Playtime's OVA Kindergartners!

[ForWhoForWhat?]

Kindergarten has come a long way, baby — too far, some say.

Way beyond the ABCs, crayons and building blocks, the city Department of Education now wants 4- and 5-year-olds to write “informative/explanatory reports” and demonstrate “algebraic thinking.”

Children who barely know how to write the alphabet or add 2 and 2 are expected to write topic sentences and use diagrams to illustrate math equations.

“For the most part, it’s way over their heads,” a Brooklyn teacher said. “It’s too much for them. They’re babies!”

The city has adopted national standards called the Common Core, which dramatically raise the bar on what kids in grades K through 12 should know.

The jargon is new, too. Teachers rate each student’s performance as “novice,” “apprentice,” “practitioner” or “expert.”

Kindergartners are introduced to “informational texts” read aloud, such as “Garden Helpers,” a National Geographic tale about useful pests.

After three weeks, kids have to “write a book about what they’ve learned,” with a drawing and sentences explaining the topic.

In math, kids tackle concepts like “tally chart,” “combination,” and “commutative property,” DOE records show.

The big test: “Miguel has two shelves. Miguel has six books . . . How many different ways can Miguel put books on the two shelves? Show and tell how you know.”

An “expert” would draw a diagram with a key, show all five combinations, write number sentences for each equation, and explain his or her conclusions using math terms, the DOE says.

link

Gee; how could this happen? The WaPo did some research and found:

We reviewed the makeup of the committees that wrote and reviewed the Common Core Standards. In all, there were 135 people on those panels. Not a single one of them was a K-3 classroom teacher or early childhood professional.

Derp!

[ThankGod4Walsh]

Eat that, Finland!

[AndromedaPatFan]

I got my first algebra book when I was 4. (One of the old yellow-covered SMSG ones, I think.) Found the subject fun and easy.

[Edonidd]

Had my kindergarten son's first parent teacher conference a couple months ago. The kids are rated on a 4 point scale, and this new teacher (first thing she told us was that she had never taught by herself before) explained how the 4 point scale works. A 4 means the child is completely ready to skip that grade, and she was told by her principle to never give any kids a 4. A 3 means the child is doing exactly what is expected exactly the way the teacher told him perfectly. A 2 is when the child is almost doing everything perfectly, but makes one or two mistakes. A 1 is the lowest grade, and is given if the child isn't doing everything perfectly or almost perfectly.

She gave my kid almost all 1's across the board. The lowest grade you can give. I was stunned, this is our 3rd child and honestly although he gets less individual time than the others did, he is way more advanced than they were. He can read books on his own already at the start of kindergarten. So seeing him get a 1 for reading was kind of shocking. Then she explained it to us. She teaches these kids to run their index finger underneath the word as they read it. Our son reads without his hands. Obviously he isn't doing it the way she taught him perfectly, so can't be a 3. Not even almost perfectly with a mistake or two, so can't be a 2. And nobody is allowed to be exceptional, so can't be above grade level. So he must be classified as "significantly behind expected grade level"

We had to go home and try to explain to our 5 year old that just because they are teachers doesn't mean they know anything. And that sometimes in this life you get stuck humoring idiots and doing what they want, just because some random trick of fate put these idiots in charge of you. Even though we all know they are wrong. We were obviously a little more tactful about it, and my ex-wife and I planned what we were going to say to him together and then teamed up on him. And we made sure he didn't tell my parents who were both teachers, especially my dad who was a elementary teacher.

As everything else in our lives move forward and get better over time, the education system seems to honestly get worse.

[Superbelt]

Well, I have a 4 year old. He's progressing on identifying words that start with a certain letter. And spelling a few 3 letter words. But he isn't writing anything yet beyond his own name, which is still pretty wild looking.

He can count at least into the 20's and has a decent handle on his addition now. But diagrams and math equations? No. It's still all physically counting things.

[Hyped]

This is not surprising...the same **** happens in the education of deaf children (deaf professionals are almost never consulted with)....

[ForWhoForWhat?]

Had my kindergarten son's first parent teacher conference a couple months ago. The kids are rated on a 4 point scale, and this new teacher (first thing she told us was that she had never taught by herself before) explained how the 4 point scale works. A 4 means the child is completely ready to skip that grade, and she was told by her principle to never give any kids a 4. A 3 means the child is doing exactly what is expected exactly the way the teacher told him perfectly. A 2 is when the child is almost doing everything perfectly, but makes one or two mistakes. A 1 is the lowest grade, and is given if the child isn't doing everything perfectly or almost perfectly.

She gave my kid almost all 1's across the board. The lowest grade you can give. I was stunned, this is our 3rd child and honestly although he gets less individual time than the others did, he is way more advanced than they were. He can read books on his own already at the start of kindergarten. So seeing him get a 1 for reading was kind of shocking. Then she explained it to us. She teaches these kids to run their index finger underneath the word as they read it. Our son reads without his hands. Obviously he isn't doing it the way she taught him perfectly, so can't be a 3. Not even almost perfectly with a mistake or two, so can't be a 2. And nobody is allowed to be exceptional, so can't be above grade level. So he must be classified as "significantly behind expected grade level"

We had to go home and try to explain to our 5 year old that just because they are teachers doesn't mean they know anything. And that sometimes in this life you get stuck humoring idiots and doing what they want, just because some random trick of fate put these idiots in charge of you. Even though we all know they are wrong. We were obviously a little more tactful about it, and my ex-wife and I planned what we were going to say to him together and then teamed up on him. And we made sure he didn't tell my parents who were both teachers, especially my dad who was a elementary teacher.

As everything else in our lives move forward and get better over time, the education system seems to honestly get worse.

Well it sucks that's the situation, and i certainly understand your frustration, but did you have to tell him it was his teacher's fault (especially when you knew it wasn't)?

Sadly, I expect more of these bad experiences with kids and school. It pisses me off because while these stupid policy makers are driving education off a cliff, they have our kids strapped in in the seats while they are doing it.

[PatsFan2003]

My daughter hated kindergarten. She was able to do simple reading when she went in and was initially excited, expecting more of the same. They had no intention of promoting any of that. Plus the class was full of cliques that the teacher did nothing about.

[Edonidd]

Well it sucks that's the situation, and i certainly understand your frustration, but did you have to tell him it was his teacher's fault (especially when you knew it wasn't)?

Sadly, I expect more of these bad experiences with kids and school. It pisses me off because while these stupid policy makers are driving education off a cliff, they have our kids strapped in in the seats while they are doing it.

I didn't actually tell my kid that his teacher was wrong. We just explained that he was doing it right, but wasn't doing what she wanted. When he reads at home, he can do it his way, but at school he has to point at the word as he reads it to show her that he knows how to read and didn't just memorize it.

[ForWhoForWhat?]

I didn't actually tell my kid that his teacher was wrong. We just explained that he was doing it right, but wasn't doing what she wanted. When he reads at home, he can do it his way, but at school he has to point at the word as he reads it to show her that he knows how to read and didn't just memorize it.

Gotcha. I would have probably said the same thing then.