The State of Early Childhood Education Today: Crisis

SEPTEMBER ABCs: Apples, Buses/Bubbles, Crisis

Just like the dawn follows darkness, September follows summer. It's time. It's time for apples and new boxes of crayons and shiny big buses {and football, too.} It's time for backpacks and school bells and lunchboxes anew. It's the time of new beginnings, new milestones and a whole new year. It's also the time for some wholesale reflection.

A lot has happened for me in the last week at my own blog. Just a heartbeat ago, our WonderTwins (that's our GRANDchildren) boarded their first chariot ride into the big time, into kindergarten! Here they are. Backpacks as big as they are. Excitement and anticipation at full throttle. In my effort to deal with my own emotions at such a milestone, I searched for a quote to adhere to this moment. Behold my search.

I then circulated the photo above to my FB fanpage and asked for comments and insight from my followers. I asked if their classroom was near a garden. I asked about the relevance and similarity of Froebel's description to their experience as teachers and parents. There was a passionate outpouring of response. Dozens of folks poured their hearts out. Passionate people spoke up and shared their experience. 

Next I gathered up all of those comments and compiled them one week ago today, into an article on my own blog. The title of that article is "The Role of Play in Kindergarten Today."   A lot more has happened since the article went to press. 

The one striking chorus, echoing from kindergarten teacher to kindergarten teacher? Kindergarten today is ye ol' first grade of yore. 
So what happened to kindergarten? Is that what preschool is these days? Some places actually offer Transitional-kindergarten. Florida has VPK, Voluntary PreKindergarten. What do those programs look like? Where is the PLAY for children? RIGOR is the new buzzword. Common Core the new standard. What are the five year olds doing at school? So many questions. So little time. 

Then came the comments left on my initial article itself. This one that follows that I've transported here, is from a Reading Specialist/Reading Recovery Teacher, writing from the perspective of her 'mom-hat' as she reflects on her own son's transition into kindergarten. Spoiler alert: it chills my heart. 

"This is a wonderful discussion. I love the views of the teachers who feel "trapped" in this standards based craze and yet are still using their experience and knowledge of early learning to create environments that nurture the whole child. BRAVO Kindergarten teachers! 

My son is about the same age as the wonder twins. He has a May birthday and just started Kindergarten. I am all about rigor. I am all about great teachers. I am all about teachers having "accountability" (just not being accountable to test scores). I'm not saying this to brag but my new kindergartner is already reading and it's not because I bombarded him with paper/pencil tasks or drilled him with flash cards. We just read a ton of books. We created restaurants and wrote menus. We read packages in the grocery store, etc.

Evidence of Kindergarten "Bubble Filling" (ninth day of K) 

He enjoyed preschool but now that he is in Kindergarten he is crying every single night about having to go to school. I know a large part of that is that he is exhausted. But I think a portion of the problem is that he sits in a desk and colors and does worksheets at school. He says school is "boring". He brings home math papers with CCSS coded in the top. On his NINTH day of kindergarten, he brought home a paper that said, "test prep" with bubbles to be filled in. Some have told me to request a new teacher, but I'm really not feeling like it is the teacher's choice. The test prep is a math "curriculum" that was purchased by the district. I hear so many teachers voicing that this is not their choice but is being pushed on them from someone higher up the ladder. The thing that concerns me is that the decision makers aren't listening to the voices of those who have education and experience in educating early learners.

My son is in a very tiny classroom. There are no puppet theaters, kitchens, etc. I haven't even seen any centers! He says they can sometimes do blocks or puzzles but only if they finish all of their worksheets. I feel a little trapped as a parent. I think that some parents may think this is "best". I've heard parents bragging that their child was doing algebra or geometry in K. They don't realize that building 3 dimensional shapes in a block corner IS geometry. 

What steps would you take if your child was in a situation like this? I don't want to "complain" because it will look like I'm complaining about the teacher and it may not even be her choice??"

-- Jackie Higgins, "Ready, Set, Read"

So how do we respond to Jackie? What do you say to the mother of a 'new' kindergarten child that is crying every night, not wanting to go to school? How do we safeguard children's desire to learn and grow within a system whose pendulum has swung off the path of what we know is 'best' for children? How do we combat this ever increasing "Boot Camp" mentality? Kindergarten is now the Boot Camp for first grade. Preschool becomes the Boot Camp for Kindergarten. Why-oh-why can't those infants-in-their-diapers solve their quadratic equations before toddler class looms on the horizon? Where does the madness stop? 

