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By Lenise Willis CHAPEL HILL -- Preschool isn't just day care anymore. Thanks to the national No Child Left Behind program, local preschools are increasingly focusing on academics. "Over the last 20 years, kindergarten and pre-kindergarten have become more academic in their goals and activities," said Kathleen Gallagher, an assistant professor in the UNC School of Education. But NCLB is "why anyone is paying attention to pre-K right now." The federal legislation required states to adopt academic standards for students, or public statements about what all students should know and be able to do throughout grades K-12. Although the NCLB standards do not apply to the pre-kindergarten classroom, Gallagher said they have put more pressure on pre-school teachers to give students a jump start before they have to meet the state's specifications in future grades. Now "they're spending more time on large-group activities, structured activities and literacy activities, and less time on complex play and play-based social time," Gallagher said. That comes with a risk, she said. "Complex play" involves imaginary situations, defined roles and some kind of structure that help improve children's ability to regulate their thinking and behavior in school. "The risk of reducing play is long term," Gallagher said. "When kids have more experiences in complex play, they have better relationships with their peers and do better in school. "There is no research that says forcing kids to do traditional schoolwork in desks will make them learn more. You can't shove it in their head. They need time to explore, practice and interact with others in order to be 'ready' for more academic learning." Less-structured environment Hope Kilgo, a UNC senior, is interning in a kindergarten class at Scroggs Elementary and a pre-kindergarten class at McDougle Elementary. "Pre-K is less structured," she said. "It has taken them longer to get on a schedule. Much of their day is spent in centers that include not only housekeeping, blocks and art, but also writing, manipulatives and computers. They also have center time where the whole class comes together for songs, calendar time and sometimes a special activity. "Pre-K focuses more on the different developmental domains -- cognitive, physical, social and emotional -- whereas [kindergarten] starts getting into the different subjects." Although pre-kindergarten teachers have added a more academic program to their schedule, they still work with developing the mental and social skills of the pre-schoolers. "I think that pressure to meet certain standards has trickled down into kindergarten," said Susan Stock, a kindergarten teacher at Scroggs. "Children are required to meet more standards than in the past." "Our day in kindergarten is definitely packed," Stock said. "There's not a lot of downtime, and rest time has been cut to about 15 minutes or not any at all. I personally think kids need playtime and time to make choices to play in a center of their choice, so I incorporate that time into my day." Included in NCLB were testing requirements so that parents, students and educators could find out if students were making progress toward meeting the academic standards. "Kids are getting pushed earlier and more, but if we don't provide activities that motivate their learning, they'll check out of school," said Gallagher. "And that's just sad to have a kindergarten or first-grader already giving up on school." |
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