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Not only is kindergarten education a fascinating topic, but its occurrence almost at the beginning of formal education raises a number of related issues, such as redshirting, high-stakes kindergarten testing, and entrance age.

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Not only is kindergarten education a fascinating topic, but its occurrence almost at the beginning of formal education raises a number of related issues, such as redshirting, high-stakes kindergarten testing, and entrance age.

Redshirting

You may have heard of the practice of redshirting college football players-that is, holding a player out a year for him to grow and mature. The theory is that the extra year will produce a better football player. The same practice applies to kindergarten children. The U.S. Department of Education estimates that about 10 percent of entering kindergarten children are redshirted-held out of school for a year (Education Statistics Quarterly, 2001). Parents and administrators who practice redshirting think that the extra year gives children an opportunity to mature intellectually, socially, and physically. On the one hand, redshirting might have some benefit for children who are immature and whose birth dates fall close to the cut-off for school entrance. On the other hand, some affluent parents redshirt their children, their sons in particular, because they want them to be the oldest members of the kindergarten class. They reason that their children will be class leaders, will get more attention from the teachers, and will have another year under their belts, all the better to handle the increasing demands of the kindergarten curriculum.

High-Stakes Kindergarten Testing

Children at all grade levels are being subjected to more testing. For kindergarten children, this testing includes not only achievement testing but also developmental and readiness screening. Developmental screening, as the term implies, is designed to assess current developmental status and identify children's language, cognitive, and social-emotional delays. Traditionally, this information is used to modify the existing curriculum and/or provide specific learning activities and programs to help children learn. This is what developmental practice is all about.

However, increasing numbers of kindergarten children are confronting readiness screening, designed to determine whether children have the cognitive and behavioral skills necessary for kindergarten success. Unfortunately, many children may be screened out of kindergarten, rather than have a school experience that will help them succeed. And many of the children who are screened out are the children who need a high-quality school program. In addition, there are a number of other concerns with readiness tests:

Many lack validity; that is, they don't measure what they say they are measuring.

Many readiness tests measure things that require teaching, such as colors, letters, and shapes. Consequently, children who would benefit most from a kindergarten program are judged not ready.

There is a mismatch between what readiness tests measure and what kindergarten teachers say is important for school success (Stipek, 2002).

Although our discussion of high-stakes testing occurs in the context of kindergarten, high-stakes testing exists in a much larger school and educational context. With a current emphasis on state and local accountability, there will be increasing pressure for teachers at all levels to make decisions based on high-stakes tests.

Kindergarten Entrance Age

Undoubtedly, there will be ongoing debate and discussion about the appropriate age for kindergarten entrance. Current legislative practices indicate that states and school districts will continue to push back the kindergarten entrance age. For example, Maryland raised the age at which children can be admitted to kindergarten; children must now be five by September 1 rather than the previous date of December 31. The state's superintendent of schools said the change was necessary because of the increased academic focus in today's kindergartens (Starr, 2002).

Rather than the constant juggling of entrance ages, what are needed are early childhood programs designed to serve the needs of all children, regardless of the ages at which they enter school. At the heart of this issue is disagreement about whether maturation or school is the more potent factor in children's achievement. Research studies comparing age and school effects suggest that educational intervention contributes more to children's cognitive competence than does maturation (Stipek, 2002).

These and other issues will continue to fuel the educational debates and will make teaching in kindergarten even more fascinating as the years go by.

Excerpt from Early Childhood Education Today, by G.S. Morrison, 2009 edition, p. 328-329.

© ______ 2009, Merrill, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The reproduction, duplication, or distribution of this material by any means including but not limited to email and blogs is strictly prohibited without the explicit permission of the publisher.

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Not only is kindergarten education a fascinating topic, but its occurrence almost at the beginning of formal education raises a number of related issues, such as redshirting, high-stakes kindergarten testing, and entrance age. You may have heard of the practice of redshirting college football players-that is, holding a player out a year for him to grow and mature.

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They teach kindergarten students to write English letters in a neat line.

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video: How to explain the teacher to kindergarten students.

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video: How to explain the teacher to kindergarten students.

