What would Big Bird Do?

This article caught my attention, see if it gets yours? I feel relieved that someone is communicating something other than that our kids should do more! The PUSH to compete in academia at age 5 instead of learning how to tie your shoes (no one actually does until about 2/3rd grade now, gone is the time of the shoe to practice on- velcro) or wipe your nose, be kind to those around you, maybe paint, learn to not eat dirt, then you get to build a play-dough structure so magnificent it could be used by the Magi as a gift to give the King of Kings, doesn't that sound like Kindergarten, no, Preschool. Now, by my statement this doesn't mean that my kids didn't get to experience some of this kind of Kindergarten(we love our K-teachers, the best, Mrs.Craig, Mrs.Toback) that I explain, but most classes are so driven by the curriculum that anything outside of "it" almost spells impossible or fired?! Is mine? I'm not sure, how many words do they want you to read/identify the first week of school? Read on to a better researched source that can help guide us as we all can begin to weed through and problem solve our own unique situations. I hope this will better equip you, and help you navigate yet another area of the "Now what" part of parenting. If your not in Kindergarten which most of you aren't this isn't just about Kindergarten, it's actually speaks of k - 3rd and then the later years...
THE NEW FIRST GRADE- I.E KINDERGARTEN
Sept. 11, 2006 issue - Brian And Tiffany Aske of Oakland, Calif., desperately want their daughter, Ashlyn, to succeed in first grade. That's why they're moving—to Washington State. When they started Ashlyn in kindergarten last year, they had no reason to worry. A bright child with twinkling eyes, Ashlyn was eager to learn, and the neighborhood school had a great reputation. But by November, Ashlyn, then 5, wasn't measuring up. No matter how many times she was tested, she couldn't read the 130-word list her teacher gave her: words like "our," "house" and "there." She became so exhausted and distraught over homework—including a weekly essay on "my favorite animal" or "my family vacation"—that she would put her head down on the dining-room table and sob. "She would tell me, 'I can't write a story, Mama. I just can't do it'," recalls Tiffany, a stay-at-home mom.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14638573/site/newsweek

So What would Big Bird Do? http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14639920/site/newsweek/ Do you think there's too much pressure on young kids to learn?
TRUGLIO: People want children to be ready to read in kindergarten, so that pressure is now being passed down to preschool and day-care centers. We're putting a lot of pressure on [teachers] and introducing children to some things that may or may not be age-appropriate. Stress is not conducive to learning. If you're put in a stressful environment, you're not going to learn

Let me know what you think? In speaking about all these we love, love to read in our home, we cherish our books and reading time. It seems the cost of the things that were missing along the way with our little ones is detrimental. A book can open a door or a window to a world of possibilities but you first have to discover how to use the function of your hand to open it.

Comments

[Alicia]

Hi Kim:
Just wanted to say hello to you and your family. Love you and miss you. By the way, do you have a link to email on this website? Did I miss it? Would love to hang with you guys. Batman misses you too. Alicia

[AB]

Provocative articles. As a teacher, I feel enormous pressure to get my kids to perform at grade level on tests. My weekly schedule, pre-set by my school site, contains no science, social studies, PE, music or art. It's all reading, writing, math, and English-language instruction. I feel like I'm going to be found out if I squeeze an art project in. I want my kids to know how to read, but I also want them to enjoy school and be eager to learn. "Hey kids, today we get to learn about base words and the dictionary! It's going to be really fun!" All these hours -- I question the long term effect of these choices and the pressure to perform. Are they even being considered? And yet No Child Left Behind is our current reality and the pressures it brings with it. ALL kids performing at grade level in reading and math. Period.