A New Kindergarten
Playtime Out, Academics In
By Daniel Muniz

What is being taught in the kindergartens of our modern school system is completely unrecognizable to full grown adults who went through it themselves as toddlers. And for most of the country, it has been entirely transformed. Gone are the days when little kids experimented with finger painting, played with blocks, enjoyed snack breaks and naptime, and just did activities that revolved around having fun.

Today, the curriculum strictly centers on academics instead of playtime. Not only are children expected to learn something and be tested on it, they can also fail kindergarten if they haven’t progressed far enough.

The reason for the big changes is because of the national trend to reform education. For the most part, much of the nation’s education system has gotten weak. There are too many students who can barely read and write but still manage to pass from grade to grade. In response to this trend, a growing movement emerged to beef up the school system from top to bottom. And such reform also meant starting from the very beginning.
 

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Consequently, kindergarten became a natural target because for generations, most of its programs were designed around playtime instead of academics. Today, kindergarten has become a practice first grade with serious subjects for students to learn and master.

Certain critics point to standardized testing as the reason for this transformation especially since elementary students at a certain grade must now be tested in order to continue to advance through the school system. The purpose for focusing on academics in kindergarten instead of playtime gives kids an entire year to prepare for the newly imposed rigors of elementary school.

On the surface, I personally had misgivings about our education system jettisoning the traditions of kindergarten. But on a practical level, I can understand why this transformation happened.

First of all, our school system is expensive.

It costs an enormous amount of money to construct and maintain buildings for a kindergarten. And maintaining a staff of government paid employees is also expensive. That is a lot of money to spend on something that amounts to nothing more than creative daycare.

Yes, kindergarten of the past had structured child development programs and I in no way want to diminish the value of playtime and fun stuff for little kids because that is very important for a growing child. However, those activities are much better suited in the private sector of the daycare industry. Our education system ought to be focused strictly on academics instead of playtime, especially when it involves tax dollars.

And yes, it does sound harsh especially since a lot of traditions are being uprooted.

However, a “practice first grade” for kindergarten does make a lot of sense especially for kids who come from dysfunctional families. Unlike children from more capable parents, some kids enter the school system with very few skills. And then there are parents who simply believe their only childrearing responsibilities are to get their children out of diapers thus they have an expectation that they do not have to teach anything to their offspring.

As a result, some of these kids are at a severe disadvantage compared to their peers who may have proactive parents who already prepared them for school. A “practice first grade” will help level the playing field and allow the disadvantaged kids a chance to catch up with their peers. So instead of being behind everyone else in first grade, these children will already have had the opportunity to at least learn the basics and be much better prepared.

In addition, the new academic environment may help teachers identify any learning disabilities and problems that a student may have. This is especially helpful for parents who are unaware of any problems because it allows intervention to begin before a child starts elementary school. And it is definitely better to help a student at this stage before he or she does enter a more demanding learning environment of the first grade.

Overall, the new structure of kindergarten is a win-win situation for a lot kids. It provides them a good primer for what elementary school will be like which will tremendously help the kids that who are at risk. It also helps parents identify any potential problems which allow them to do something about it before their children reach the first grade.

I do sympathize with the parents who feel that their children are being robbed out of a structured development program that kindergarten used to offer. However, activities like playtime and naptime do not belong in our education system because that is much better suited for a daycare environment.

However, I do agree with the critics who feel that this “practice first grade” concept may be taken too far in certain schools in that a child can actually fail kindergarten.

I personally believe it is ludicrous for kids to be held back for poor academics because after all, this is a dry run that is supposed to facilitate the transition to first grade. If there were subjects that were poorly mastered, that is fine because they are going to get another chance to perfect them in elementary school. However, it is incumbent for the parents to be aware of the shortcomings so that they can be mindful of what needs extra attention when their child does go to the first grade but that shouldn’t be the criteria to fail a child.

A lot of research has shown that children’s brains do not develop at the same pace with their peers. Because of this uneven development, it may take another year or so but when the spurt does happen and a child matures, then he or she will be able to catch up with everyone else. It is just a poor justification to fail a child on an academic basis.

Nevertheless, I do feel that it is probably useful and advantageous to hold a kid back if severe learning disabilities or other serious problems are discovered. Advancing them to elementary school is just setting them up for failure thus kindergarten is the ideal place to resolve those issues.

Overall, there has to be a reasonable common sense approach to turn kindergarten into a practice first grade. This change does provide an enormous opportunity to make our education system so much better but only if it is done in a sensible manner. So as long as we don’t go overboard, our children can greatly benefit from this restructuring.

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