The Answer Sheet: kindergarten


Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 12/03/2010

Time to pay attention to a reform that works
By Valerie Strauss
There’s an education reform strategy that has 50 years of solid research behind it, with proven results that demonstrate how to improve student achievement. It’s. a solution backed by both political parties to help narrow the achievement gap, increase high school graduation rates and reduce crime and delinquency. So why don't we focus on it like a laser beam?

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 12/03/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags:  achievement gap, early childhood education, kindergarten, pre-k, pre-kindergarten

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 09/10/2010

Why kids in school need to play
By Valerie Strauss
A veteran teacher asks: "Since when did the word "play" become outlawed in kindergarten?" And she explains why play is crucial for kids.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 09/10/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags:  benefits of play, kids and play, play and kindergarten, playtime and schools

Posted at 06:26 PM ET, 06/24/2010

Parents fight -- literally -- at kindergarten graduation
By Valerie Strauss
A kindergarten graduation is interrupted in California because parents turn an argument into a physical fight.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:26 PM ET, 06/24/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Parents | Tags:  brawl at graduation, graduation brawl, kindergarten graduation and parents and fight, parents argue at graduation, parents fight at graduation

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 06/10/2010

Do we need preschool graduation ceremonies?
By Valerie Strauss
Spend a little time watching videos of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students at graduation ceremonies, or, to save time, just take my word for it, but it's time to call a halt to these events.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 06/10/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Early Childhood | Tags:  caps and gowns for kids, graduation caps for children, graduation ceremonies, kindergarten graduation, pre-k graduation ceremonies, preschool graduation

Posted at 02:31 PM ET, 06/03/2010

College awareness: How much is too much?
By Valerie Strauss
How old should children be before they are asked to start worrying about going to college? Eight years old? Ten? Thirteen? Fifteen? How about 5?

By Valerie Strauss  |  02:31 PM ET, 06/03/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Higher Education, Higher Education | Tags:  college readiness, college readiness week, kalamazoo and obama, kalamazoo school, kalamazoo school district, newsom and savings account, obama's 2020 goal and college, san francisco and kindergarten savings account

Posted at 09:30 AM ET, 04/04/2010

Obama’s ed reform ignores high-quality Pre-K
By Valerie Strauss
The director of Pre-K Now says that President Obama's blueprint for education reform ignores the most rigorously evaluated and effective education reform of the last half-century: high-quality pre-kindergarten.

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:30 AM ET, 04/04/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Early Childhood, Early Childhood | Tags:  No Child Left Behind, early childhood, pre-kindergarten

Posted at 11:00 AM ET, 01/12/2010

All-Day or Half-Day Kindergarten?
By Valerie Strauss
By Debra Viadero. In my Fairfax County neighborhood, there are two elementary schools within half a mile of each other. The school that my children attended has an all-day kindergarten; the other one offers kindergarten half a day. The school with the half-day program, however, has other benefits, though, such as smaller class sizes in the early grade. So, I’ve often wondered, which students were better off in the long run: the full-day program graduates or the half-day students who got more individual attention from their teachers?

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:00 AM ET, 01/12/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags:  kindergarten; guest bloggers

Posted at 12:30 PM ET, 09/21/2009

More on Academic Kindergarten
By Valerie Strauss
Readers of today’s post on academic kindergarten raised a concern that kids who are ready for reading and writing and arithmetic at age 5 could be held back in a class that doesn’t stimulate them in an academic way. Advocates of a more kid-friendly kindergarten are not suggesting that anybody be “held back” so that kids less advanced can catch up.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:30 PM ET, 09/21/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  kindergarten

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 09/21/2009

The Problem That Is Kindergarten
By Valerie Strauss
Art. Mathematics. Music. Physical Education. Reading/Language Arts. Science. Social Studies. Guess the school year in which kids first tackle that lineup. Third grade? Second grade? First? Wrong, wrong and wrong. That’s what 5-year-olds in kindergarten are doing in Montgomery County public schools--and in many other districts around the country too.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 09/21/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  kindergarten, montgomery county public schools, standardized tests