teacher has the power to create an environment of joy and wonder or an environment of stress and diminished self worth. The reform movement is hardly finished with us and we have little control over what is happening outside the boundaries of our classrooms and our districts. We do, however, control the environment we are creating for our students. I believe in the power of educators and I encourage local school officials to allow teachers to be a huge part of the implementation of these mandates. We CAN control that! Don’t give up and don’t become bitter. We need great teachers now more than ever!
Contact Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education
http://www2.ed.gov/about/contacts/gen/index.html?src=ft
So true! These are the critical years, even before Kindergarten the foundations have been laid. Many kindergartens don’t realise PLAY is the way forward for leanring, especially for learning how to communicate.
I was a nanny but don’t have children yet but This is a massive concern… In the U.K we have the same problem…..
When is education going be compatible with children!
Children’s Author http://www.petitelibrary.com
I think there are many similarities between our countries when it comes to education and more specifically reading. Thank you for posting. I love the website and the sweet stories for children. The rabbit is sweet.
This is one of the saddest strings of comments I’ve ever read. You say, Nancy Bailey, I feel like I am watching the destruction of a profession I hold dear. I could say that, too, at the college level. I teach literature–how are kids going to want to read, have any pleasure in it, interest, curiosity?
This is such a travesty, what’s being done to teachers and students.
Opt Out, BadAss–that is really the way to go. JUST SAY NO
I too fear for the future.
Thank you, Gayle. I am always happy to see this post continuing to be read. I hope the situation can be turned around. You are right. Literature is so important and should bring children and teens great joy.
Thank you for writing this—I just finished my 5 year old daughter’s A-K conference (Pre-K, so she won’t be in Kindergarten until next year)— they give all the A-K students the FAST reading assessment three times a year (note–they have to take the kindergarten test – same exact test she’ll take next year)— they expect the A-K students to hit the same benchmarks – kindergarten students are in school approx. 35 hrs/week whereas my daughter is in school approx. 12 hrs/week (only 2.5 hours a day/4 days a week)— they informed my husband and me that because she has taken the test twice and fallen below proficiency the school now considers her “substantially deficient in reading”—as a 5 year old!!!!!!!! However—kindergarteners have to hit the same benchmarks—same exact test and everything—but they are in school longer—- and many a year older… The teacher informed us that my daughter would be placed in an “intensive reading instruction group” daily and miss out on the Theme Lesson of the day in her A-K class— she asked us to sign a piece of paper stating that we were aware that she was substantially deficient in reading—-lucky for us I am a special education teacher and wise to the test— I refused to sign and instructed the teacher that my daughter is NOT to be placed in such a group and miss the theme lesson–she WILL be with her peers –I did more investigating and it looks as if it’s not only a kindergarten test, but 1st graders take the same test and have the same benchmarks–so –that’s now TWO YEARS older than my daughter—yet now she’s labeled “substantially deficient in reading”— I am so angry— The thing that makes me the most angry is the idea that there are parents out there who do not know the background of this test and will go to a parent-teacher conference to hear that their child is substantially deficient in reading and believe it and be worried… THAT is INEXCUSABLE!
Thank you for writing this post….
I share your anger at this, Meg. It is inexcusable.
I am glad for your daughter that you understand what’s going on and will make reading a pleasant experience.
In Finland they don’t start formal reading until third grade. Reading should be a joyful experience! I don’t need to tell you that. We must get the word out.
Thank you for sharing your experience.
I observed the sad effects of this over and over. And it’s just become worse and worse since I left six years ago.
It is no accident. A nation of non-readers is far easier to control and exploit than a literate society.
Thank you for your comment, Paula. I agree. I wonder how long this will go on.
Is the way we teach like an ice skating coach would teach skating? Could you imagine-ok I taught you how to skate around the rink now go do a triple axel!
That’s a great analogy! Thank you, Julie!
Children in England have been required to read from the age of 4 for at least 40 years. If you would like to study the effect it has on a couple of generations, then it might be good to start here. Personally, I don’t like the emphasis on reading at such a young age and I agree with a lot of the points made here, but children survive it and move on. Right now, my five-year-old is reading well, writing OK, recognising capital letters and punctuation. She is also a sociable little girl, enjoys drawing pictures, singing, dancing and playing on her scooter. Although she would also have done OK without the early starting reading, perhaps she would have been bored. Who knows?
