This is Kindergarten?

I saved all the papers Honeybun brought home from school for an entire month.  This is what we ended up with:

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SONY DSCWhat is most disturbing, though, is not just the vast quantity of paper that comes home (easily 5+ sheets DAILY), but it’s the type of papers she’s bringing home:

  • 15 Announcements and Notices (there may have been more that I had to return)
  • 8 projects
  • 14 independent drawings or writing sheets
  • 88 worksheets.

88 Worksheets!  That’s more than four times the number of projects and independent work COMBINED!  This doesn’t even include the math workbook pages we do at home and I can’t help but wonder “How is this helping my 5 year old?” (My FIVE year old!)

This bothers me because I know worksheets are completely inappropriate at this level and it shows a lack of understanding of kindergarten aged children by the teacher (which makes one start to wonder what other developmentally inappropriate things she is doing in the classroom!)

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC,a well-respected organization within the early childhood education realm and which I am a member) publishes a book on Developmentally Appropriate Practices which covers birth through age 8. In their “Teaching Methods” in Kindergarten section they state developmentally appropriate as being “Teachers provide a variety of engaging learning experiences and hands-on materials”  they say in contrast “learning materials are primarily workbooks,worksheets flash cards and other materials hat do not engage children’s interest, promote their self-regulation, or involve them in problem solving and other higher-order thinking skills.”

Perhaps this is why my five year old constantly tells me “school is boring” and “I haven’ learned anything at all in school” and “I don’t like school, I don’t want to go anymore.”  And I’ll never forget the day walking home when she excitedly told me (she rarely talks excitedly about school) “Mommy, guess what we got to do today…We got to have FREE CHOICE!”  and in that moment my heart shattered into a million little pieces.

4 Comments

  1. Nermari May 22, 2014
    • Melissa May 22, 2014
      • Nermari Broderick May 24, 2014
        • Melissa May 24, 2014