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When the teacher explains to kindergarten students she must move and stand and change from place,And to be a high voice and discuss children and hear their answers and participate to remain interactive and active.

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10 Things About Kindergarten You Need to Know Now.

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10 Things About Kindergarten You Need to Know Now.

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Entering kindergarten can be an exciting and stressful time for both parents and children. Feelings of sadness, concerns about your child’s readiness and fear of the unknown can make this transition difficult. However, this time is a great learning opportunity for parents and kids alike as you embark upon this new adventure together.

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10 Things About Kindergarten You Need to Know Now | Education.com

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Here are some tips to help make the exciting transition into kindergarten an enjoyable adventure for both you and your child.

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Kindergarten Is the Model for Lifelong Learning.

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Kindergarten Is the Model for Lifelong Learning.

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Ever since the first kindergarten opened in 1837, it has been a place for telling stories, building castles, painting pictures, making friends, and learning to share. But kindergarten is undergoing a dramatic change.

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Ever since the first kindergarten opened in 1837, it has been a place for telling stories, building castles, painting pictures, making friends, and learning to share. But kindergarten is undergoing a dramatic change.

In today's kindergartens, children are spending more and more time filling out worksheets and drilling on flash cards. In short, kindergarten is becoming more like the rest of school.

Exactly the opposite needs to happen: We should make the rest of school (indeed, the rest of life) more like kindergarten.

What's so special about kindergarten? As kindergartners playfully create stories, castles, and paintings with one another, they develop and refine their abilities to think creatively and work collaboratively, precisely the abilities most needed to achieve success and satisfaction in the 21st century.

Underlying traditional kindergarten activities is a spiraling learning process in which children imagine what they want to do, create a project based on their ideas (using blocks, finger paint, or other materials), play with their creations, share their ideas and creations with others, and reflect on their experiences -- all of which leads them to imagine new ideas and new projects. This iterative learning process is ideal preparation for today's fast-changing society, in which people must continually come up with innovative solutions to unexpected situations in their lives.

If this approach is so well aligned with current societal needs, why do we so rarely support it in classrooms? One reason is that our society and our educational system don't place enough value on creative thinking.

Another reason is a lack of appropriate media and technologies: Wooden blocks and finger paint are great for learning kindergarten concepts (such as numbers, shapes, sizes, and colors). But as children get older, they want and need to work on more advanced projects and learn more advanced concepts. To do that, they need different types of tools, media, and materials.

This is where I believe digital technologies can play their most important role. If properly designed and used, new technologies can extend the kindergarten approach, allowing "students" of all ages to continue learning in the kindergarten style and, in the process, to keep growing as creative thinkers.

In my research group at the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, we've been developing new technologies specifically to support the kindergarten approach to learning. For example, we've collaborated with the Lego Group since 1985 on a collection of robotics construction kits that enable children to imagine and create interactive inventions in the same spirit as kindergartners build towers with blocks.

Recently, we've developed a new programming language called Scratch, which brings the kindergarten learning approach to the computer screen. With Scratch (available as a free download), children can create their own interactive stories, games, and animations and then share their creations on the Web. A vibrant online community has developed around Scratch, as users present more than a thousand new projects on the Scratch Web site each day. Some 250,000 people participate in the community, most of them ages 8-16.

One active participant in the community is a 13-year-old girl with the name BalaBethany (not her real screen name). As her first Scratch project, BalaBethany created and shared an animated story with anime characters. Other members of the online community responded positively, posting glowing comments under her project. Encouraged, BalaBethany began to create and share new anime stories on a regular basis, like episodes in a television series.

BalaBethany periodically added new characters to her stories. At one point, she got an idea: Why not involve the community in the process? She created and uploaded a new Scratch project that announced a contest: She asked other community members to design a sister for one of the characters. The project received more than 100 comments. One was from a community member who wanted to enter the contest but didn't know how to draw anime characters. So BalaBethany produced another Scratch project: a step-by-step tutorial that demonstrates a 13-stage process for drawing and coloring an anime character.

