The Pica Perspective

Kindergarten boot camp

Here's a press release from the Alliance for Childhood:

Kindergarten Boot Camp?
  It’s Time for an About Face in Early Education

College Park, MD, August 31, 2010—In Murrieta Valley, California, parents are offered the option of enrolling their children in “kindergarten boot camp,” a summer program designed to help them survive the treacherous transition from home or child care to kindergarten. Children work on letter, number, and shape recognition, school routines, and other skills they are expected to know. 

Similar programs are popping up all over the country, in response to parents’ anxiety about their youngsters’ ability to deal with the harsh realities of today’s kindergartens. One such boot camp in Nebraska lasts all year. “Boot Camp will help your child master important pre-reading and pre-writing skills,” says the web site of the children’s museum that sponsors it. 

At the kindergarten boot camp of the Harlem Success Academy, a high-pressure charter school in New York City, young children are drilled on how to move through the “zero noise” corridors in straight lines with their mouths shut and their arms at their sides. 

In many communities, children starting kindergarten are expected to know the alphabet, count accurately to 10 or higher, know the days of the week, recognize colors and shapes such as cones and spheres, and be able to complete worksheets on these and other concepts. 

Many of the academic tasks kindergartners are now expected to master were previously reserved for first or second grade. As a result, today’s classrooms are often tightly structured. Some even require teachers to follow scripts designed to drill children on literacy and math skills, with frequent tests. At one Milwaukee school, kindergartners take nearly 160 required tests during the year, in reading, writing, spelling, math, social studies, science, and health. 

Intense Academics in Kindergarten Have Not Produced Good Results 

Has this massive change in the nature of kindergarten over the last generation produced positive results? Increasingly, researchers, educators, and children’s advocates say no. 

“Evidence is mounting that intensive didactic approaches in kindergarten have not yielded long-term gains,” says Joan Almon, executive director of the nonprofit Alliance for Childhood. “The most reliable and valid tests, like the National Assessment of Educational Progress, show little or no progress. And for many children, these ramped-up expectations are actually causing harm.” 

“That the image of ‘boot camp’ for young children has caught on in so many places is telling,” says Edward Miller of the Alliance. “Kindergarten was designed as a place to introduce children to the pleasures of learning and exploring the wider world, mainly through play and discovery. Now we talk in terms of preparing them for combat—as if school is a war zone, or a prison.” 

Almon and Miller are co-authors of the 2009 report “Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School.” It documents the importance of free play in early education and the extent to which play has been pushed out of kindergarten. The authors argue that the push for early academics is based on unproved assumptions. 

For example, they point to recent research in England and New Zealand that compared children who were taught to read at age five with those taught to read at seven. By age eleven there was no difference in reading ability between the two groups. 

These findings complement earlier studies in the U.S. and Germany comparing children in play-based preschool and kindergarten classrooms with others in programs focused on academic skills. Within a few years the children in playful programs were significantly ahead of the others in academic achievement. 

“Crisis in the Kindergarten” argues that a gross overemphasis on high-stakes tests of reading and math skills has contributed to the loss of play in early childhood education and created a false sense of progress. That argument was bolstered by this summer’s testing debacle in New York, which revealed that several years of increasing proficiency scores were illusory. Nevertheless, policymakers and commentators have responded to the latest news by calling for more academics and tougher tests. In other words, more boot camp for young children. 

The Connection Between Play Deprivation and Behavior Problems 

Almon and Miller of the Alliance point to evidence that inappropriate expectations and play deprivation contributes to behavioral problems, especially in young boys. In a 2005 study, Walter Gilliam of Yale University found that public preschools were expelling students at an alarmingly high rate, and that 4.5 times as many boys as girls were affected. Gilliam also noted a striking relationship between play and expulsion: preschools with the least amount of time for dramatic play had the highest rates of expulsion. 

“Years of research on the role of play in early childhood shows that it contributes to self-control, problem solving, empathy, cooperation, and communication skills,” says Joan Almon. “By depriving children of play, we rob them of the chance to develop the tools they need to get along with others and succeed in school and in life.” 

Kindergarten teachers who were surveyed in a study conducted by Jennifer Astuto of New York University expressed concerns about the lack of time for play and the pressures to do academic work. 

“The school day is very structured and is run on a tight schedule,” wrote one teacher. “The students are not given snack, play, or nap time.” 

“They move from mini lessons conducted on the carpet to follow up work at their desks,” said another. “Our day is very intense and provides very little free play, choice time, or any arts and crafts time.” 

“Many kindergarten students are missing out on socializing with their peers,” wrote a third. “They need to learn about sharing, caring, and being a good friend and respect for people and things.” 

