A Hoosier curmudgeon sees a Republican governor who likes to spend money, and she is not happy about it:
Indiana's Republican governor wants to increase spending again. He said his biggest priority is to fund full-day kindergarten. Of course this was a priority when Democrats were in charge too. When you're the party in control, proposing spending in a feel-good area seems to be standard political procedure.
But why, after all these years, do we think half-day kindergarten is not working?
Well, first of all, we don't really know that it's not working, or that full-day kindergarten works any better. Existing data, and there is very little, shows that any short term gains dissipate over time and eventually you can't tell whether a child was in a half-day or full-day program. If this is the case, then what's the point of spending more money on it?
I feel kind of deprived. I didn't even have half-day kindergarten. I was not able to go to school, believe it or not, until the advanced age of 6, thrown into first grade with absolutely no preparation, my best learning months already behind me. Probably why I like loafers or shoes with velcro strips. While my peers were in kindergarten learning how to tie shoelaces, I was goofing off at home with nothing to keep me company except all those books my mother read to me.
Comments
"Politically" speaking...if HALF-DAY kindergarten isn't working, wouldn't that make FULL-DAY kindergarten not work TWICE as well????
And there's NOTHING wrong with velcro-closure footwear....
;)
B.G.
(another person tossed unceremoniously into FIRST grade with no prep... and still reaping the benefits)
What is it with educators and politicians? Full day kindergarten, what do they expect to gain from this? When we look at child development and all the variation, we find that at young ages, there are great variances in ability. Some are tinkerer
William- What they hope to achieve is a more complete warehousing of children. Between this and the lengthened school year (my son's first day of high school is August 16th! We never started until after Labor Day.), they're sure getting there.
I was bored out of my wits in Kindergarten. I recall it distinctly. My mother taught me to read when I was four, and here we were singing the same songs day after day and learning the a-b-c's.
But, you know how these things go- the answer to it all is more of it. If kids aren't learning, they need more time in the classroom. If they are learning, it obviously works to have them in the classroom, so think of how much better it will be with even more instruction! The axiom is identical when you exchange "classroom instruction" for "money".
For my part, I believe kids need less time in the classroom suffering rote instruction and teaching to the middle of the bell curve and more time being creative. Of course, that would require a parent's presence...
Mike, I agree with your "warehousing" observation. As the father of three, I can personally attest to breathing a big sigh of relief every year when school commences in the fall (oops,I mean summer too aug 23 for us) because it obviously helps get everyone back to a more normal shedule.
While I'm always glad to see them get back to school, I also think the summer break is too short. Sure it's a little more "inconvenient" for me when I have to actually do some "parenting".
People are so self absorbed and "busy" with
things that don't matter they completely ignore their responsibilities as parents. They are happy to let the state babysit their kids while they pursue their own interests.
We don't need year-round school or all day kindergarten, we need parents to start raising their children again.