Credit: Wesley Bedrosian

I see BalaBethany as a case study of lifelong kindergarten. She is using Scratch to imagine, create, play, share, and reflect. In the process, she is refining her programming and artistic skills -- and she's developing as a creative thinker. Our ultimate goal is a world full of playfully creative people who, like BalaBethany, continue to learn as kindergartners do.

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Kindergarten Is the Model for Lifelong Learning | Edutopia

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Ever since the first kindergarten opened in 1837, it has been a place for telling stories, building castles, painting pictures, making friends, and learning to share. But kindergarten is undergoing a dramatic change. In today's kindergartens, children are spending more and more time filling out worksheets and drilling on flash cards.

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It’s a 21st-century truism that in order for the United States to get ahead in the global economy, we need to upgrade our public schools. Ideally, that should mean ensuring that every child receives an education of the best possible quality. Too often, however, in our culture of fast food, media sound bites, and instant downloads, we mistake faster for better.

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It's a 21st-century truism that in order for the United States to get ahead in the global economy, we need to upgrade our public schools. Ideally, that should mean ensuring that every child receives an education of the best possible quality. Too often, however, in our culture of fast food, media sound bites, and instant downloads, we mistake faster for better. That assumption has led countless school districts-perhaps even your own-to promote "academic kindergartens" where 5-year-olds are more likely to encounter skill-and-drill exercises and nightly homework than unstructured, imaginative playtime. With so much pressure to teach essential literacy and math skills, many kindergarten teachers. and even prekindergarten teachers say that time for free play and exploration is increasingly limited.

"Kindergarten is now first grade, and first grade is now second grade," says Anne Stoudt, a kindergarten teacher in suburban New Jersey for 19 years. "It used to be normal for first graders to still be learning to read. Now, the handful of kindergartners who aren't reading by the end of the year are considered behind.

"Indeed, just a decade ago, only 15 percent of kindergartners were readers. If we go back 30 years, the number shrinks to only 5 percent. This year, in Maryland's Montgomery County-which, like many districts, has mandatedfull-day attendance for fives-nearly 90 percent of kindergartners passed an end-of-year reading test.
GETTING TOUGH ON KINDERGARTEN
Part of the reason kindergarten is becoming more and more academic is a growing understanding of the importance of early learning and the capabilities of young children. "Five-year-olds aren't seen as babies anymore," says Liz Stevens, a kindergarten teacher in suburban San Diego. "What we know about brain-based learning tells us this is the right time for reading.

"It may be, but there is little doubt that No Child Left Behind also plays a role in determining the "right time." The pressures on schools to prepare children for testing in third grade has helped to eradicate the block area and dress-up center from the kindergarten classroom. By beginning the first-grade reading curriculum in kindergarten, schools have effectively gained an extra year of instruction.
WHAT IS LEFT OUT
Proponents of ramping up standards in early elementary education tend to focus on the numbers. More children learning to read or do math sooner must be good. But these achievements may come at the expense of other skills kids need to learn, such as self-reliance, problem-solving, and spatial thinking. "When we replace the block center with a math center, what do we gain?" says Stoudt. "Blocks are all about math, except they are more fun.

"While young students' reading and math scores are soaring, there is little assessment of the effect of the intensified academic focus on kids' motivation to learn, creativity, motor skills, social skills, or self-esteem. "The risk is children who are already burned out on school by the time they reach third grade," says Stoudt. "Play is how children learn. There should be more of it in the upper grades, not less in the lower."
WORKING HARD AT PLAY
Research consistently backs what early elementary teachers know: Imaginative play is the catalyst for social, physical, emotional, and moral development in young children. With guidance from an observant teacher, kindergartners can use imaginative play to make sense of the world around them-and lay the critical groundwork for understanding words and numbers.

