Kindergarten Sorrow

A “high-quality” preschool program is curriculum based with certified teachers and a low child to teacher ratio (Robin, Frede, & Barnett, 2006, p. 1)

A longitudinal study done by Lansford et. al involved the observations of 574 children from the ages 5 to 21. The participants were recruited when they entered kindergarten in 1987 or 1988 at Tennessee and Indiana. The parents of the children were randomly approached and asked if they would take part in the longitudinal study. Detailed interviews concerning the child’s developmental history were conducted with their mothers before they had entered kindergarten. In these interviews, the mothers were

In order to respond this question, we must first review the history of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) and Early Childhood Education (ECE). Although ECE has been around since the creation of kindergarten in the 1800’s, the decade of the 1980’s was an important period for ECE. “By the 1980’s, meta-analysis of the well-designed US projects offered compelling evidence on the positive outcomes of [early childhood education and intervention]” (Woodhead, 2007). Therefore, there was much pressure to improve the state of education, including ECE. “The decade of the 1980’s saw numerous calls for widespread school reform, with changes recommended in teacher education, graduation requirements, school structure, and accountability measures” (S. Bredekamp, R.A. Knuth, L.G. Kunesh, and D.D. Shulman, 1992). At this time, there was an increasing concern about the quality of early childhood education for the influx number of families that needed it. This led the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) to “begin planning a national voluntary accreditation system for early childhood programs”(NAEYC, 2014). With this planning came a need for a more specific description with regards to accreditation guidelines. Therefore, NAEYC issued a formal statement defining DAP.

Not surprisingly, this perspective has found a good deal of support from two sectors those who think that the existing standardized systems are failing, and those who favor the development of early childhood educational programs. In both of these settings, parents and teachers are struggling to find the role that they can play to be a more effective partner in each child's academic readiness and advancement.

Kindergarten used to be a time for learning through play. The curriculum consisted of learning to use scissors, crayons and very basic skills. Teachers never held kids back unless they were still too young to begin first grade. Today kindergarten isn’t quite as relaxed as it used to be. For example, kids are already beginning to learn math and reading skills. This new curriculum helps kids meet new learning standards imposed by the government. Some children might need more time to absorb all the information they will need to know by first grade. For this reason the number of children being held back is increasing. Therefore, the question is should parents decide to retain their kindergarteners? If so will retaining kindergartners cause a negative impact on their social and emotional development? How do you decide if retention is right for your child?

In the early `970’s, the field of early care and education might have been characterized by the slogan “We believe more than we can prove.” Although it’s still incomplete, we now have a solid base of information. We know understand that to have a quality child care program, it must include high quality educational experiences. We understand that must include comprehensive services, family engagement, and collaboration as children transition across settings. Research clearly indicates that highly skilled and well-compensated teachers with specialized knowledge make a difference for child outcomes and program quality ( Martin, 1988). These leaders must strive to become a lifelong learners; Fullan (2003) believe that no one will put trust into

In response to the criticisms, the federal government has given states more flexibility in developing standard and assessment, nevertheless. In the ESSA policy, states implement new standards in which all children are capable of achieving academic accomplishment. Following this article further, Professor Zeichner argued that the ESSA lowers standard for a teacher within the classroom. I would like to concur with his theory with my own experience under the Head Start program that I’m currently presently employed. One of the teachers was hired under the Teach for America Program, as the academic calendar started the staff, and parents began to observe the different between three years-old classroom. We can clearly distinguish the children works

Early Childhood Education is a profession that works with children from birth up to eight years of age (Garvis and Pendergast 104). Most of the theory of knowledge in early childhood is that children learn through movement. When children engage through play they develop a sense of individuality that helps them discover who they are, build relations with others, and understand their cultural background. In early childhood, the focus is on the primary components that encourage a child’s learning ability: social, physical, intellectual, language, and creativity (Wynne 14-21). Early childhood requires some form of knowledge, whether it’s a high school diploma or bachelors. Some states expect a teacher to have a license, certification, registration, and/or a degree. Along with obtaining an academic history a teacher needs skills when engaging with children. Some skills involved are communication, creativity, social, organization, and perseverance (Bureau of Labor Statistics