This pressure-cooker atmosphere has led increasing numbers of parents to “redshirt” their five-year-olds, holding them back from starting kindergarten until they are six. The most recent census data, for 2008, shows that 17 percent of children entering kindergarten were six or older.

The loss of play, active learning, and discovery in kindergarten may well be related to a disturbing decline in measures of creativity in American children, says the Alliance for Childhood. “We know that play fosters creativity,” says Ed Miller. “And we have been hearing the same complaint from veteran teachers and others who work with young children: today’s children have very little imagination. That’s scary.”

“It’s high time for early childhood education to do an about-face,” says Joan Almon, “and reject the boot-camp mentality. Young children don’t need to be coerced into learning. They love hands-on exploration and play. Teachers need to work with the grain and support that way of learning, while setting age-appropriate goals for achievement.”

What is an early childhood education degree?

If you're a reader of this blog you certainly know how fervently I believe in play for young children, particularly in their early schooling. Still, I wish you could have seen my face -- and the way my jaw dropped -- when I read a post, dated yesterday, with the same title as this one.

The reason for my surprise? Here's the opening paragraph:

“Early childhood education” is a very popular major today. However, this concept is still unknown to many people. Early childhood education can be basically termed as “Learning through play”. This concept is adopted by many kindergartens.

Just a bit of a simplification! And, of course, these days, the reference to kindergartens is almost completely untrue.

If you're an early childhood professional, you might also want to know that, according to this post, compared to other careers available today, a career in early childhood education is "stress free."

It's not my intent to harangue the writer of the blog, but I did think a few of you might want to correct some of its misconceptions. You'll be glad to know there is a spot for comments!

Mind in the making

Last evening I attended a book event sponsored by the Early Education Initiative of the New America Foundation. The event featured Ellen Galinsky, president and co-founder of the Families and Work Institute and author of the new book, Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs. Ms. Galinsky talked about the research she accumulated and reviewed -- over a period of 10 years -- and how she arrived at the seven skills she sees as essential for success both in childhood and in adulthood. They are:

1. Focus and Self Control
2. Perspective Taking
3. Communicating
4. Making Connections
5. Critical Thinking
6. Taking on Challenges
7. Self-Directed, Engaged Learning

A highlight of the evening were videos that said so much more than words ever could. One, depicting Focus and Self Control, was of the "marshmallow test." If you haven't seen it, watch it now!

Whether you're a parent or an early childhood professional, it's imperative that you ask yourself whether or not you're helping to instill these seven essential skills in the children in your care!

There are many resources available at Mind in the Making. I encourage you to check them out!

October leadership conference

Here's a message from Marcy Guddemi, executive director of the Gesell Institute of Human Development, regarding an upcoming conference they're sponsoring. I'll be there as part of a panel discussing play. Hope to see you there!

Gesell Institute of Human Development, a New Haven based non-profit on the Yale campus, is planning a very important event---a leadership in early childhood education conference.  http://www.gesellinstitute.org/pdf/LEADConferenceBrochure.pdf  This is a conference you will not want to miss! Register today to hear from world renowned pediatricians T. Berry Brazelton, MD and Joshua D. Sparrow, MD, and Head Start founder Edward Zigler, PhD, We are also honored to feature Alliance for Childhood Executive Director Joan Almon, Columbia University’s Dr. Sharon Lynn Kagan, and United States Representative, the Honorable Rosa DeLauro. Our pre-conference banquet on October 14th will feature award-winning journalist and engaging speaker Ashley Merryman, also the co-author of the New York Times bestseller NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children.

Our national conference on October 15^th, 2010 has been designed to address the important issues of early childhood education leadership, in a way that no other leadership conference has. Speakers include both world-renowned experts in child development and practitioners, including Sally Millaway, Principal and David Mooij, Superintendent, of Neptune Township School District in New Jersey, where they have experienced first-hand the power of utilizing a research-based early childhood program for preschool and Kindergarten children.

As outlined in our conference materials at www.gesellinstitute.org/events, the conference will be structured to include two keynote presentations and four panels, lead by experts and practitioners in the field. Some of the key questions we will address are as follows.

·       What curricular models are leading to higher test scores? 

·       What does research tell us about how children learn? 

·       What policies are making a positive difference in terms of learning outcomes? 

·       What role does hands-on, developmentally appropriate practice play? 

Hope you can attend.  Limited space so register early and save!

Core standards update

Here's the latest from Ed Miller of the Alliance for Childhood:

The final version of the Core Standards was released this morning at a press conference in Georgia (to give the impression that this was not a Washington-based initiative, even though it was).  The standards are online here:

http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards.

