One thing to know about kindergarten

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You make good points but sadly its not everyone's experience. Our K teacher stuck my DD on a computer every time she finished the work early. Or she let her read stories to the other kids (now this I grant, was fun for her)but its hardly making sure she was challenged. There was no real challenge for that entire year.

She was 5 (or 6). There are plenty of other ways to get challenge into a child's life, in school and out of school.

Posting a banal platitude isn't helpful. Have you read the thread at all?

Yes. Now, how is this a banal platitude?

Also, what do you think are the long-term effects of lack of academic challenge in kindergarten?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You make good points but sadly its not everyone's experience. Our K teacher stuck my DD on a computer every time she finished the work early. Or she let her read stories to the other kids (now this I grant, was fun for her)but its hardly making sure she was challenged. There was no real challenge for that entire year.

She was 5 (or 6). There are plenty of other ways to get challenge into a child's life, in school and out of school.

Posting a banal platitude isn't helpful. Have you read the thread at all?

Yes. Now, how is this a banal platitude?

Also, what do you think are the long-term effects of lack of academic challenge in kindergarten?

The long term effect is that the US will continue to rank lower than 20 other countries around the world in terms of overall academic ability. This is a new thing. It wasn't a problem in the 1980s. Its directly related to idea that play is learning and then suspending children in a primarily play environment for far longer than necessary. Its soft. Its wrong.

In the UK for instance, school starts age 4 and children are taught to read and write. The immediate effect of this is you have many 6 year olds having read many of the Harry Potter books, increasing their ability to focus, as well as their vocabulary and therefore advancing them academically and analytically. In the US because reading is really only taken seriously from about the middle of 1st grade onwards, the children here are reading equally challenging books when they are several years older. 9 and 10 year olds for the most part.

[Anonymous]

...cut off early

So you are delaying learning when brains are ready to accept learning.

[Anonymous]

This is so confusing.

US education is bad because it emphasizes too much academic learning too soon. Other countries with better education systems don't do this.

Also, US education is bad because it doesn't have enough academic learning, and the academic learning comes too late. Other countries with better education systems don't do this.

All I can conclude from this is that US education is bad because it's US education, which is bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is so confusing.

US education is bad because it emphasizes too much academic learning too soon. Other countries with better education systems don't do this.

Also, US education is bad because it doesn't have enough academic learning, and the academic learning comes too late. Other countries with better education systems don't do this.

All I can conclude from this is that US education is bad because it's US education, which is bad.

It doesn't help anyone, not least you as far as I can tell, if you take several different opinions which have come up in the thread and attribute them to one entity. No one person is saying this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so confusing.

US education is bad because it emphasizes too much academic learning too soon. Other countries with better education systems don't do this.

Also, US education is bad because it doesn't have enough academic learning, and the academic learning comes too late. Other countries with better education systems don't do this.

All I can conclude from this is that US education is bad because it's US education, which is bad.

It doesn't help anyone, not least you as far as I can tell, if you take several different opinions which have come up in the thread and attribute them to one entity. No one person is saying this.

Sure. But both opinions can't be right. Either

1. schools are successful because of early academic learning (which doesn't explain Finland), or
2. schools are successful because of late academic learning (which doesn't explain England), or
2. neither opinion is correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so confusing.

US education is bad because it emphasizes too much academic learning too soon. Other countries with better education systems don't do this.

Also, US education is bad because it doesn't have enough academic learning, and the academic learning comes too late. Other countries with better education systems don't do this.

All I can conclude from this is that US education is bad because it's US education, which is bad.

It doesn't help anyone, not least you as far as I can tell, if you take several different opinions which have come up in the thread and attribute them to one entity. No one person is saying this.

Sure. But both opinions can't be right. Either

1. schools are successful because of early academic learning (which doesn't explain Finland), or
2. schools are successful because of late academic learning (which doesn't explain England), or
2. neither opinion is correct.

First of all, an opinion is just that, its neither right nor wrong, its not a fact, its an opinion.

And nothing is absolute. Are you an adult? Surely you know this stuff already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

And nothing is absolute. Are you an adult? Surely you know this stuff already.

Yes, I am an adult. I don't understand your point. One or more posters are saying one thing. One or more (presumably different) posters are saying the complete opposite thing. They can't both be true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And nothing is absolute. Are you an adult? Surely you know this stuff already.

Yes, I am an adult. I don't understand your point. One or more posters are saying one thing. One or more (presumably different) posters are saying the complete opposite thing. They can't both be true.

You're an idiot.