Reinstein: Education overload: Are we asking too much of our young scholars?
By Ted Reinstein/ Local Columnist
Sunday, October 1, 2006

When your child is starting school for the first time, as mine just did, I suppose the phrase "back to school" does not technically apply. For parents, let’s face it, fall forever feels like "back to school." Fall always comes with a melancholy that can only be traced to the singular sense of loss we felt as kids when those two blessed months of summer vacation came to an end, always too soon.

For many of today’s kids, those two months between grades have shrunk considerably. Millions of kids now have their carefree summers shortened by some form of organized activity, be it camp as we (used to) know it, or, more frequently now, some form of academic-oriented program where computers take the place of canoes, and the pressure is more on practicing for tests than on hitting a softball or shooting an arrow.

School summer vacations have shrunk further as more and more cities and towns begin the school year in late August, rather than the traditional post-Labor Day start. Some school systems are looking at doing away with summer vacation as we’ve known it entirely.

So much for those June cries of, "See you next year!," and those endless summer days of delight and discovery. No Child Left Behind? More like, no one left behind to be a child.

Newsweek, in a recent cover story, asked, "The New First Grade: Too Much Too Soon?" The article examines, among other things, whether in fact kindergarten is becoming the new first grade.

All of this has been on my mind the past few weeks, as my 3-year-old daughter has started preschool in Holliston. By the time her younger sister is ready, will preschool have become the new kindergarten?

"In the last decade," Newsweek reports, "the earliest years of schooling have become less like a trip to ’Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood’, and more like SAT prep."

How sobering is the Newsweek story? Among the families profiled is an Oakland, California couple who felt compelled to move to another school district after their daughter suffered unhealthy stress because she couldn’t read all the words on the teacher’s 130-word list. The girl was in kindergarten at the time.

William White, a school principal in Granville, Ohio is quoted as saying, "Kindergarten, which was once very play-based, is now the new first grade."

An excerpt from Newsweek:

"In some places, recess, music, art and even social studies are being replaced by writing exercises and spelling quizzes. Kids as young as six are tested, and tested again -- some, every 10 days or so -- to ensure they’re making sufficient progress. After school, there’s homework and, for some, educational videos, more workbooks and tutoring to give them an edge."

That all-important "edge" is a theme that comes up repeatedly in the article, as indeed it does in schools and homes across America these days. Holliston Superintendent of Schools Brad Jackson sees it. Jackson, now in his second decade as a school administrator says, "Parents do seem to be aware more and more of academic competition, and to want their kids to be competitive earlier and earlier." Furthermore, Jackson agrees with Newsweek’s basic premise -- "We are putting more pressure on kids at an earlier age than ever before," he says.

To better prepare their wee toddler competitors for the new rigors of kindergarten, some wealthier parents, according to Newsweek, engage in a practice known in sports as "red-shirting." By being able to afford an extra year or so of preschool, these parents will hold a child back a year before beginning kindergarten. An older, more developed child means a leap past the smaller, younger competition. Edge gained. Education gamed.

With pressure like this, can homework in kindergarten or even preschool be far behind? These days, parents of even third-graders are aghast at the hours required nightly for homework. They -- and their kids -- might take heart in a new study and book by author and national education expert (and Boston resident) Alfie Kohn. In "The Homework Myth," Kohn contends there is simply no evidence to prove that homework raises achievement levels. Moreover, in an interview, Kohn says, "Homework is viewed so negatively by children, that it actually may diminish their interest in learning."

Where was this guy when I was in school?

I have thought of all of this these recent days as my daughter settles in to her first days and weeks of school. So far, so good. I have even been to my first parents night. Her teacher, Suzanne Murphy, is cheerful, relaxed, and clearly committed to her work, as is her wonderful assistant, Linda D’eramo. The room is bright and pleasant, has lots of books, puzzles, toys, a puppet theatre, and a big reading corner. It also has two computers. Maybe she’ll have her own preschool e-mail account. She could even text-message me from the playground, if only her little fingers were big enough.

So far, I am relieved to report, no tests or homework in Mrs. Murphy’s class, though Murphy is well aware of the troubling issues raised in the Newsweek story. "The competition and pressure is incredible," she concedes. And while she is all for preparing children for "academia" as early as is appropriate, she maintains that, "Giving the child time for old-fashioned play at this age is more important... without that, children are becoming more robotic and less creative."

Still, I keep coming back to that Newsweek story. Many kindergartners, it reports, "now begin with four years of preschool on their resume." Hm. My daughter will only have two. In fact, her resume right now is reed-thin. Maybe, I worry, my wife and I are already falling down on the job. Maybe some super-tutored, red-shirted, red-cheeked, six-foot first grader will rocket past my child and ultimately grab that place at Harvard.

So far, my daughter likes school very much. Her favorite activity is the drawing table, followed closely by the play kitchen. And that’s fine for now. But just in case, I’m putting them both on her resume.

Ted Reinstein is a reporter for WCVB-TV (ABC).