To Achieve, Set Low Goals
by Joe?Pulcinella
My wife was just flipping through the latest Nick Jr magazine and found an article that explained to parents what to expect their kids to learn in Kindergarten on up. Since our oldest son (4 years old) has attended a Montessori school for the last two years, this really freaked us out. Check out what I can expect my kids to learn regarding reading and writing in Kindergarten at a government school:
* Write his name
* Recognize that sentences are made up of words that read from left to right
* Name all the lowercase and uppercase letters of the alphabet
* Make simple rhymes
* Tell the sequence of a story or event
But wait! Social Studies gets even better!
* Understand the reason for basic rules (e.g., no pushing)
* Explain community jobs
* Identify some of the ways in which people are alike and different
Uh, why are public servant jobs so important that they deserve special attention in government schools? I won't answer that one because you already know. Just for comparison, my 4-year old will not attend Kindergarten until fall of 2005. He can already read and his skills in that area improve every day. He burned through over 30 kindergarten-type books on his own during the summer. We also do simple arithmetic together. I can't tell you that I can't wait to NOT send him (or his younger brother and sister) to government Kindergarten.
