What's the hurry?

You know something is terribly out of whack when kindergarten children are sent from their classrooms to be remediated by a reading specialist.  This is usually in addition to the teacher recommending that the children work on sight words, etc. at home.  Mind you, these youngsters have spent an entire day in kindergarten; another travesty perpetuated against the very young.

So the remedy for not being ready to not interested in reading is to have the youngsters do more of that which they have shouted loudly and clearly is too difficult for them.  How will we ever get joyful little readers out of a situation like that?  They must just want to run,run,run!

The reading specialist's expertise would be put to much better use working with the few 9-12 year olds who inexplicably  still struggle with fluency and comprehension skills.  They need strategies to help them learn facts from social studies and science books.  Parents of these children need to have a deaf ear when their kids protest that they don't want to go for extra help.  Since when should such important decisions be left up to kids?

My theory of waiting until age seven to begin any formal instruction of kids is in no way an indictment of pre-school and kindergarten teachers.  All of the ones I've been privileged to know could not be more loving or hard working.  They're mandated to incorporate a curriculum dictated by those in power.

On a purely practical note sending babies to school seems so unjust.  The average age expectancy is already well into the 80's.  Most of these children's life spans will excede that.  How sad that they should be in the work force from age 3-75 years or beyond.  Make no mistake about it, once children enter through the school door they're joining the work force.  It seems a lot to ask of someone who has only been around for 36-48 months.

Sending children to school at the earliest allowable age raises other practical issues.  It puts them position of not being ready for certain sports in junior high school, or being the youngest kid at the prom.  Maturity goes a long way in ensuring all children's success.

Let's give youngsters a chance to play and just be kids before we subject them to form and structure.  There's so much time for that.  Let's give them time to discuss, problem solve, create, and think so we promote poets, artists, sculptors, and innovators as well as academics.  What's the hurry?