HBO's series "Kindergarten"
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Anonymous
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Does anyone else watch this? DD is really into it and I watch it with her on demand.
It is a documentary-style show about a real kindergarten class, filmed in 2000. You get to know the children in the classs throughout the series. This is before "No Child Left Behind" and it is really interesting to see the changes in kindergarten that have taken place since then. Most of the children turn 5 during school year, not 6 or 7 as they would now. And while the kids do a bit of academic type stuff, like learning the alphabet, they mostly do crafts, work on little plays, learn about firemen, make valentines, get read to, eat snacks, socialize a lot, play, build blocks -- what kindergarten used to be. They are there for half a day, not 9 to 3. It's really striking what kindergarten used to be, only ten years ago. And this is Upper Nyack, Long Island. |
Anonymous
| No, I don't have HBO, but it sounds good. I wonder if it's on Hulu. |
Anonymous
| I sometimes watch this. I enjoy the way the kids talk, it's the cutest thing. |
Anonymous
| HOly cow! My kid's kindergarten last year was writing (stories and poetry by the end), learning time and money (and adding coins, etc), intense reading instruction, science lab, etc. K is this area has definitely changed. I think this is why kids are turning 6...this is pretty intense for a 4-year old (anyone with a Sept bday in VA). I don't think a single kid in any of the 5 classes turned 7 (it would have been a kid that had a May/June bday) this just is not done in our public school system. Maybe it is more common and encouraged by privates. |
Anonymous
| SOunds a little boring...? |
Anonymous
My son's Kindergarten was pretty intense too. I loved it and I approve. My son soaked it all in and is going into first grade a strong and eager reader. He has loved learning and i've been astonished at how much he was able to absorb last year. If you think public school is intense, you haven't seen ANYTHING. I looked into sending my son to a very very academically strict private school. He would have been one of a handful of white kids, as all of the seats were filled with Asian and Indian children. The stuff that that those kids were doing was insane. All of the pre-K kids could read. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. They could all do basic math. By the end of K, they were working on their multiplication tables. At the end of the day, I simply was "too American" to send my child to that school. The kids were drilled and for sure the school was pumping kids into Thomas Jefferson, but at the end of the day, I did want my son to be able to have a little more down time. |
Anonymous
As opposed to what? |
Anonymous
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My dd hated kindergarten. She never went to preschool because I couldn't afford a good one and didn't like the ones for poor people (Head Start sucks). She walked in knowing how to read, I had her in little classes (tumbling, art, etc.) the year prior, she has always had lots of little friends.
She would come home and tell me, "I thought I was supposed to learn stuff. I didn't learn anything I didn't alerady know today." Finally I just told her it was a place to go and play and learn how the structure of school works, and to hold out for first grade. It was full day, but I wound up pulling her out a lot when I was out of work to go do fun things with me since she wasn't really missing anything. |
Anonymous
| Nyack is not Long Island!!! |
Anonymous
OP here...imagine my embarrassment! Just googled and you are certainly right. |
Anonymous
Maybe you can't afford to live in a nice school district either? W?aiting for Superman much Sorry, couldn't resist a typical DCUM snark -carry on |
Anonymous
Interesting, my daughter is 3 and that is what she does now. She already knows the alphabet and can count to 20 in English and Spanish. While I miss that her pre-school doesn't do MORE crafts, I think the 50/50 split they do is good balance. |
Anonymous
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DD is 2 and her daycare has her 2s class counting past 30, knowing/recognizing all alphabet letters and sounds, shapes, colors in addition to lots of crafts, outdoor play, singing songs, etc. She comes home asking if we can read together everyday. This is in Anacostia, so I don't understand the "dig" on poor preschool programs.
That said, while I can understand pushing our young ones early on in Math/Science, does it really matter if you're reading before K vs K/1st grade? |
Anonymous
As long as they are getting a decent education it is okay. Because at some point DC will fall in line on the bell curve. Only the top 2% can be the top 2% and everyone else, obviously, make up the 98%. That would be like thinking relentless training will definitely make DC a world class top athlete. Not gonna happen for the majority of the lottery players. 
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Anonymous
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There will be a backlash against this. I only wish it would have already happened. My child will probably enter kindergarten knowing how to read. But the system where a barely 5 (late Aug birthday) year old will be sat in a seat and made to stay still all year, well, we'll probably redshirt our little dude so that he has time to BE A CHILD.
Enough is enough. I like kindergarten the way it was in 2000. |