kin-der-gar-ten (noun): german – kinder children + garten garden, a school or class for children ages four to six. Modern meaning: academic pressure cooker

Peggy Orenstein’s piece in the May 2, 2009 issue of The New York Times Magazine, “Kindergarten Cram”, is perfect. It shows how the modern kindergarten class has all but eradicated play from its curriculum.  Play is children’s language, play is children’s work. It provides the canvass for imagination, for role playing and making sense of the world they see around them. Play is the natural arena for learning social skills like compromise and leadership, and is an outlet for children to express their inner worlds: their hopes, worries, struggles and resolutions.

The change in kindergarten from a safe and playful introduction to elementary school to an academic pressure cooker typifies the dangerous trend toward the adultification of children.  Orenstein cites the recent study by the Alliance for Childhood that confirms that all the recent focus on academic testing of five year olds  “neither predicts nor improves children’s educational outcomes”. Research based evidence about learning, the rise in childhood anxiety and depression, and common sense tell us that this is the wrong way to go. We need to buck the system and protect our children.