Is kindergarten the new first grade?
I discovered the most amazing thing in kindergarten yesterday: Kids this age now read and write books. I went to the Bailey Elementary School for a literacy event and discovered young children reading their own stories. My children and I started our education in Lowell at the Bailey School 10 years ago, and even though my two are good students, they couldn’t read in kindergarten, nor could most of their friends. In fact, I don’t think I learned to read until first grade myself, and I’ve always been an excellent reader. And yet, yesterday, kindergarten students at the Bailey School read to me! (Apparently kindergarten is the new first grade.)
In today’s world of high-stakes testing and full-day (at least in Lowell) kindergarten, children learn more, sooner. One reason for this accelerated learning is the intense focus on literacy, as well as new reading programs at all levels, and longer, more connected instructional periods. At the Bailey, I was told that though most students are reading, some are not ready. Often, students who haven’t had the benefit of preschool begin kindergarten behind their classmates—especially if they don’t speak English or if they come from poor or uneducated families. Those students spend half their kindergarten year learning how to adapt to a structured classroom (sitting, sharing, listening, and communicating in English)—all things they would have learned in preschool if they had been able to attend (along with the alphabet, numbers, and writing your name). Since 2003 when preschool transportation was cut, many students most in need of early intervention are not able to attend. I fear those with the late start may never catch up.