Remember Kindergarten?

We are all at the age where Kindergarten is a long gone history. We couldn't careless what they are teaching now in a Kindergarten, at least until you have a child going to one. However, this discussion from the Room of Debate of the New York Times called, "Who's ready for Kindergarten?" caught my eyes, as I just listened to my father discussed something similar just the other day.

In "Who's ready for Kindergarten?”, the ideas seem to have arisen around a question; does age matter when it comes to starting kindergarten? When children are off of preschool and into a real education system that is kindergarten, some of them are 5 years old while some are only 4. At such an early age, some parents fear that it could be difficult for their children to keep up with the older peers. This fear might proved to be wrong, as Robert C. Pianta, the dean of the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education, states in his argument that it is true that children’s readiness and skills can be differ when they start kindergarten but what really matters is not the cut off or entry date. He thinks that, due to the variation of the kids, the effort to narrow the gap of variation in children should be started before Kindergarten, thus, preschool should be more effective. Beth Graue, a professor of early childhood education at the University of Wisconsin Madison, said being the oldest in the group is a temporary advantage since readiness of children is relative. It depends heavily on the class to make every child included and the development kicks off there. While Mary Benson McMullen, a professor of early childhood education at Indiana University-Bloomington, goes beyond that and compares the system in the US with the one in Italy. She thinks the important of Kindergarten is children’s individual needs and not the readiness. In Italy, they keep multi-grades students in the same class in elementary school, the variety of ages is not important when the teacher knows each student individually. This would encourage children to develop their relationships among their groups and also with their teachers and families, which clearly is a chance for them to flourish.

As I was reading this article, I couldn’t help comparing the situation in the US with kindergarten levels near home in Thailand. I was talking to my father about a colleague of his the other day. This corrupted obstetrician has been doing surgeries to help babies born before their moms’ actual deliver dates. My father let me guess when would be the busiest time of the year for this obstetrician. I guessed rightly that it is before May 16 every year because in Thailand, the cut off for kindergarten level entry is May 16 for public schools. Thai parents clearly have a conversed preference with the Americans. They just want their children to be able to go to school as soon as possible. Being the oldest in the class is never a cool thing for a Thai student. They can be teased as repeaters. But which belief is more sensible? I couldn’t make up my mind on that one. As I read Gladwell’s The Outlier, I think at the very early age, age does matter in physical activities. However, for kindergarten, it is not about physical advantages. I agree with Pianta that vulnerable kids would have fewer chances at staying ahead of the class even though they are the oldest in the class. It’s all about the class and not the children. Providing effective early education for them and help reducing the readiness gap as early as possible might be helpful. I don’t think shifting the date of entry would be an effective and practical choice. From my personal experience, I was born on the very late of March and there was only one student younger than me, among 40-something students, back in kindergarten and all the way through elementary school. I never felt left behind in anything, though, except, of course, PE. I think my mom played a big role in helping me cope with older students. After realizing that her daughter would be one of the youngest, she forced me to learn how to read and write when I was barely three years old, thus, I was doing more than fine when kindergarten came. But for children who are less fortunate and don’t have a mom like mine, I do think Pianta’s point is exactly right, the path to equity starts way earlier than kindergarten. Relying on parents is not practical, we need effective preschool, or at least, we need to try and train the parents until they are able to assist their children be prepared.

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References

Who's Ready for Kindergarten? (2011, June 12). The New York Times. Retreived June 20, 2011 from http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/06/12/whos-ready-for-kindergarten