Kindergarten - It's Time to Bring Playtime Back

I know what your talking about. My son is going to start kindergarten next fall and I know I'm going to have to help him with homework. Homework? in Kindergarten! A grandmother I work with attended her granddaughters class recently and she complained it was absurd how much they had to read and write and there was no fun at all. Our schools systems are being forced to perform and bring results for standardized test as a result more pressure is being put on teachers and in following the Pre-schools. Teachers I know say its ridiculous how much they test these kids. The only way to change things is for parents to voice their concerns on every level not just to teachers but the school board, politicians/policy makers, and the media.

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I totally agree, it seems as though kids don't just grow up they are gripped at the collar and dragged up. There are so many children out there that need to grow up quickly for various reasons and many that have so many advantages for life. No matter which catagory a child is in they should be allowed to live thees valuable years as children and yes PLAY to learn. There is no reason why we cannot do some structured learning time but people need to slow down and stop banging a square into a circle shape. From a Mum (British hence the spelling) that implements and believes whole heartedly.

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I totally agree. There is such pressure these days for kids to learn how to do everything by the time they are 5, it gets out of control.

We picked both my kids schools based on how much play and fun they had. My 2 year old brings home art every day, they bake, they go on the playground, they go to Miss Jane who plays the guitar and sings and they have a ball.

My son is in Pre K (he turned 5) and last week they were studying fairies and outside of his classroom his teacher had turned the bushes into a fairy land with flowers and tiny houses. The kids loved using the area as a place to sit and imagine the fairies. It made me even happier that this was his school.

I find that schools that emphasize academics over play at such a young age group are doing the kids a disservice.

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As I read on a bumper sticker "Preschool is not bootcamp for kindergarten"

It's a fact that the most important skill that young children need to learn is social skills. They practice these skills through play. If we, as preschool teachers, fail to get these children to be able to be social, they will not be successful in school.

The academics will come. You can always learn those. Unfortunately, the first 5 years are when we learn social behaviors and we can't go back and relearn those.

This is why, in a quality 3 hour preschool, you will find circle will last 5 minutes per age of child (about 20 minutes), 1 full hour of uninterupted free choice inside (which will include the choice to do some table activities, but just as much, if not more, learning goes on in the blocks and home living areas); 1 full hour of uninterrupted free choice outdoors (again, will include the choice of some teacher directed games and activities, but again, a teacher should be following the lead of the children in the classroom and take moment to examine the bugs, flowers, and garden they are growing), about 15-20 minute snack (some programs make this a breakfast or lunch), another 15 minutes for music and movement (which should include exploring rhythm, playing simple instruments like hands, bells, and rhythm sticks in a variety of styles of music-jazz, pop, children's-as well as dancing). That extra 15 minutes is split between greeting everyone and getting them settled and departing at the end greeting the parents and passing on information.

http://thepreschooltest.blogspot.com

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My son is in a very academically-focused kindergarten, with no toys in the classroom and homework four nights a week and he doesn't have a problem with a lack of time for free, imaginative play. That's what he spends the half day that he's not in school doing! I suspect that part of the reason that kindergartners suffer from a lack of unstructured play is that the adults in their lives have over-structured their time for them because it's more convenient for the adults (i.e. multiple after-school activities, all-day kindergarten).

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Until we step up, as parents and as teachers - and all as advocates for our kids - and demand changes, the schools are going to keep marching on, doing whatever they want, "for the children".

Teachers complain about standardized testing, but do you ever band together, come up with good reasons to eliminate the tests, find viable alternatives, and FIGHT? Put pressure on the Teacher's Union and the NEA to put students first?

Parents complain that there's too much homework, too many school hours in the day, and schools are deplorable and failing. But do you ever make your voice heard - through the vote, getting involved with groups that advocate vouchers, homeschooling, or other educational choices? Do you ever hold your representative's (local, state and federal) feet to the fire, and demand to know why you have to pay higher taxes when your schools are failing you and your children? Are you involved - intimately - with your child's school, volunteering to help wherever and whenever they need?

Or do you just think, "I don't have the time, I have to go to work," and complain on boards like this one, which is plenty of fun, but in the end, not at all effective.

Come on, people, time to get out there and make yourselves heard. I agree that what kids have to learn in Kindergarten is absolutely ridiculous. Homework - other than maybe a worksheet per week, just so they get the idea - is ridiculous.

But you have to stand up and get the change done. "Be the change you want to see in the world," - Ghandi.

It starts with you - not with the government. Or their standardized tests.

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This is why Montessori schools are so wonderful. I attended one where they let everyone learn at their own pace through hands on activities. By the time I got to first grade I was reading so well they had to send me down the hall to the fourth grade classroom for reading hour. There will be plenty of time in the next 12 years for school to be rigorous and exhausting but when they are still so young learning should be active and enjoyable. It's hard to sit still when you're that little and full of energy.

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I am totally with your daughter--this summer she just wants to play. When will be believe the research that says play is important for building the foundation of learning.
I am a speech language pathologist and often visit preschools. Recently I was a playmate to several 4 year-olds in a pretend doctor's office in their class. They were practicing their conversations, role-playing, writing (on a clipboard, insturctions to the patient) and creating stories. They didn't know it but in spite of the fun they were building important language and literacy skills.
On my website, http://www.playonwords.com, I have several blog entries and articles about play as well as reviews of educational toys and books to build language.
Sherry Artemenko

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My son is in a public kindergarten that goes almost full day -- they get out 1 hour before the older kids. We love the school. They have lots of time for play, but when they are working in their groups, they are expected to work hard. He has homework, but it usually only takes about 10 minutes. Plus, of course, you must read with your child every day. My son is "all boy", as they say, but he seems to do fine. They work for a bit, then play for a bit and then go to the library or P.E. or art class. It's all broken up and it seems to work here. I was so worried that kindergarten would be like boot camp, but it has really been great.
I will say, that they do a lot of the same things that I did in kindergarten way back in the '79, except the homework bit and a little longer day.

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Our preschool options were limited-the secular preschools in our town are ruinously expensive on a blue-collar, single-income budget. Church-based preschools are also out because we're Wiccan, so homeschooling for the preschool years was our best bet. Our oldest loved it, and she was ahead of the game in kindergarten. They started all-day kindergarten at our school the same year, so she was pleased at being a member of the "inaugural" class that way. We don't have structured activities in the afternoons other than trips to the library and community events on the weekends that are either free or low-cost, so it's not like the kids are hurting for unstructured time. I do still homeschool to supplement the public education, but it's more fun than anything else. Our younger daughter is two, but I plan on going the same route with her for preschool as well.

I do have to agree on how the classrooms are overcrowded and the systems are teaching more and more just to pass tests these days-it SUCKS. It's becoming more of an assembly-line process with no room for the hands-on learner or learn-at-your-own-pace student. We either need to restructure the school system so the classes are smaller, or find a different method of teaching so that everybody has a fair shake.

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Montessori schools really provide the ideal environment for children to grow at their own pace. Children's play is their work and Montessori embraces this theory. There is a wonderful new book, Montessori Madness! that explains this old technique from a modern day family's perspective. http://montessorimadness.com

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