"Play facilitates the growth of children's reasoning abilities," says David Elkind, Ph.D., author of The Power of Play. Through classifying objects (cars, shells, beads) and through experimentation (water play, clay), children learn to make inferences and draw conclusions. "Children's questions are a form of mastery play," says Elkind. "In asking questions, children are creating their own learning experiences."
THE INCREASING PACE OF GROWING UP
Perhaps nowhere else do children grow up as fast as in the United States. Joan Almon, coordinator for the Alliance for Childhood in the United States, relates a well-known anecdote about Jean Piaget, the famous cognitive psychologist. "He didn't particularly like speaking to American audiences. After he would finish his lecture on the natural progression of child development, someone would invariably ask, 'But how can we get them to do it faster?'" says Almon.

In Finland, which routinely leads the world in assessments of literacy, math, and science, children don't start formal schooling until age 7-and then they only attend half days. Compared to countries like the U.S. or the United Kingdom, children in Finland spend less time overall in school, too.But here, it's expected that kids start kindergarten at age 5, and many have years of preschool experiences under their belts before walking through the kindergarten door. Vivian Gussin Paley, author of A Child's Work, The Importance of Fantasy Play, writes that this has led some to question, "Since children enter preschool at a younger age, wouldn't they have enough playtime there before going to kindergarten?"According to most child-development experts, the answer is no. Play is the necessary work of children. According to psychologist Erik Erikson, the development of initiative through imaginative play is one of the primary challenges in the growth of young children. If children miss out on the work of play, their later learning can be adversely affected.
IT'S NOT JUST CHILD'S PLAY
Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Ph.D., is a professor of education at the University of Delaware and the author of numerous books, including Play = Learning and Einstein Never Used Flash Cards. She argues that play is the primary vehicle that children use to explore their world, learn critical social skills, and grow emotionally.

"But playtime also allows children the opportunity to rough-and-tumble with other children," Golinkoff adds. A 2003 study from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that children under 6 spend as much time with television, computers, and video games as playing outside. Clearly, the opportunity for physical play is crucial.

At school and at home, children have less time for unstructured play. "Children are used to being entertained by media," says Cindy Middendorf, a noted national speaker and author of Differentiating Instruction in Kindergarten. "But relying on television, movies, and video games, children are pulled away from real imaginative play."

Middendorf spent three decades as a teacher before her recent retirement, and the last 22 years of her career were in a kindergarten classroom. She adds that play is a vital part of language development in children-and it also establishes a foundation for reading and comprehension.

"Play has been phased out of so many kindergarten classes," Middendorf says. "But since we're not getting the academic results we expected, educators are now realizing that they can teach academic standards within the context of play."
WHAT TEACHERS CAN DO
So how can a kindergarten teacher successfully integrate play into his or her classroom? By embedding math, science, and literacy skills in a fun, meaningful context, says Golinkoff. "Learning has to be enjoyable," she says. "If a child grows to dislike school, there will be repercussions for years to come.

"Almon adds that the drive to play is strong in every healthy child. However, children need the time and permission to do so. But what about those kids who don't know what to do-or, really, how to play?

"If a child can't play independently, his teacher can play with him. The key is to know when to pull back so the child doesn't become dependent on that external structure," Almon explains. Teachers can facilitate play in all children by asking questions, using new vocabulary, and encouraging social cooperation with peers.

To encourage fantasy play, open-ended play materials work the best. Wooden blocks, pieces of cloth, and other basic construction materials allow children to imagine countless scenarios-and cost little to add to your classroom. Art and music don't have to exist solely as separate classes, either. Middendorf suggests reading a story aloud, then having children paint their literary responses. Alternatively, the class can help act out a story-and learn important lessons about plot, characters, and sequencing-or play a game that involves math skills.

"Teachers can also use children's imaginative play as a springboard for a lesson plan," Middendorf says. "In the end, you don't have to choose between an academic-based or a play-based kindergarten. It needs to be balanced."
HOT TOPICS--
It was a classic case: a five-year-old boy with a summer birthday. Born just eight weeks before his state's kindergarten cutoff date, his academic skills and physical abilities were on par with those of his peers. But was he socially and emotionally ready for kindergarten?

As a teacher-and, I confess, as that little boy's mom-I understand both sides of the issue. Across the United States, many parents of "young fives" have opted to delay their child's kindergarten start, even if the child is age-eligible. To address the needs of these children, some districts are offering transitional kindergarten (TK) classes, which promote positive socialization, hands-on learning, and emergent literacy. But there's also an ample amount of play time. After a year of TK, children either go on to a year of regular kindergarten or on to first grade, depending on their readiness.