 

A quick reading reveals some changes from the last published version.  For example, the math standards now say that kindergartners should be able to "count forward beginning from a given number within the known sequence (instead of having to begin at 1."  The previous version required them to count "forward or backward."

 

I will pass along reactions to the standards from those of you who wish to comment in this forum after reading the final version of the K-3 standards.

 

Here's an excerpt from Catherine Gewertz's report in Education Week:

Organizers of the Common Core State Standards Initiative scheduled a press event at a Georgia high school for this morning and invited a high-profile list of guests, including governors and education commissioners, to speak in support of the standards.

The final document outlines what experts decided are the knowledge and skills students should have in mathematics and English/language arts. Convened last year by the National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and Achieve, which have worked in various ways to help states raise academic expectations, the writing and feedback panels included university scholars, state curriculum specialists, and teachers; testing organizations such as the College Board and ACT Inc.; and curriculum-design companies such as America's Choice.

Drafts evolved as they were circulated among state departments of education, teachers' unions, and groups focused on curriculum content, and then revised. The panels' work still was criticized in some quarters, however, for affording too little chance for general public input, or for producing expectations that were too rigorous or not rigorous enough.

The first official public draft, released in March, drew more than 10,000 comments on a website set up by the NGA and the CCSSO. The final document incorporates that feedback, officials said, as well as final rounds of input from states and specialized groups.

The press event for the release of the final standards was to take place at a high school outside Atlanta. The choice of location and the list of expected attendees carry political messages that the organizers of the common-standards initiative hope to send as states decide whether to adopt them.

Peachtree High School in Suwanee, Ga., is 600 miles from Washington, a fact aimed at critics who see the common-standards movement as a federal intrusion into state education decisions. That perception was fueled by rhetorical and monetary support from the federal government. President Barack Obama backs the idea, and the U.S. Department of Education's Race to the Top grant competition, financed with economic-stimulus money, favors states that adopt the standards....

 

Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia signed pledges of support to help develop the common-core initiative, but that did not bind them to embrace the resulting document. Kentucky, Hawaii, Maryland, and West Virginia have adopted the standards tentatively, based on earlier drafts. But now that the document is final-and with the Race to the Top requiring state action by Aug. 2-dozens of states will face adoption decisions in the next couple of months.

--Ed

More bad news about TV

New research shows that the side effects of television viewing in toddlerhood are showing up in grade school. Here's an excerpt from an article in this week's School Library Journal:

Photo: Flickr by Rocketeer.

Children exposed to television between the ages of two and four appear to have more problems in school and poorer health behaviors when they reach the fourth grade, says Linda S. Pagani of Université de Montréal in Canada. She and colleagues studied 1,314 children between  the ages of 29 months and 53 months and asked parents to report their weekly hours of TV watching.

Then when the children reached the age of 10, parents and teachers were also asked to report on children’s academic and health behaviors, as well as their body mass index (BMI). Here’s what they found—each additional hour of television in early childhood resulted in a 7 percent decrease in classroom engagement, a 6 percent decrease in math achievement, and a 13 percent decrease in time spent doing weekend physical activity.

“With respect to indicators of sedentary habits in the fourth grade, every additional hour of exposure in 29 months corresponded to a 10 percent unit increase in video game use,” the study says.

At the same time, for each additional hour of TV watching in early childhood, research showed 9 percent higher scores for consumption of soft drinks and 10 percent higher scores for consumption of snacks, as well as a 5 percent increase in BMI.

TV-watching toddlers also showed 10 percent increase in classmate victimization at the fourth grade.

“The long-term risks associated with higher levels of early exposure may chart developmental pathways toward unhealthy dispositions in adolescence,” Pagani and her colleagues stated. “A population-level understanding of such risks remains essential for promoting child development.”

Farewell to Stanley Greenspan

Dr. Stanley Greenspan, pioneer of the "Floor Time" method for teaching children with autism and other developmental disorders, and who documented the developmental milestones of early childhood, has died at age 68.

According to the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders, which offers training in the Floor Time technique, Greenspan was "the world's foremost authority on clinical work with infants and young children with developmental and emotional problems. His work continues to guide parents, professionals and researchers all over the world."

Dr. Greenspan authored numerous books, including Great Kids: Helping Your Baby and Child Develop the Ten Essential Qualities for a Healthy, Happy Life, upon which I based my interview with him for Body, Mind and Child. I'm honored to have had the chance to speak with him. To listen to his thoughts on genuine versus phony self-esteem, click here.

