Facing unprepared kindergartners, a rural school district restores preschool for all [edsource.org]

Alicia Doktor 4/6/1812:00 PM

In 2016, heading into her 15th year as a kindergarten teacher, Kristy Caesar knew what to expect from a room full of 5-year-olds.

But what greeted her on that first day of school last year was an eye opener — she had 21 kindergartners and only four had attended preschool. Eighteen students couldn’t recognize a single phonetic letter sound, such as the sound “A” makes.

“It was so challenging; they were months behind,” said Caesar, who teaches at Kennedy Elementary School in Lindsay, in California’s Central Valley. She recalled thinking, “Something needs to change. I can’t keep getting learners who have never gone to preschool.”

[For more on this story by ASHLEY HOPKINSON, go to https://edsource.org/2018/faci...chool-for-all/595667]

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Jessie GrahamMember

Thank you for sharing this. After working in homes, preschools and schools for 25+ years, I am not sure it is helpful to say that children who enter Kindergarten are "behind" because "they are where they are". If we give them the label that they are "delayed" or "behind" we are causing more stress. It is time to look at our educational systems. Is "Pre" school supposed to be academic? If we continue to take children out of the home and into a classroom where the ratio is so high with 15- 20 children for one adult(or 2 or 3 to handle "behavior challenges) and the children are developmentally only ready for the interactions of children who are two years old, as the result of toxic stress or developmental trauma, then we are causing more trauma and toxic stress! Let's stop for a moment and look where we are. Take one child and family at a time and connect, and create the sense of safety and belonging we know is essential for the lifelong learning and creativity we want for all!

4/6/181:27 PM

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