Expert on CBC Now saying a third of kids showing up for kindergarten are already “behind” and hold up the rest. It’s not clear what they’re supposed to already know about school before school actually starts. Maybe expectations are the problem? I’m not convinced about full day K one way or the other but the argument shouldn’t be you’re not smart enough before you even start. #CosoCanuck #bigquestions
@prairiecelt Is this a push for pre-schools?
@BillieBun No- for full-day kindergarten. I know most kids have gained social skills via daycare and nursery school, but it still feels wrong to have pre-requisites for kindergarten - it's like saying you need to know the grade 12 stuff before you start the year.
@prairiecelt Yeah, it does seem wrong.
@prairiecelt its not about these kids being smart, its about having specific knowledge and skills, like going to the bathroom independently or knowing their body parts.
Below is a list of things they should know by age 5-6.
@Bliss @prairiecelt yes, kindergarten aged children should be able to name parts of their bodies … for police reports and depositions about sexual abuse in private education/religious schools.
Those are the things K was intended to teach - graduallly getting kids ready for full-time school, not 'being' full-time school.
@prairiecelt Here's a good article that looks at all the repercussions of "redshirting" a kindergartener. It's a complex issue.
@prairiecelt I had a friend whose son "failed" kindergarten. They wanted to keep him another year because he was "immature." She was so upset that he would go into first grade already behind the other kids but the thing is, they can't hold a kid back from starting first grade at the appropriate age. Kindergarten isn't required - or it wasnt then. I told her to enroll him in first grade and see how he did. If he failed first grade, they could hold him back there. She did and he did fine.
@prairiecelt
What does that even MEAN? What skills is a five-year-old supposed to have mastered to be "prepared" for kindergarten? "Behind" at WHAT?