HBO's series "Kindergarten"

[Anonymous]

DS had nightly homework in K. It only made up 5% of his grade so I didn't have him do it. He wasn't going to fail so I did my best to keep it low pressure.

[Anonymous]

We chose private school to avoid the insanity of a pressured academic kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

OP here -- yes, as we watch this series with DD, my DH and I often say we think this was the better way back in 2000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

My kids started K in 2008 and 2010 and did all of the things you described. And the kids tended to be 5... I'm not sure what you're getting at? I'm not NCLB fan, but I don't think it's had much of an impact on K.

Also, I think full-day K has been around for a long time. Parents see it as free daycare.

[Anonymous]

I may not have made much of an impact on your child's K experience but it has changed a lot for many children. Most children do fine with it but not all. Those are the kids I feel for. My son's K was all day (in MD) and I wouldn't say it benefited the boys since there was too much sitting and listening and not enough time to run around. The boys were always in trouble including mine. I felt bad for him b/c I work in a school and I know how badly the younger boys suffer with these changes. My son could already read coming into K but the push to get them reading by the end of K was a little much. The schools that see the biggest changes are the ones with the most to lose- the schools with poorer test scores.

[Anonymous]

Pressure in K? Are we in Korea? Are we raising a generation of future slackers due to early burnout, mass murderers who have snapped or people with high suicide risk?

[Anonymous]

FREE DAYCARE? What bout the people who paid for it for years (via taxes) and got nothing nut 1/2 day? Wow, just wow. Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth.

I don't dare take rich people for granted for this reason. They are holding the rest of us up! Don't be so naive, PP.


OP, thanks for posting this. I would love to see Kindergarten when it actually was kindergarten!

[Anonymous]

bout = about
nut = but

sorry!

[Anonymous]

It's kind of absurd that people put people so old in Kinder by choice, no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

What school is this, please?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS had nightly homework in K. It only made up 5% of his grade so I didn't have him do it. He wasn't going to fail so I did my best to keep it low pressure.

...and what school was that?

BTW IMO you did the right thing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS had nightly homework in K. It only made up 5% of his grade so I didn't have him do it. He wasn't going to fail so I did my best to keep it low pressure.

...and what school was that?

BTW IMO you did the right thing!

It's a PG county public school with full day K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

And then when the little dude can't sit still for hours then you have the talk with the teacher where she recommends your kid get put on ritalin for ADD. Beautiful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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?

Seems unlikely that all the two year olds in the class can do this. My five year old still struggles with some letter sounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

And then when the little dude can't sit still for hours then you have the talk with the teacher where she recommends your kid get put on ritalin for ADD. Beautiful.

I couldn't get a good read on your post. Not sure if you're criticizing me for delaying entry to K or agreeing with me that it's kind of a shame that we push these kids so hard so young. I certainly agree that when they can't sit still, then yep, the teacher says there is something "wrong" with them.

What's wrong, IMO, is continuously pushing the ridiculous, ridiculous pressure and "rigor" to ever-younger years. Makes me wanna opt out.