April 7, 2001 The Sun Chronicle
Attleboro, MA
Kindergarten not just snacks and naps
By JOHN WINTERS / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF

When the youngsters at the Early Childhood Center in Attleboro walk into their classroom each morning, it's not all fun and games. Not anymore. These days, kindergarten is more than snacks and naps. There's some real learning that's being done.

That's not to say today's kindergarten kids are glued in their seats for hours of study, there's still plenty of fun and activity. But the educational climate has changed, and now kindergarten is looked upon as a junior prep school of sorts for first grade.

"You'll find the typical kindergarten today is quite a bit different than a number of years back," said Michael F. Kelley, an assistant professor of early childhood education at Arizona State University West, and a spokesman for the Association for Childhood Education International. "The day is longer, and there is considerably greater effort in pushing a formal academic curriculum."

Partly driving this trend, which began about 15 years ago, is the call for higher standards in education. After all, today's kindergartners will, in four short years, have to face questions on the MCAS that ask them to do such things as identify rocks and minerals by their physical properties, and to employ three different tests to identify a mineral.

Facing questions like that, no wonder today's educators feel children need a bit of a head start.

"Children today really need a solid foundation," said Mary Mello, director of pre-school and primary education for the Attleboro school system.

The goal of Mello and her staff at the Early Childhood Center is to have 80 percent of the kindergarten students at what's called an "emerging reading level," which means able to read simple sentences, before going onto first grade.

The half-day program is meant to still be fun, she added, which experts believe is the best way for children to learn at earlier ages.

"They're still little, little bodies and they're still active," Mello said. "But we work a lot of skills into their activities."

Currently each school district must offer at least a parttime program and it's up to parents whether to send their children.

The half day of kindergarten in local communities typically includes a mix of hands-on activities, done in groups or with students working one on one with a teacher or assistant. There are games and projects, storytelling, some writing, and playtime devoted to learning colors and shapes. A few towns even offer Spanish.

There's also recess, which is important, as studies show young people learn better after activity. And there is still snack time, a favorite activity for any child.

The goal is to not only get students ready for elementary school, but to teach socialization skills, a sense of independence, and get the youngsters used to following directions.

Originally, kindergarten was envisioned as literally a "garden for children." That was back in the 19th century. Yet the roots go back even further: Plato recommended educating all youngsters equally, with an emphasis on making the learning more amusement than actual work.

In this country, many of the earliest kindergartens served to assist with the acculturation of newly arrived immigrant children. Later, the role of kindergarten became to ease the transition from home to the formal aspects of elementary school.

What hasn't changed is the need to address children's physical, social and emotional growth and development, experts say.

That formula was tweaked a bit during the early 1980s, after the U.S. Department of Education issued its report called "A Nation at Risk," which assessed the quality of teaching and learning in this country.

"People were concerned we weren't doing as much as we should be doing with regard to curriculum and academics, so we saw a focus on longer school days and more school days," Kelley said.

Since then, expectations have been pushed down, he said.

"Social competence is beginning to take a back seat to academics," in kindergarten in some parts of the country, Kelley said.

He worries that kindergarten students in some areas are being asked to sit in place for long stretches of time, doing worksheets or being forced to memorize things.

The trick is to mix the fun, learning and activity in a curriculum that's "play based," he said.

"It's about balance."

That philosophy was echoed by many local administrators.

"I think we have to make the program developmentally appropriate so you're not pushing children into things they're not ready for," said Norton Superintendent Lincoln DeMoura. "But you have to provide a fertile field for students to grown in."

However, most area school districts have at least discussed moving from half-day kindergarten to full day. The desire is driven in part by families with two working parents. In fact, some local parents have forgoed the public system and enrolled their children in private or charter schools that already offer full-day kindergarten.

But the main reason for considering full-day programs is to fit more educational time in.

"Basically I'm strongly in favor and see the tremendous need for full-time kindergarten," said Jack Jones, assistant professor of elementary and early childhood education at Bridgewater State College." Most kids, by the time they get their coats off and get settled, it's time to have a snack and go home again. And then they're off to the Y or a baby sitter. It certainly would be more stable in their life if they could all stay together."

Norfolk Superintendent Marcia Lukon, whose district just received a state grant to allow officials to study the full-day issue, looks forward to trying such a program.

"I think there is a myriad of reasons to do it," she said. "It gives kids a real extra boost."

But that boost comes with a cost.

Just in Norton, going full time would mean spending an additional $415,800 and adding seven classrooms, doubling the size of the program to service the same number of students.

The Massachusetts Department of Education does offer a grant program to allow communities to study the option and implement such a program, and Jonathan Palumbo, a department spokesman, said he'd like to see more districts give it a chance.

That's not enough to cover a town like Norton's added expense, however.

"I would not feel comfortable unless the DOE was willing to make a long-term commitment," DeMoura said. "Now it's a grant, and grants have a tendency to decrease in later years."

In Attleboro, each time school space issues are discussed, officials are wary that the state may one day mandate full-day kindergarten, throwing any plan into flux. Palumbo said there are no plans to require districts to offer full-time kindergarten.

Other communities have also discussed feeling the same pinch that full-day kindergarten would cause.

Full-time programs also raise the biggest argument of people like Kelley: That 5-year-olds are not ready for a full day kindergarten. Even with half-day programs, youngsters have to be worked into this new existence slowly over the first few months.

Whether a student goes full or part time, parents need to be aware of how their child is doing in kindergarten and whether the program is appropriate for them, said Ellie Shutak, a veteran kindergarten teacher in Potomac, Md., who's affiliated with the Association for Childhood Education International.

"Parents need to go to the school and see what's happening. If it's not a comfortable fit for their child, they'll know right away," she said. "To be able to create an open dialogue with teachers and school staff is essential."