Is this 'corner' of play a dinosaur? Fading from existence as I type? Does your K class have a play corner? 

The testing that is sweeping across our schools is high stakes indeed. The idea that we have a five year old boy, who is already able to read upon entering kindergarten, yet crying at night that he doesn't want to go to school -- is an alarm bell. That reality is also HIGH STAKES, INDEED! Something has gone wrong. How do we respond when we hear that alarm? 

Since my article went to press a week ago, Fran Kramer, of 'Kindergarten Crayons' brought this article "Pressure Cooker Kindergarten" in the Boston Globe to my attention. Such a passionate, insightful article. Just as frightening? It was written in 2009. My experience is that the pendulum has swung even further since the article was published. 
Is anyone listening? 

Without a doubt there is excellence-in-education, all across America and around the globe indeed! Individual early childhood educators (whether PreK or K) must each craft the perfect blend of Mary Poppins mixed with Bill Nye-the-Science-Guy to formulate the inaugural educational experience for every mommy's little wonder. 

No more tears at night! We must be willing to be brave and do what we know is best for children. We must listen to each other. We are not alone. In this cyber-world of ours, we're just one click away from support. Let's speak out. Let's do what children need. What children deserve. Let's safeguard childhood. Let's let them be children. 

From the Boston article cited above, 
 ".......says Russell of the Boston schools. “The schools don’t make the decisions. The politicians are making the decisions to meet political needs.” There is also an element of fear among educators, especially in a troubled economy. “You have to be willing to get your wrist slapped a little bit,” says Russell. “If the folks who know what’s right don’t talk about it, we’re never going to get anywhere.”

Friends of Children. We are the 'folks who know what's right.' We know what's right for children. Are we talking about it? Are we getting our wrists slapped a little? Are we incorporating developmentally appropriate rigorous play into the school day? 

This fall I will be presenting at events all across the country. Let's continue this conversation in person. I have four upcoming keynotes at state conferences for SDE: Atlanta, Chicago and Indy are already open for registration. Texas in 2014 hasn't quite gone online. I'll also be at NAEYC in DC! My booth is #1213 and I'll announce our workshop's date when those details are announced. Let's put our heads together. Let's hug. Let's stand together and smile for a picture. Let's figure this out! By all means, please add your thoughts in the comment section of this article! 

Of all my wishes, it would be incredible to have this conversation 'go viral' -- have a compendium of voices speaking out. Speaking together on behalf of children. 

In the midst of all of this cyber interaction, I have also connected with Carolyn Kisloski, author of the blog, "Kindergarten: Holding Hands and Sticking Together." She has created this Prezi presentation on the importance of play from her favorite gathered quotations on the subject. You may download your own FREE copy at her store. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now let me share some links to articles from my blog that can help you get this new year off to an amazing start! 

{Click picture to go directly}

The Apple bulletin board pictured at the beginning of this article is from my Apple RoundUP

Please, please, please pin from this article. 

That's how the conversation will continue with new eyes. 

Thank you. 

**And now just a couple words from my 'editor-in-chief' status here at the collaboration.

With the new school year's arrival, we have had to say goodbye to several of our long term contributors. 

Lives have gotten busy, babies born, new responsibilities on the plate, you name it. We are so grateful to all of the authors who have shared great content here in the past.

We will be adding new authors into our mix throughout the coming months ahead. Look forward to new 'faces' amidst your favorites. 

Debbie Clement has written and recorded over 100 songs for young children onto 6 albums under her RainbowsWithinReach banner. She has transformed three of her songs into traditional hardback picture book format, where the words of her songs become the text of her books and a CD insert is included. 

She's also something of a social media junkie, writing her own blog, and has her own FB Fanpage. She has amassed 132,000+ followers on Pinterest. She's attempting to harness the power of Twitter, is currently a staff writer for Sulia on the Early Childhood channel, and has newly joined the ranks of Goolgle+ and Instagram. Are you connected thru LinkedIN? Yet some of her happiest moments involve being GeeGee to the WonderPeeps!