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Home : 2004 : August : 6
I am not against the idea of standards, every program has goals, objectives, etc. What drives me crazy is why this program was created(no child left) and how kindergarten teachers are going about trying to meet those goals. We can have standards, goals - and have children reach those goals in developmentally appropriate ways. If you think about why this program was created - there was a general consensus that our children are not performing well in literacy and mathematics, they don't do as well as children from other countries, and that their are capable of less (then children 30 years ago). If you think about how society has changed in the past 30 years - what has changed that has caused our children's abilities to be less then expected? We have 50% divorce rate (maybe even a little higher), children are in scheduled activities after school, more children go to preschool and are in child care, there is less family time and attention, two parents work in the household, many single parents out there, more television, video games, and computer games, less 'street' and backyard games, we don't know our neighbors, and we can't let our kids play off somewhere without supervision. Children are having sex younger, drinking younger, on drugs, etc. These are the things effecting our kids' achievement in school. This is not going to be fixed by no child left behind. In fact, I believe whole heartedly, that the way kindergarten is being handled write now in response to the standards is going to be detrimental to young children. IT's going to create attention problems, learning disabilities, a dislike for school, and it is going to 'dumb down' education. I think, oddly enough, that expectations are actually lowered throught the standards, there is am emphasis on getting everyone to the minimal level - more empahsis on the ones struggling, and no real tap into the gifts and strengths of children. Sharing is one of the most important and cherished parts of my day. IT's when children talk about what goals they had for the day, and how they have reached them. It's when they read the stories they have written during play, it's when they tell the story of the block creations, etc. Clean is important, we play hard, and need alot of time to clean up. Sharing and clean up vary with what we are doing and sharing that day - those times were an estimate. We do others things during clean up, for example, when we clean up the sand from the sand table, they measure what was swept - to see how much got on the floor. Out of curiosity? Why do you think children aren't learning when they play?????? Where did you get this notion? What do you do with your children all day? I do not share any personal information on the internet - real name, state, anything. No, I don't check the bathroom after every kid, I never had a problem with kids urinating on things in the bathroom - that was a response to another poster. I had a bathroom in my classroom. We can meet the standards respecting developmentally appropriate practices. We can meet and exceed them through play - projects, exploration, etc. What do you think we cannot? Do you have early childhood training or elementary training?
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