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Date: 9/13/2006 9:41:00 AM
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Author:
Elizabeth Quinn
(equinn@knology.net)
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Subject:developmentally aprropriate education for primary grades
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I am very concerned about the recent trend to push more and more academics at children in Kindergarten and First Grade. My son had 16 sight words this week in first grade, which he is expected to know and alphabetize (to the 4th and 5th letter) along with an extremely difficult timed reading passage full of words like pancake, balance, couldn't, guess, glue and right, along with his 16 sight words. He also is being shown subtraction in word problems as the inverse operatiion of addition and he doesn't even know his subtraction facts yet. He has to code vowels as long and short, and we got 5 different blends to work on this week. I think it's overwhelming and not developmentally appropriate. What do you guys think and how can I address this issue at my school.
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Date: 9/22/2006 11:31:00 AM
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Author:
Linda Arocho
(t0good@webtv.net)
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Subject:No Child
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Elizabeth,
I'm very sorry you and your son are going through this. I'm especially sorry if he's frustrated.
If you're in the US, I can only assume it's happening because of the No Child Left Behind Act. Which I'm sure was started with the best of intentions, but it's hurting a lot of children in my area too.
There really isn't a lot you can do, except go to the board of Education. The teacher would have been told what her expectations were from higher-ups. (I assume female - pardon me if I'm wrong). She's going to push to show them she can meet their standards. Often times, teachers don't get to pick their curriculums. They often have it handed to them.
So don't go crazy at the teacher if you want to see change. Maybe if you alternative ways to get the necessary information to the children in a creative way, I'm sure the teacher would love to hear what you have to say. But use her as an asset, not the enemy!
Good luck to you and your son!
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Date: 9/27/2006 11:35:00 AM
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Author:
Linda Arocho
(t0good@webtv.net)
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Subject:Developmentally Appropriate Practices
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I just this moment finished reading an article in NEWSWEEK about the pressure put on children in first grade and Kindergarten. It was really interesting. The premise was that parents push the schools to educate the children hard - that they want the best for their children and because of parents and the No Child Left Behind Act, schools now push students harder. If you can get your hands on the article, I totally recomend it.
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