I am curious about the relationship of common core to this whole issue. I have a 4th grader and a preK. We just moved from a common core state to a non common core stat.e. Our experience in Alabama (common core), was wonderful. There were barely any tests, my daughter never had homework through 3rd grade, there were actually no grades either. She tested at the 97% and 93% in reading and math and is very smart, but has struggled a lot at her new school. Now, in Texas, where they do not have common core, she takes at least 2 quizes or tests every week, in addition to major tests (they’ve had at least 2 state tests and it’s not even November). There is less free time, the teachers do not spend individual time with the children, and push learning for all these tests. Oh, and lots of homework. This leaves me with the conclusion that Common Core is actually the far better system.
I got onto this website because I was concerned about my 4 year old who cannot count to 5 yet and knows only a few letters. I fear sending her to Kindergarten at this new school, where I think she will be labeled with a learning disability, when in reality she’s just not ready yet. (Her attention span is amazing, which all of her teachers have commented to me about.) She’s already feeling pressure and saying she just can’t do it, and comparing herself to the other children in her preschool (we can only afford to send her two days a week).
We are thinking about homeschooling starting in Kindergarten because of all this. I don’t want to see my child pressured and squelched before she even gets a chance. What do you think? Would it be best to keep her out until she reaches the point that she gets it? She thrives being with friends, but I try to work with her every day on counting and letters and she just doesn’t get it yet. She barely would draw anything until this year, but now every day she adds more details to her drawings, catching up at a fast rate. I can’t help but think if I don’t push her too hard, the same thing will happen with reading and math.
Thank you for sharing. This is interesting. It doesn’t sound like Alabama was doing Common Core the usual way. Testing is involved. I found a link that might explain this that I share below.
As far as kindergarten goes, you might want to discuss your concerns with the teacher. And maybe your daughter would like to visit a kindergarten class. Many kindergarten teachers are sensitive to the reforms being pushed upon them, and they work to continue to do age appropriate activities. I think it depends on the teacher and the school.
But in the end, you have to do what you think is most appropriate for your kids. It is not always easy.
Good luck, Let us know how you make out if you get the chance.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-02-22/common-core-tests-assess-student-achievement-differently
Thank you so much for your encouragement. I think I will take her to a class later in the year. My oldest use to love school and now it’s quite the opposite, and I don’t what my other girls to never enjoy school! Especially since they are so excited about even the prospect of going. I’m heartbroken I can’t just send them to the same school we used to be at!
The article was interesting. The test scores I referred to for my oldest were from ACT Aspire- have you heard anything about how it compares to the other tests? I believe it is new so that information may not be available yet.
ACT Aspire is aligned with the other ACT tests and lends itself to over-testing in schools. It heavily emphasizes college. While I want to see students get to college, if that’s what they desire, worrying about it so early is controversial. Third grade is third grade. Children should get time to be kids and find joy in learning.
Thank you Nancy. I’m reading this December 2016 in Australia. What you say is so true. Our advocacy group Protecting Childhood http://www.protectingchildhood.org is doing its level best to stop the rot here in Australia. Tough going. Our politicians and educrats are driving us in the wrong ignorant direction believing sooner and quicker is better. Articles like this are a great support. Thank you. Jonathan
This article bring up excellent points, and especially shows how important and emotional this topic is. For good reason! BUT, you are missing a huge piece of the the picture, imo. It’s not that k owi g letter names and sounds are so urgent at that age- but the prereading skills that are not being talked about are super duper important and should not be ignored by parents and teachers. These include: phonemic awareness (and specific skills in this area, not just rhyming), lots of fine motor skills, visual tracking/perception skills, focusing skills, memory skills etc. The fact that this is not mentioned is just unfair to those kids who have delays in those areas but no one even knows and then letter are pushed- as if that’s the real problem! Reading disabilities occur on a spectrum, and each child deserves that we the adults educate ourselves more comprehensively so that what needs to be addressed at a younger age is. It is not “just” enthusiasm, exposure, time to play etc. that get’s kids ready to read, it’s very specific skills, and while lots of play based learning can allow these skills to grow, for many kids awareness by the adults could help the kids utilize the time wisely- of course in a fun way! And yes, please please please let us all recognize the RANGE of appropriate development, and allow the kids time when they need it- just don’t confuse allowing time and freedom and play- learning through an environment and indirect instruction, to take place of the appropriate out of direct instruction and awareness.
