NY Times: In Kindergarten Playtime, A New Meaning for Play
I missed this article when it came out last week (”In Kindergarten Playtime, A New Meaning for ‘Play’”, July 26), only finding it when I read the letters to the editor of upset readers.
The article tells of the Achievement First East New York Charter School in Brooklyn, which puts its kindergarten students to an academic regimen that used to be reserved for students 3 or 4 years on in age. Study takes precedence over play:
The classroom has no blocks, dress-up corners or play kitchens. There is no time for show and tell, naps or recess. There is homework every night. For much of the day, the children are asked to sit quietly with their hands folded as their teachers drill them in phonics, punctuation and arithmetic.
Part of the loss, it seems is due to lack of space, the dress-up corner giving way to a math station, for instance. It seems also partially due to such measures as the No Child Left Behind act, which I think turns children into testing machines rather than well-rounded, inquisitive and social beings. The benefit, it seems, is that the children are learning to read.
My kids attended a kindergarten that met from 9 to 3 each day, much longer than the morning sessions I had at that age. It was a hard adjustment, but the school retains plenty of time for play to ease the academic demands. It seems cruel to expect 5- and 6-year-olds to meet from 7:30 to 4, as Achievement First does, even if the afternoons are given over to gym, music and dance. The physical toll must be great initially, and where is the time to spend at home with family, or to play with friends, or to get outdoors?
Let us hope that this extreme example draws attention to the demands we are now putting upon our youngest children, and causes us to reevaluate what is necessary to the proper growth of the next generation.