Thought Provoking......

I am reading an article about the need for preK in the middle class.  OK, I am "middle" class, I have young children and I have taught preK.  I can see what they mean- the cite one family in which the first born went to a church nursery school 2 days per week and the second son, who had special needs, qualified for services daily.   The older child was behind in the first grade- he couldn't keep up.  The second was right on target for every benchmark.  Interesting. 

My first thought is about how much kindergarten and first grade have changed over the years- even since I first started teaching.  We are doing things much earlier than in past years.  Why?  Who are we trying to keep up with?  What are we trying to prove by removing the fun from childhood and replacing it with serious academia?  I think we are hurting our future rather than helping it.  By going faster, we are stressing our children while removing curiosity, wonder and thought.  We cram phonics and math down their throats for 7 hours a day before they are 6 years old, then complain that they are not critical thinkers or good writers in the 6th grade.  And why can't they think, problem solve and write.  No one has ever expected them to.  We are demanding a skyscraper, but failing to build a deep and sturdy foundation.  A mighty oak would blow over in a breeze without strong, deep roots.  Children are very much the same.

My second thought is this- why are one group of children (special needs, ESL, etc) given priority over another (gifted, average, slightly but not significantly delayed, etc)?  Why does one group get rescued while another is ignored?  ALL children have special needs at one time or another.  Every child is worthy of being taught in the best way for THEM.  Tests and "programs" are not personal.  Teaching a test, or following the teacher's guide to the letter benefits no one.  Teachers are not allowed to be creative or to even see the individual child because they are teaching standards, teaching to raise test scores, teaching the masses........

We as a nation need to stop this way of thinking.  No Child Left Behind  was a horrible concept.  Please, please look past numbers and keeping up with another culture and look at our precious and most valuable resources before they are lost.