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Disturbing Kindergarten Trends
November 11, 2014
An idea isn't responsible for the people who believe in it.
-Don Marquis

"One of the most distressing characteristics of education reformers is that they are hyper-focused on how students perform, but they ignore how students learn.  Nowhere is this misplaced emphasis more apparent, and more damaging, than in kindergarten."  This is the observation of Diane Marie in her Truth about Education article, "The Disturbing Transformation of Kindergarten."  She continues:
    
"A new University of Virginia study found that kindergarten changed in disturbing ways from 1999-2006.  There was a marked decline in exposure to social studies, science, music, art, and physical education and an increased emphasis on reading instruction.  Teachers reported spending as much time on reading as all other subjects combined.  The time spent in child-selected activity dropped by more than one-third.  Direct instruction and testing increased.  Moreover, more teachers reported holding all children to the same standard.

"How can teachers hold all children to the same standards when they are not all the same?  They learn differently, mature at different stages — they just are not all the same, especially at the age of 4–6....  If we teach reading, writing, subtraction and addition before children are ready, they might memorize these skills, but they will not learn or understand them.  And it will not help their achievement later on."






   
Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs
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Comments (8)

Displaying 5 of 8 Comments   [ View all ]
Mary Ellen Martel · November 18, 2014
Harbor House Children's Center
Southwest Harbor, ME, United States


I was also ready to share this article ~ until I read the full article and the author's comments. She obviously has a very narrow agenda which is not just about what is appropriate for young children. Her responses to people's comments were insulting and unprofessional. I am disappointed that ExchangeEveryDay chose to highlight this woman's "work".

Mary Ann Walker · November 11, 2014
Mt. San Jacinto College
Menifee, CA, United States


It's deplorable for teachers and families and even beyond deplorable for these young children. A few years ago, a friend of mind from Germany visited kindergarten classrooms in northern and southern CA. She was shocked that the children had homework. I visited kindergarten classrooms where children are being taught how to fill in the bubbles for tests and math learning is abstract on paper, no counters, etc. It is giving rise to the movement for homeschooling.

Peter Gebhardt · November 11, 2014
House of Neuville Jewels
Dallas, TX, United States


We early childhood educators must stand up and just say no to inappropriate testing and teacher-driven instruction in kindergarten. It's those huge corporate publishing companies that push developmentally-inappropriate curriculum series onto public school early childhood classrooms. I taught public school kindergarten from 1985-98, in Milwaukee, WI, and luckily 7 yrs out of those years, I taught High/Scope curriculum, because I landed in a state-funded High/Scope program, and it was the gold standard of programs! Every child deserves that kind of early childhood educational experience!

Kristin · November 11, 2014
United States


I'm not sure who "Diane Marie" the author of this article is, but she seems to be an extremely paranoid, anti-government, person. If you read her responses below her "article" they are terribly misinformed and make her sound uneducated and extremist. I am disappointed that you thought she was some kind of authority and would have sound minded educators read her opinions.

Francis · November 11, 2014
Denver, CO, United States


I find it somewhat ironic that this particular article is used to support the sale of the latest edition of NAEYC's Developmentally Appropriate Practice. While the first two editions of this document are very good, the last one is not (I refuse to cite the last edition, and don't use it in my classes). NAEYC has also published several books about the supposedly positive impact of standards in ECE, They, along with state departments of education (at least here in Colorado) are very much a part of this problem. The Colorado State Department of Education deeply believes that 3rd grade is the cutoff for learning to read (anyone who does not read at that age is doomed to academic failure). Thus the push-down of literacy.

I think its time for a revolution by early childhood people in the US - and elsewhere - against this entire academic approach to ECE.



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