This post is not about how and what to teach students. Certainly, the reading skills you list are important and children deserve the right to learn to read. I taught students with learning disabilities in the area of reading. But pushing children at an early age to learn to read when they are not yet ready could create problems. That’s the point of the article. But thank you.
I think a lot of this comes from the results of homeschoolers, many of who surpass their public school peers. Because of the one-on-one schooling they get, they are able to learn in a loving, safe, environment in a manner that is tailored to their needs and to how they learn best. Most learn to love reading as long as they aren’t forced to read books that are of no interest to them (which public schools are notorious for).
Parents who work (or for whatever other reason) don’t have time to teach their children at home so their kids have no choice but to read what the public schools tell them to. I taught my son from 18 months old, he knew all the numbers 1-10 and the entire alphabet by age two, and a couple of months before his birthday he asked me to teach him how to read (I read books to him every day from 12 months on). He was reading on his own by age 3 and loved it. Still does.
If public schools would follow the methods of some of the homeschoolers instead of forcing a set curriculum for everyone, more kids would learn to read earlier and LOVE it instead of hating it. I was an inclusion aid at a public elementary school, teaching special ed second graders at one point. I was appalled at how the teacher taught and wondered how in the world did she ever get her teaching license. After spending just 10 minutes a day with the special ed kids, they not only learned how to hold their pencils correctly (something they obviously didn’t learn), but there was an immediate improvement in their spelling, handwriting, and reading. Why? Because I incorporated my own methods that I used with my son and I talked with each child and adjusted the work to fit their needs.
The answer is simple … make learning fun and kids will love it. Force them to do something they’re not ready for or making them read something they’re not interested in, will only make them hate learning. Kids are perfectly capable of learning to read and write before starting school, but 10 minute sessions a day to start is plenty, You have to give them plenty of play time and just let them be kids too … something public schools don’t do enough of.
Until they can make changes in their programs and curricula, and focus on the needs of the children instead of the one-size-fits-all system, then yes, I believe they ARE setting the children up to hate not only reading, but school in general.
When I first started teaching in the mid 70’s I taught Kindergarten. The first-grade teachers told us to teach ONLY the name of the letter and NOT the sound or other phonics. In 2006, I had taught PK for several years. I grew disillusioned with the “demands” being put on PK students. My principal had us teach all letters, sound, phonics and sight words that USED to be for first grade. The goal was to have ALL students in a Title 1 disadvantaged ESL school to be reading at the end of PK. I could not accept that and I chose to leave the classroom for teaching Music. My heart breaks for the kids that are no longer allowed to play and have to test (Texas) every time they turn around. My grandson hates reading because he HAD to read only Accelerated Reading books on his level. Each six weeks more points were required to keep up (in second grade). 35 points one six weeks meant 35-70 books in a six weeks. Then to pass a test over each book… No wonder kids hate reading!
Thank you, Kathleen. Although I am sorry you left kindergarten and your grandson dislikes reading. Glad you teach music and hope he gets back on track soon. Accelerated Reading is not as popular as it used to be, I think. Maybe for the reasons you note.
I wanted to share this article featured in my local newspaper, The Columbian. I found it interesting. This statistic stood out to me: “According to data provided by the state’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Clark County trends behind the state average of students meeting all six criteria, with 43 percent of children ready for kindergarten compared with 47 percent statewide.”
This adds more information: “Students deemed school-ready meet six developmental or academic criteria. Teachers are tasked with marking whether their students meet certain benchmarks in literacy, language and math, as well as cognitive ability, social and emotional readiness, and physical traits. Students who fail to meet all six are not considered kindergarten ready, regardless of how many of the other traits they might meet.” I can see several ways that these standards could have faults. I also found the article interesting because they compared 2 schools, one with children from a very affluent area and the other having children who suffered from characteristics of poverty.