While the popularity of TK waned in the 1990s, educators are again seeing an increase in such classes-a rise likely due to both increased academic pressures in kindergarten and an effort to meet children's developmental needs.

CutOff Dates

Across the U.S., September 1 is the most common date by which children need to turn five in order to start kindergarten. However, this can vary significantly by state; in Indiana the cutoff is July 1, but in California it's December 2.

This means that some children may start kindergarten before their fifth birthday. The challenges these kids face may not be just with their reading readiness and math skills. As any kindergarten teacher can tell you, kids may struggle with fine or gross motor movement, adequate social skills, or making it through a full day of school.

For these reasons, about 10 percent of U.S. parents delay their child's kindergarten start by a year, and boys are delayed nearly twice as much.

The Gift of Time

Elizabeth Lunday agonized about whether to enroll her son in a transitional kindergarten near their home in Fort Worth, Texas. "He had some language delays when he was younger," she says. "As a result, he really withdrew socially from other children." While that had been corrected through speech therapy, Lunday was concerned that her son's introverted nature would make kindergarten difficult for him. In the end, she opted to enroll him in a TK program at University Christian Church Weekday School. "In talking to other parents," she says, "I heard several say 'I wish I had held my child back,' but no one ever said 'I wish I hadn't done it.'"

From a teacher's perspective, Amy Weisberg couldn't agree more. Two years ago, she instituted the first developmental kindergarten program at her school, Topanga Elementary, in California. As a teacher in the state with the second latest cutoff date for kindergarten, she asserts that "those youngest kids just need a place to go."

Referring to research from the Gesell Institute of Human Development, Weisberg says that it is crucial to recognize the difference between a child's chronological age and his or her developmental stage. Weisberg also adds, "This can be especially true for boys, who may lag up to six months behind girls at that point."

In Wisconsin's McFarland School District, parents can choose between regular kindergarten, transitional kindergarten, and Just Five classes. Now in its seventh year of operation, Just Five is a half-day class for children who aren't quite ready for a full-day kindergarten class, says teacher Sara Everson.

Both Everson and Weisberg estimate that about half of their students go on to first grade the following year, while the rest opt for another year of kindergarten. By then, many of the children are developmentally ready to tackle the increased academic demands placed on them, and they've got the social skills and confidence to be successful.

What the Research Shows

"Many parents and teachers believe that holding kids back will result in higher achievement scores, but any advantage typically disappears by third grade," says Deborah Stipek, dean and professor of education at Stanford University. "Moreover, there's variability in children's skills no matter what the age."

Stipek authored a 2002 report entitled "At What Age Should Children Enter Kindergarten? A Question for Policy Makers and Parents," published by the Society for Research in Child Development. In analyzing the research that has been done on the topic, it's evident that delayed school entry can have a negative impact on low-income and minority children, for whom in-school experiences are critical in closing the achievement gap.

As teachers, we might ask: Is it about making the child ready for school, or about making the school ready for the child?" In a lot of ways, transitional kindergarten has a more developmental approach that emphasizes the social and emotional needs of children," says Beth Graue, the author of Ready for What? and a professor of early childhood education at the University of Wisconsin. "But, ultimately, the main program should provide that."

A Balancing Act

Remember that little boy I mentioned earlier? Here's what happened: After poring over the research and talking with his preschool teachers, I made the decision to send him to school when he was age-eligible. Cole was one of the youngest in his class; physically, he was tall and coordinated, but socially, it was a different story. I won't lie-it was a challenge for both me and his teacher. But you know what? This month, he's starting third grade and he's absolutely thriving.

Did I make the right choice? I don't know-but I made the best decision I could have at the time. As parents and teachers, that's the best we can do.

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What Happened to Kindergarten? | Scholastic

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It's a 21st-century truism that in order for the United States to get ahead in the global economy, we need to upgrade our public schools. Ideally, that should mean ensuring that every child receives an education of the best possible quality.