Hot Topic Thesis

Making sure young children enter kindergarten ready to learn is the most vital part of kindergarten rediness.  This readiness to learn is not simply knowing letters and numbers, but also that children are ready developmentally.  The more ready a young child is socially, emotionally and maturity wise, the easier it will be for teachers to impart the academics to them.  The goal is to create life long learners from the very beginning.

Professional Journal Articles

1.) Anonymous. (June 2011). Reading With Mom Can Boost Kindergarten Readiness. U.S. News and World Report. p. 1.

2.)  Cassidy, Deborah J. (2003). Emergent Curriculum and Kindergarten Readiness. Childhood Journal. 79 (4). p.194.

3.) Diamond, Karen E., Reagan, Amy J.,& Bandyk, Jennifer E. (2000). Parents Conceptions of Kindergarten Readiness: Relationships With Race, Ethnicity, and Development. The Journal of Educational Research. 94 (2). p. 93. doi.10.1080.00220670009598747.

4.) Gulino, Joseph. (2008), Kindergarten Readiness: A Challenge. Principal (Arlington, VA). 87 (5). p. 30.

5.) Protheroe, Nancy. (2006). Readiness for Kindergarten: What Schools Can Do. Principal (Arlington, VA). 86 (1). p. 32.

6.) Taylor, K.K., Gibbs, A.S., & Slate, J. R. (2000). Preschool Attendance and Kindergarten Readiness. Early Childhood Journal. 27 (3). p. 191-195. doi. 10.1007/BF02694234.

Professional Journal Articles

1.)  Gulino, Joseph. Kindergarten Readiness: A Challenge. (2008) Principal (Arlington, VA). ISSN: 0271-6062. Volume: 87, Issue: 5, Page: 30.

This school principal, Joseph Gulino, is challenging teachers, administrators and legislators to rise to the task of doing what is best for young children to be able to begin school with an eagerness to learn.  Those who do enter school ready to learn are much more successful throughout their academic career.

2.)  Protheroe, Nancy. Readiness for Kindergarten: What Schools Can Do.  Principal (Arlington, VA). ISSN: 0271-6062. Jan. 1, 2006. Volume: 86, Issue: 1, Page: 32.

In this journal article the author gives schools and communities together ways in which they can make sure every child enters school ready to learn.  By working together as parents, schools, and communities everyone can help lead our children in the right direction toward better education.

3.)  Diamond, Karen E., Reagan, Amy J., Bandyk, Jennifer E. Parents Conceptions of Kindergarten Readiness: Relationships with Race, Ethnicity, and Development. The Journal of Educational Reasearch. ISSN: 0022-0671. Dec. 1, 2000. Volume: 94, Issue: 2, Page: 93.  DOI: 10.1080/00220670009598747

The authors of this journal article show how each child can be affected by their surroundings and how those surroundings can affect their learning experiences prior to entering kindergarten.

4.) Cassidy, Deborah J. Emergent Curriculum and Kindergarten Readiness. Childhood Journal. August 1, 2003. ISSN: 0009-4056, Volume: 79, Issue: 4, Page 194.

This is an article that shows how preschool and kindergarten teachers can use the curriculum and child directed interests to promote learning.  The more learning that can be incorporated into fun, yet meaningful activities the better prepared young chidlren will be when they enter into kindergarten.

Popular Audience

     As an early childhood educator the popular audience for me would mostly be parents, but it could also extend to those who may be interested in volunteering in a preschool setting.  Based on the research I have done there are many parents out there who are very interested, if not concerned, about their child's readiness to begin kindergarten.  What every parent wants to know is that their child is a typically developing child.  They want someone to reassure them that their child will do well in kindergarten and beyond.  What most parents need to know is that every child grows and develops at a different rate.  Just because child A can write his name at 4 years old does not mean there is anything wrong with child B because he is not yet up to that task.  Most children all catch up in the time that is right for them.  Parents would be amazed at the information available on child development and what is developmentally appropriate for children at certain ages.  This information could easily be given to parents in a language that they can understand and follow.  To learn more about how children learn and develop would help so many parents take some pressure off of themselves and their children.

Genre Analysis Rough Draft

Intermediate Composition

Tina Wright

October 23, 2011

Genre Analysis

When researching the topic of Kindergarten Readiness it was surprising to find out how well a child knew his ABC’s and 123’s comes in behind other factors such as if a child is able to care for his own needs, or is the child an enthusiastic learner. The websites babycenter.com and onetoughjob.org are both great websites for parents to visit and blog with each other about the questions of kindergarten readiness.  There is also a website, kindergartenreadiness.net, which can be used by parents and teachers.  This site is useful because it links the user to blogs, articles (newspaper and internet based), and other websites that provide information in a way that most people can understand.  All three of these sites are user friendly for the average person.  They each focus on the main issues of kindergarten readiness and the fact that social and emotional wellbeing are just as important, if not more so, than a child being able to write her name.