If 43% of children aren’t ready for kindergarten, maybe our standards are too high?
As far as my personal experience with kindergarten…I attended kindergarten in early 1990. I remember playing with large blocks, and having an incredible K teacher who also taught my 2 younger sisters in kindergarten. In her classroom she had the most incredible treehouse fort.
This year, my own daughter entered Kindergarten. We live right next door to our assigned school. However, I toured the school and found it lacking. It was crowded and overstimulating. School hours are from 830-3 and my kindergartener would have 35min of recess. I was shocked at such a measly amount of time for movement.
So I did my research and found another school in our district. This one was a parent partnership. It would be 3 days in a classroom from 9am-12pm and 2 days of at home instruction. I jumped on the idea. My daughter thrived. Not only did she have plenty of friends in her class of 15 students but she had an incredibly devouted teacher. We had so much freedom at home! I was able to foster her love for movement by adding that into math. We did art galore and explored different art techniques. We played literacy games and read through so many incredible books. We went swimming, biking, adventuring in our beautiful area. She had dramatic play, did an independent project on Cheetahs and went to the library weekly.
And amazingly, she learned how to read. What a feat! Now she reads all the time. I credit her love for reading because I constantly model reading to her through nightly story time, trips to the library, a beautiful selection of books, and reading aloud to her as often as possible.
Learning to read is an amazing thing as long as a child is ready and given the time to make those strides.
Ha! It would help if I included the link. 🙂
http://www.columbian.com/projects/2017/05/07/readin-writin-and-kindergarten-readiness/
And I quoted the article incorrectly. 43% of children are ready for kindergarten.
I’ve been a secondary teacher for 21 years, but I had no idea how much pressure was being put on our kinder/elementary babies until my own children entered school a few years ago. My daughter has done pretty well, reading and spelling came very naturally to her. I wouldn’t say she has a passion for reading, but she picked up on it quickly and has handled her school work up to 4th grade with success. My son, however, finished kinder reading on a B-level, and this was after we held him back a year because he has a July birthday. He’s now 7 and in 1st grade, still not reading. We hired a tutor last summer, a certified 2nd grade teacher who worked with him once a week for an hour…and gave us follow up work to do at home. We work with him at home as well, but I’ve never wanted to just “force” all of this on him. He’s very physically active, and coloring, puzzles, reading….he’s never enjoyed. After pushing for answers as to why he wasn’t advancing (and asking for additional resources from school that never came home), he was recently diagnosed to have a deficit in his short term memory and is in need of occupational therapy as well. (I will say he was adopted and born drug addicted, so we had reason to suspect some neurological damage.). He’s getting extra help at school which is greatly appreciated, but what I am dumbfounded by both as a teacher and a a parent, is that while we’ve raised the bar on our expectations for our kids, we have taken away textbooks and other resources that parents could use to follow along with their child’s education and assist even at home. Our district has pretty much taken homework out of the equation altogether in elementary. The repetition and practice that some kids need outside of class in a one-on-one setting at home has been almost eliminated. We’ve gone from “Dick and Jane” readers to online games. (I just don’t see a logical phonetic order to these games. Everything is random and my son can manipulate the game and enjoy playing without learning anything.). Teachers are supposed to entertain children 24/7, so we/they are finding lessons and activities on Pinterest that have little or no valid research behind them. As a teacher, textbooks have been all but banned, and I’m surfing the web every night to find resources and lesson ideas that will meet what is expected for my classroom by my district. But as a parent, I find that no readers, math, or science books are coming home, and I therefore I have no guide to what my children are learning other than a short blurb in an online letter and a link to a game. I can’t help my daughter with science vocabulary because I don’t know what she’s learning half the time. There is no “chapter” to look up in a book. And while my son isn’t reading, and we have plenty of books at home, no leveled books ever come home either for specific word or sound practice. So as a parent, I’m left searching the web to try to find resources to help them based on what I can conclude they are learning from a short blurb in a weekly newsletter. I don’t blame the teachers for this, the books were taken from them and they can’t possibly “publish” everything thy do and say in the classroom. There just doesn’t seem to be any logic anymore. While states have their “requirements”, they are worded in such a way that teachers are rushing to inclued more and more skills, and then add in technology, it’s just a free for all as to what information is found and/or presented. I feel like my kids are “test dummies” and I’m worried that they are missing out on some of the REAL skills, the solid foundation skills, that they should be learning in these early years.
