[pachyderm]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/ny...tprep.html?hpw

[splitimage]

I find that really scary and sad.

Splitimage

[Elysium]

I couldn't even read this whole article, it made me so mad. I happen to believe that grades and the way a child performs on tests does not accurately assess their true intelligence. Not only this, but they do nothing for helping to improve a child's self esteem.

It also urks me that parents feel like they need to shell all this money out to "educators" to teach their children....for status...when really if they would take some time, they could teach their child the same things for nickles and dimes.

Everyone wants their children to meet their potential in life...but sending them to people that are going to cram shat down their throats for $$ isn't necessarily going to do that.

What ever happened to parents teaching their children in an encouraging way? Now we're pimping them out to money hungry, self proclaimed "know it alls".

Disgusting.

This isn't exactly rocket science, just sit down with your kid for a little while and play some "games" to tech them the basic stuff ...though I do suppose some people who have that kind of money to spend are usually too busy working or out of the house in general to spend even a little time with their kids

[Shangrala]

When I enrolled my daughter for Kindergarten in 2000/01 school year in California, I was absolutely stunned to discover the scholastic aptitude "requirements" of this age group in order to even be considered accepted into public school.

The children must be able to identify colors and shapes. Tested to see how well they colored, (within the boardered lines), and their basic motor skills, of course.
But what truly stunned me was how they HAD to already know their full alphabet, be able to spell their first and last name, know their full address & phone number AND be able to write it all legibly. They also had to already know how to read and write a full legible 10 word sentence.

Now, if that wasn't enough pressure to instill upon them, they ALSO had to already be able to identify their numbers up to 20 AND be able to manipulate basic addition.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that what the concept of what Kindergarten was for?...TO teach our children those basic scholastic building blocks FOR preparations of (the legal required grade) 1?

What I also found absolutely absurd was that these little young ones are forced to endure detention if their homework is not completed..... (WHAT IN GOD'S NAME IS THAT ABOUT?)

During her year in Kindergarten, I became a homeroom mom, and became quite chummy with her wonderful teacher, whom later informed me something that (most parent's are not aware of, and for good reason), that Kindergarten is not a legal grade requirement. I never knew that.
Her teacher mentioned that that is information that isn't common public knowledge for the mere fact that some parents may keep their children out of Kindergarten enrollment because it is isn't legally required, thus inhibiting their children's success in 1st grade once enrollment is necessary.

My daughter began using the computer at age two. Because of all those wonderful entertainingly educative learning programs she tested above average for her "Language Arts", (aka more appropriately, "English"), however, she seriously lacked in her hand/eye motor skills when using a pencil, or crayons. At that time of her use of the mouse/keyboard, it hadn't even occurred to me the fact that her motor skills were at risk. Lesson learned.

Since, I've read how many families have been enrolling their (even younger) children into PRE-school to prepare them for stressful Kindergarten requirements, so that they can succeed those requirements to ensure further success in the legally required enrollment of 1st grade.....

In my opinion, this kind of pressure on our lil ones is simply insane. It's no wonder we are encountering such an increase of youth mental issues and the stats of teen self-harm and (even suicides) is on such the rise.

God help our youth.

Shangrala

I went to preschool too, the only thing I remembered about it though was graduation day and play time I'd always go over to the kitchen set and go over to the fake coffee pot and swirl it around because it had some kind of brown syrup in it meant to look like coffee, even as a kid that's all I really remembered... but I still claimed I loved it anyways

[cynthiajvazquez]

The tests cannot assess the actual intelligence of a kid at this age. This will degrade the child's self esteem. I'm a teacher in a kindergarten section of Sunny Brook School near Toronto. Parents always think that their status increases with the type of kindergarten in which their children are learning. In my opinion this is a pretty much wrong idea.

[Webgoji]

Succeeding as a parent doesn't come from a child that makes it into the gifted program. Succeeding as a parent doesn't come from your child being a star. Succeeding as a parent has nothing to do with how the parent looks in the eyes of the world.

Succeeding as a parent is means your child is happy, healthy and ready for their role in the world ... whatever role that child chooses to fill.