Robbing kindergartners of play in the name of reform
There is no end to the bad ideas advanced in the name of school reform. Here’s one that will ensure that kids learn to hate school even earlier than usual: In Hartford, Conn., the superintendent of schools wants to extend the school year for some kindergartners to 11 months of the year.
And these kids aren’t having a laugh riot at school as it is.
Some kindergartners there go to school from 7:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. — with no time for naps and no time to play, according to this story in The Hartford Courant.
“Play? No. No, no, no. This is no longer the case. Even in pre-K, for us, it’s no longer the case,” Immacula Didier, the principal at Betances Early Reading Lab School was quoted as saying by The Courant.
Kindergarten teacher Cathie Kerr works with her students on the days jobs in Canton, Mich., in January. Updated state rules mean that public schools in Michigan must offer all-day kindergarten to receive full funding for each kindergarten pupil starting in September. (AP Photo/Detroit News, Daniel Mears) (Daniel Mears - AP/Detroit News)
These students are being robbed of opportunities to learn through play
