There are numerous examples.. and some have to do with the change of our times.
When I entered Kindergarten, we learned letters, sang songs, cooked, played, had circle time for half of a day. My mom said I was so exhausted I came home everyday and took a nap. So I must have had a good time.
When I began teaching Kindergarten in 1991, we taught letters,their sounds and how to write them, sang songs, cooked, had centers, math, science, pe and library for half a day.
When I taught Kindergarten again in 2005, we taught children how to read, how to write a complete story,how to do addition and subtraction, science, math for all day. We sang some songs, but we never cooked. I was the rare teacher who had a home center in her classrrom and allowed time for her students to just PLAY!
If you can see the difference in expecations at Kindergarten.. think about 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade and 5th grade. My 5th grader is doing things that I did in Junior High when I was 11 and 12 and 13. However, at the age of 10, she is expected to do so much and remember so much. I think educators often forget that the kids they teach are children.
Children who like to run outside, tell a joke, get a hug, who still play with dolls and cars. Children who have feelings and emotions.
We must remember that they are not minature adults.
2 comments:
Amen sister! I know I didn't learn how to read until first grade, but now from what I hear my child will be "behind" if she doesn't know how to read when she goes into kindergarten! She does already know her letters, but I am not pushing her into "study time" at home. She is just absorbing it on a day to day basis and I think that is best for her right now.
I came over from Stephanie's blog.(actually I am Will's cousin)
I teach 4th grade and spent an hour after school today discussing how to challenge our children in reading more. I came home so frustrated thinking "When do we teach kids to read for fun?" I learned that we can not do that any more because that would not be progressing forward. I was so angry!!! I saw your blog on "soap box" and felt the need to read yours since I had been on mine today. Was I surprised to find that our soap boxes are the same. My son has been labeled "gifted" so now the work that is expected out of him is twice as much as the "average" child. He is nine. He needs to play and be a kid after school. Instead he is being told to read advanced books and to be ready to be tested on them the next day. I think I will let him be a kid and slide sometimes. Does that make me a bad mom? Aren't all kids "gifted" in one way or the other?
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