[Ruby07]

We've just finished up multiple meetings with our superintendent to work on a report card for our pre-K program. While I'm all for it -- I think that parents should see what our goals are, and see how their child is doing in his/her progress toward these goals.......I think our priorities are a little skewed.

The report card is 95% academic and 5% social/emotional. The super didn't even want to put ANY social/emotional goals on the report card, stating that they're very "subjective". I stated that I disagreed, and told him that I believe the most important part of our pre-K program is teaching children to sit nicely and listen, use words to resolve conflicts, share and take turns, etc. And he mumbled, "Well, I don't know about that!"

I was so upset when we started pushing our Kindies a few years ago, and I was happy to go down to pre-K. And now we're pushing them as well. Pretests and post-tests, quarterly reports, SUMMER SCHOOL.....! It's too much!!

[musicbean]

It's ridiculous. Over and over I hear my kindergarten coworkers talk about how K has become the new grade 1. Even our JKs (which I think are like your pre-Ks) are pushed and pushed academically, when some of them have never been given much opportunity to learn and practice social/emotional skills. We are denying kids the chance to play and be kids.

[me41]

Has this superintendent ever interacted with young children? Does he have kids? Why is he in education? What a joke. He is doing a pathetic injustice to your students.

[SteelerFan]

With all this NCLB & research-based requirement, I wonder where your super's research base is. Hmmmmm Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to admin decisions other than they are "admin decisions", huh?

[Ruby07]

Has this superintendent ever interacted with young children? Does he have kids? Why is he in education? What a joke. He is doing a pathetic injustice to your students.

Actually, he was an elementary teacher for 15+ years! Honestly, I don't disagree with the academics that we're teaching (it's all very developmentally appropriate). What I disagree with is the testing (pre and post for Language Arts and Math....not to mention the Kindergarten screening and the DIBELS!!!), and the pooh-poohing of the importance of social skills. It's so sad.

Fortunately, I'm able to emphasize the social skills every single day in my classroom.....regardless of whether or not they're listed on the damn report card!

[MrsDriver]

the super thinks it is the parents job to teach social skills. No one told him it is now our job. Unfortunately, if they don't get it in Pre-K then by the time they get to me in 5th I am banging my head against a brick wall just to get them to say please and thank you to people. It's really starting to hurt my head.

[LilMissSEI]

DIBELS in Pre-K?!?!? What a cruel joke!

[littlelindalo]

Great question.....I'm so glad to see the discussion here. I only need to look at my own kids who went to 1/2 day kindergartens where the focus was social, and very little academics. Of course, we read to our children at home, and I know that kids who don't have that opportunity do need more help in pre-K and K, but it's gone too, too far in the academic direction. My children, high-school age now, certainly suffered no negative effects from attending our local school that offered, what I felt, was a developmental approach. Both kids are in all advanced courses.... and neither was really reading by age 6 or 7 (in the current climate they'd probably refer my kids for special services). We are pushing our children before they are ready. In one school I teach in, the K and 1st grade classes are quiet and studious....very little singing or imaginary play. All work. So sad!

[cvt]

What are we doing to our kids? Why the push? It really upsets me that we have allowed this academic atrocity to continue in name of educational excellence. As far as I'm concerned, this is malpractice, and if I were a parent of one of the preschoolers, I'd be up in arms!

At my Title 1 school we used to have a preschool that helped the children from our low income area learn social skills, basic English language development and pre-literacy (through songs, rhythm). Our K used to be mostly play-based learning centers where children could make choices and learn to negotiate, learn the alphabet and were enveloped in phonemic awareness.

Now the preschool is a mini-K with mostly academics. Children are drilled in and expected to know the alphabet and write the letters, know how to write their names, read/write numbers up to 10. K is the new First, and is expected to have kids reading by the time they exit. Social skills are taught in isolation.

For some mature kids this is feasible, but for most of the kids that go through our school it is developmentally inappropriate.

Then, when they come to my first grade, many of these kids are in shell shock. They have already been considered a failure in K because they did not know all their letters/sounds, 20 sight words, or could not read the K readers (emergent).

So I see kids who already see themselves as stupid and unable to learn, kids with major behavior problems because they never learned to socialize, kids without gross or fine motor skills because they were rushed into academics and did not have a chance to exercise their little bodies. And it is getting worse each year.

AAGGGHHHH!!!

[littlelindalo]

I agree with cvt. The parents should be upset. I've recently taken a course called "Closing the Achievement Gap" which addresses the needs of at-risk learners. All very interesting, and all the programs that were recommended would require a substantial increase in education spending. There are kids that need 'extra' because their parents/relations/neighborhoods aren't providing it, compared to more middle class kids. However, most kids need time to mature, play, learn how to hold a pencil, cut with scissors, and sing. I hope the teachers reading this will let their administrators and superintendents know how they feel. It's crazy. I work with a wonderful K teacher who is so concerned about the ELL kids in her class because they haven't progressed according to the standard benchmarks. I keep telling her, they probably won't right now, but they will get there. They just started from a different place, both socially and language-wise. The district continues to pressure these teachers to make up that gap. I feel sorry for these little children, as well as for their teachers. I think it's a great idea to have pre-K programs that help disadvantaged kids gain some positive social time with other children and learn some school behaviors, but I don't think we should be pushing ANY child to achieve before he/she is ready.