Developing Genuine Versus Phony Self-Esteem in Children
Stanley Greenspan M.D. with host Rae Pica

Dr. Greenspan says that genuine self-esteem is one of the ten essential qualities necessary for a healthy, happy life. Is it possible to “give” your child self-esteem? The answer may come as a surprise. Learn the difference between genuine, versus phony, self-esteem and when and how you should praise your child.

Core standards update

The following is from Ed Miller of the Alliance for Childhood:

Rachel Demma, Senior Policy Analyst at the National Governors Association, says that the final version of the K-12 Common Core Standards will be released on Wednesday, May 26. We have no idea at this point what kinds of changes are being made to the draft version of the standards that was issued on March 10, and we don't know how many people ended up urging the NGA and the Council of Chief State School Officers to withdraw the K-3 standards and start over, because those two organizations are not telling.

 

I attended the "Listening and Learning About Early Learning" meeting in Washington on April 23 that was organized by Jacqueline Jones and Joan Lombardi (the first of a series of four such meetings held in different cities) and made a short statement about the Core Standards on behalf of the Alliance for Childhood.  The statement is attached.

 

Among the featured speakers that day was Gail Connelly, Executive Director of the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and her remarks were noteworthy for their blunt critique of the current overemphasis on standardized tests and their spirited defense of play. Here are some excerpts:

...It is insufficient to present a narrow curriculum that is easily measured by standardized test scores. Applying a single measure like test scores to a complicated enterprise like educating children paints a one-dimensional picture--a flat, shallow, and inaccurate snapshot when what we need is a three-dimensional portrait of the whole child. We can and should do a better job of capturing how students learn and grow: socially, emotionally, and academically....

 

We know that learning begins well before kindergarten and play is an integral part of the development. It is central to how children solve problems, develop relationships, learn the give and take of healthy interactions, develop language, and collaborate. NAESP recently teamed up with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Playworks, and the Gallup organization to study recess. Here's the opening statement from that report, titled The State of Play: "Class size. Standardized testing. The three Rs. When most people talk about how to improve education, they tend to focus only on what happens in the classroom. But the most unexpected opportunity to boost learning lies outside the classroom: on the playground at recess."

 

Exactly! Active children are more confident about their ability to learn and more creative in their problem-solving. Play helps children establish and nurture relationships, resolve conflict, think independently, express themselves creatively, and make good decisions--among many other benefits that bolster learning.

 

And yet play is a rapidly vanishing part of the school day.... Ironically, the evidence says that eliminating recess to strengthen learning is likely to yield exactly the opposite outcome. Unfortunately, the situation is not much better in kindergarten, which once was the all-important space that integrated play and learning.

 

The vision of prekindergarten through grade three alignment must begin with the recognition that early learning does not stop at the kindergarten school door--and play is the perfect example of how we must bring back developmentally appropriate learning experiences and carry them well into the third grade....

Ed

NAEYC's parent site

Below is a press release from the National Association for the Education of Young Children:

NAEYC offers new website, tips for parents searching for quality child care
Newly redesigned RightChoiceforKids.org gives parents a one-stop shop for information about high-quality early childhood education

(Washington, D.C.) – The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is very excited to announce the launch of a newly redesigned website specifically made for parents and families. The new rightchoiceforkids.org should be every parent’s first stop when beginning their search for quality child care for their young child from birth through 5 years old. The new rightchoiceforkids.org offers families tips on finding quality child care, allows for easy search for NAEYC-Accredited programs in your area, provides parent-focused articles and videos, and other great resources!

Rightchoiceforkids.org first launched in 2006 as a way to help parents look for NAEYC-Accredited programs – the mark of quality in early childhood education. But looking for a high-quality program can be challenging with all the choices available to parents. Rightchoiceforkids.org helps communicate that the best way to guarantee a program’s quality is by looking for the NAEYC Torch – a symbol of NAEYC Accreditation. NAEYC-Accredited programs are required to meet 10 early childhood program standards and demonstrate compliance with more than 400 specific criteria, which were created using the latest research and developmentally appropriate practices in the field.

“High-quality early childhood education is a critical component to a child’s success in school and life,” said Mark R. Ginsberg, executive director of NAEYC. “For years parents have asked us what early childhood program would be best for their child and rightchoiceforkids.org helps answer that question."