Early Childhood Education is a profession that works with children from birth up to eight years of age (Garvis and Pendergast 104). The theory of knowledge in early childhood is that children learn through movement. When children engage through play they develop a sense of individuality that helps them discover who they are, build relations, and understand their cultural background. In early childhood, the focus is on the primary components that encourage a child’s learning ability: social, physical, intellectual, language, and creativity (Wynne 14-21). Early childhood requires some form of knowledge, whether it is a high school diploma or bachelors. Some states expect a teacher to hold a license, certification, registration, and/or a degree. Along with obtaining an academic education a teacher needs skills when engaging with

18). As more and more educators become aware of the affects to the teachers as well as the children, the states have been working together to improve and develop early educator competencies that provides adequate education and pay. Notably, education is an essential tool to ensure children learn in a high-quality environment where the teachers have the credentials of teaching age-appropriate curriculum while enhancing the children learning capacity to the next level. In fact, according to Demma (2010), “A growing body of child development research, neuroscience, and program evaluation demonstrates that high-quality early childhood care and education programs improve school readiness and later outcomes for young children” (p. 1). As facts layout the importance of early years of education, it is right to claim that early childhood educators should be able to get a higher pay just like the Kindergarten teachers. With successful advocacy in the community, it has brought a portion of light to the field in which states are moving for higher pay for higher education.

The focus of kindergarten has changed from providing a play-based curriculum to one that is skills-based (Elkind, 2012). The new climate of the kindergarten classroom has forever altered the kindergarten experience. Even though Kindergarten schools in the United States became more prevalent on public school campuses, each was allowed to function as a unique learning environment, different than the elementary grades (Cuban, 1992). The two education systems operated in harmony for many years. In the early 1900s, however, a curricular shift began when kindergarten schools merged with the primary schools and officially became part of the public school system, With the merger, it became necessary for kindergarten programs to adhere to the mandates

The reason children attend kindergarten today is so they can be taught a meaningful and balanced curriculum filled with skills and information. Teachers do this through age-appropriate activities that encourage the children to learn more (Marzollo, 1987). In order for children to develop the necessary skills for success in life, they need to attend kindergarten. In full day kindergarten programs more time is available to develop the necessary social and academic skills children need for success later on (“Full-day and half-day kindergarten in the United States”, 2004). Full day programs have become more and more popular in the past few decades. In the 1970s fewer than 15% of all five-year-olds in the US

Even in New jersey a dad had testified that his son was too stressed out from all the tests, as well as New York where the state union president commented that parents should opt children out of taking tests (Taylor, Rich, 2015). Although over testing has been a problem for educators for years, it has become even more of a problem recently with more standardized tests being added to the long list of what children already have to take. Some teachers are taking a stand against the testing and refusing to administer the tests. Three teachers in P.S. 364 Earth School wrote a letter to the administration about why they will not give Common Core tests (Strauss, 2014). They “can no longer implement policies that seek to transform the broad promises of public education into a narrow obsession with the ranking and sorting of children” (Strauss, 2014). They aren’t the only teachers who feel this way, but most don’t want to opt out because without scores, they can't thoroughly review a teacher. Some agree that the expectations are too high, but don’t understand how a teacher can’t be impactful

By the end of each school years, teachers should have had to fulfill the academic requirements each state demands the students based of each grade level, regardless if the teachers believe there is too much expected from them for their age. In North Carolina, beginning in third-grade students are tested to see if they have learned what they were expected to learn, and the scores could then affect the schools “grading”, in a positive for a negative way. A good way for teachers to ensure the state and school requirements are met, without feeling too pressured is to teach the required material in their own way and at their own pace. By teaching lessons differently than the rest, and even teaching them out of order. This method can allow teachers to feel more in control of their classrooms, and less like the state is controlling what they

A study conducted in 1995, by Betty Hart and Todd R. Riley, called the Million Word Gap, declared that by age 3 affluent children will have been exposed to 30 million more words than low income children. This was alarming research and has led to numerous investigations on preschool and earl learning. Despite the recent attention given to the importance of preschool, children are still entering Kindergarten under prepared (Mead, 2012) . Disproportionate access to high quality preschool is a rising public policy interest as indicated by an increase in state and federal investments in early childhood development and quality improvement initiatives (Miller, 2011).This paper seeks explore the following questions: what are the various types of preschool