I feel your pain! As a retired elementary/PK teacher, my career evolved from one end of the spectrum to another.. I started teaching K in 1977, and I was told to only teach the names of the letters-nothing else. Leave the rest to the first-grade teachers. I ended my classroom career teaching PK. We were expected to not only teach the names of the letters, but the sounds, AND to get the students to be reading by the end of PK at age 4 or 5. It has been so frustrating to see everything pushed down to younger and younger students while being expected for that student to pass a test. We homeschool my grandsons. The ten-year-old has special needs (Sensory, dyscalculia, ADHD) and it was so frustrating to try to get him help through the school. They don’t have the time, nor do they have the resources necessary to take each student needs into account. I know you understand that as a teacher, but elementary is so much more complicated as they begin to read and understand. I applaud your efforts.
In my experience these expectations are being pushed down to preschool level. The preschoolers in my school district are expected to perform well on the IGDIs assessment—picture naming, letter recognition, letter sounds, rhyming, and alliteration. Interventions for poor performing students are expected, which usually means pulling them out of our play time to “learn” these skills. My students did not perform well this year (even though every day they would plead to read one more book or to listen as I read chapter books) and I was told that I am not doing enough to prepare them for kindergarten. Next year, I am told, I will be held accountable for the kindergarten readiness of my students. I don’t know what that means. I am at a crossroads of doing what I know is DAP and encourages a life long love of learning which could mean leaving my job or stay and do what I am told but keep my living wage to support my own two children. This is the harsh reality that many educators face.
Nancy, you make so much sense here! I’m already worried about my 3 and a half year old granddaughter who is mostly uninterested in numbers, letters and reading. She’s home this year, just attending a half an hour here and there online at her bi-lingual Montessori charter school in DC. But I can see the emphasis on the early teaching of numbers, letters and reading. She is in a class for 3 to 5 year olds, and I know that many don’t awaken intellectually for years! My own daughter, her mother, didn’t really learn to read until age 8, and now she has a PhD in physics! I hate this rush and pressure on little ones.
I appreciate this, Adele. Thank you so much for sharing. I hope parents read this and pay close attention to the example you give. I know your daughter will likely recognize this push to read as well. It is such a joyful activity absent the pressure.
The brain is hardwired from thousands of years of development to walk. That should happen in an appropriate time in typical human development. The brain is NOT hardwired to learn to read- hence the need for specific sequential instruction. Kindergarteners, developmentally, are perfectly capable of learning to read and should be taught to do so as well as building listening comprehension using books that delight and engage young minds. The author of this article is mistaken in thinking that reading instruction should be limited in kindergarten. Research shows that if students aren’t reading successfully by mid first grade, the chances of ever catching up are slim and life is difficult for poor readers. Kindergarten teachers should provide quality, engaging, researched base instruction daily in all academic areas and provide time for structured play experiences that slow for academic and social skills practice. After all- there is a LOT of reading and math involved in playing store! Kindergarten teachers- ignore this opinionated article and “make hay while the sun shines”. Kindergartners CAN and SHOULD learn to read. Novels- no. Decidable text- yes!
I disagree. Since when must first graders be reading mid-first grade? What research? You seem to be following the reformers. This narrative has been pushed since NCLB. So why do we still have problematic readers?
Many children learn to read early and effortlessly through exposure first to a rich environment of speech and language and lovely picture books. They develop a natural curiosity surrounding words. By K, they may read pretty well. Some children take a little longer and may need more structure, and all children usually need some phonics for spelling and writing. Other children may have more difficulties sounding out words and need more work with decoding, but the first grade was the time to begin this and I think it is still the best time.
I stand by this post and many have already agreed. It once had 91K likes before FB tampered with the metrics.
I worry much about Ks being forced to read decodable texts and no longer getting UNstructured play. Micromanaging children this way doesn’t seem conducive to growth.
I also wrote this post based on research from the past, and no matter what you say, children’s brains have not changed. I still think the current trend to push structured phonics on K will set children up to hate reading.