In addition to looking for NAEYC-Accredited programs, parents can also use the following checklist of tips when visiting programs for the first time:

1. A good program will always provide parents an opportunity to visit, stay awhile, and get a good sense of the environment.
2. Parents should ask about and observe group sizes and the number of teaching staff in each classroom. NAEYC recommends no more than 8 babies or 12 toddlers with at least 2 teaching staff. For preschoolers, group size should not exceed 20 children with at least 2 teaching staff always present.
3. Play, including dramatic play and blocks and active play outdoors, should be integrated into classroom topics of study. Play not only supports children’s intellectual development; it is also very important for the physical development of children.
4. Programs should promote the health and nutrition of children.
5. Children in the program should be engaged with one another and their teachers. Listen and watch for a happy buzz of activity—neither too quiet nor too loud.
6. Teachers should use positive speech and be loving and responsive to a child.
7. A good program should be able to adapt to the needs of each individual child without ignoring the whole group.
8. Teaching staff should be qualified academically.
9. Parents should ask about teacher turnover. A high-quality program will have well-compensated and well-trained staff to ensure retention.
10. Programs should have a strong connection with the families of each child and the community, as well.

Parents should also think about what they see based on what they know about their child. Are the teachers treating children in ways that will be comfortable to their child? Are the materials and activities likely to be of interest and to be challenging but achievable to their child? Is the program interested in what is important to the parent and willing to work with the family to give a child the high-quality experiences he or she deserves?

Overall parents should feel comfortable in an early education setting. Chances are if a parent does not feel comfortable, neither will the child. It is also important for parents to understand that NAEYC-Accredited programs will not only meet a child where he or she is, but will also present challenges to improve that child’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development.

For more information about how parents can find the best child care or preschool program, visit www.rightchoiceforkids.org or call NAEYC toll-free at 800-424-2460.

Mind in the making

Following is a letter from Ellen Galinsky of the Families and Work Institute. If you do nothing else, be sure to watch the "marshmallow test" on YouTube!

_______________

After eight years of research, I am very excited to tell you that Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs will be published on April 20^th. In addition, the Mind in the Making Vook (video book with about 50 videos) is now available at http://vook.com/ and the three volumes (for your computer, iPhone or iPad) can be ordered at the links below:

• Volume One

• Volume Two

• Volume Three

I am also thrilled to tell you that the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric is scheduled to air a special preview of Mind in the Making on April 20^th. We invite you to tune in and then visit the website after April 20th to see additional footage and experiments!)

With New Screen Concepts, we have interviewed and filmed more than 85 eminent child development researchers and neuroscientists who opened their labs to us, enabling us to share their research as it was being conducted.

Here is one example of the more than 50 videos we have created: the “Marshmallow Test” conducted by Dr. Walter Mischel of Columbia University and his colleagues.

What was your reaction when you saw the Marshmallow Test? If your reaction was like many others, you will understand why we are so committed to sharing Mind in the Making.

I set out on this eight-year journey to reconcile two images. One was the image that came from an Ask the Children study I was developing on youth (children from the third through the twelfth grades) and learning. I found that far too many children were turned off by learning. Their faces were flat and expressionless when they talked about learning.

The other image was of young children who are unstoppable learners. They want to see, taste, touch, and master everything. Their eyes are sparkling and bright. So my goal was to find out what we can do to keep that fire in children’s eyes burning brightly.

From FWI’s workforce and workplace research, I know that there is a gap between the skills needed for today’s and tomorrow’s worlds and the skills children learn. From child development research, I could also see that certain skills have the most powerful short-term and long-term effects on children’s development. And these became the focus of my inquiry, determining which skills have the most positive effects on children now and in the future. Ultimately, I identified seven skills, which I call life skills because of their powerful potential to help children thrive socially, emotionally, and intellectually. These are a different set of skills than others have proposed. They include such skills as focus, perspective taking and taking on challenges.

I am convinced that we will not be able to address the skills gap and the achievement gap in this country without including life skills.  It is also clear that these skills help adults thrive too!

Although we feel that the release of the book and Vook are milestone events that we are celebrating, we feel even more strongly that April 20^th is the launch of the next phase of our work.  We are creating a wide array of multimedia materials for families, teachers and the general public. I invite you to join us at this stage of our journey by:

• Sharing what you do to promote these skills on our website—we will collect and share these ideas; and
• Creating a book or a Vook club to read, see, and discuss these ideas.

I am happy to discuss these ideas with you online (please visit us at www.mindinthemaking.org.) If you would like to plan an in-person presentation and discussion in your company or community, please contact shuang@familiesandwork.org.

I am deeply grateful to the funders who made this journey possible, to the many researchers who shared their work with us, and to all of you for your interest and support over the years.

I look forward to the next stage of this journey with you!

Best,

Ellen Galinsky, President

Families and Work Institute