Information regarding how the early childhood professional views kindergarten readiness, however, is much harder to find and when you do locate it, understanding what they are saying can be brutal, even for someone who is in the field of early childhood education and concerned with helping children to become school ready.  The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is an organization for anyone who is interested in working with or on behalf of the young child age birth through eight years.  You can visit their website at naeyc.org and go to Position Statements to find out where the NAEYC stands on many subjects involving the young child, this includes kindergarten readiness.  Readers can find an abbreviated statement, called Where We Stand on subjects and these are much easier for the general public (and some educators) to understand.  The NAEYC is a professional organization that invites families of young children to join because it is believed that everyone working together can make for a better future for young children.  That is the reason that this site is one of the better when it comes to gathering information and putting it into layman’s terms.  In the full journal article, “Behavioral and Cognitive Readiness for School: Cross-domain Associations for Children Attending Head Start” there is a lot of information that the average person would find tedious and boring.  Even though it is very interesting and somewhat needed information for the early education professional, this is not an article that parents would find helpful unless it was summarized with main points only.  This article is based on a study done on the behavioral and cognitive readiness for children set to enter kindergarten.  They used the domains of classroom participation, prosocial behavior, and aggressive behavior and how these affect cognitive school readiness.  The average age of the children in this study was 4.59 years old.  What this study found was that children who had low classroom participation and behavior issues are likely to fall behind their peers cognitively.

Since so much of the parent websites and articles were based on the age a child should enter kindergarten it was very interesting that the NAEYC stands by their belief that kindergarten readiness is, somewhat, based on age.  In the Position Statement on kindergarten readiness it is stated that at age five most children are capable and ready to learn within a formal school setting.  In this Position Statement it is said, “NAEYC believes it is the responsibility of schools to meet the needs of children as they enter school and to provide whatever services needed to help each child reach his or her fullest potential.” (naeyc.org. Kindergarten Readiness Position Statement – Where We Stand).  In a poll done on babycenter.com it was shown that out of 6835 participants 60% felt that age five was the best age to enter kindergarten, while only 16% believed age six is the best age and 21% agreed that children would be okay to enter kindergarten at age four (3% did not believe children should go to kindergarten at all).  These findings, however, are not what are reflected on the blog posts.  Most parents on the blogs seem to feel it is always better to send a child to kindergarten later, rather than sooner.  Based on what was being said there is genuine concern among parents that children with later birthdays (June, July, August, September) are not socially ready to enter school.  Another common belief reflected in the blogs is that not many parents have ever regretted sending their child to school later, but many have regretted sending them too soon.

The parent genres are the ones that evoke the most emotion when it comes to sending children to kindergarten ready to learn.  I am sure this is because we are dealing with someone’s child and that in itself can bring up emotions.  For the most part parents are the ones who know what is best for their children, but there are many out there who feel they need advice on everything from how to deal with a runny nose to sending them to school at the proper time.  From a professional standpoint the emotions brought out are from those who may disagree on how children learn and the best practices when it comes to teaching.  These emotions can run high when you are a teacher that truly wants to use the most recent information on child development and how children learn in a setting with those who prefer to use the “old school” ways of doing things.  Meeting somewhere in the middle is a great compromise.

No matter which side of the argument you are on, when it comes to kindergarten readiness looking at all of the facts and assessing each child individually is what is most important.  Also, keeping in mind that just because a child does not seem academically ready does not mean they cannot do well in kindergarten.  In a video from “Mind in the Making – Learning Modules for Early Childhood Teachers,” Dr. Jack P. Shonkoff has this to say, “School readiness and school success are dependent on intellectual competence and emotional and social health.  They are not separate in any given child.  The smartest kid who is in emotional turmoil will not be an effective learner in school.”  That sums it all up.  If your child is able to control themselves socially and emotionally all of the rest will fall into place at the proper time.

References.

Babycenter.com. (Search kindergarten readiness for articles and blogs.)

Bierman, K.L., Torres, M.M., Dimitrovich, C.E., Welsh, J.A., & Gest, S.D. (2009). Behavioral and Cognitive Readiness for School: Cross-domain Associations for Children Attending Head Start. Social Development, 18(2), 305-323. Doi:10.1111/sode.2009.18issue-2

Kindergartenreadiness.net.

Naeyc.org. Position Statements. (Search kindergarten readiness.)

Onetoughjob.org. (Search kindergarten readiness.)

What the professional says about Kindergarten Readiness

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has this to say about kindergarten or what they term school readiness, "NAEYC believes it is the responsibility of schools to meet the needs of children as they enter school and to provide whatever services needed to help each child reach his/her fullest potential."  (naeyc.org, Position Statements, Where We Stand)  According to the NAEYC school readiness requires families to have access to resources that will allow them to help their children succeed.  They also believe that all young children and their families should be able to access high quality early education programs that can give the young child the foundations needed to be ready for school, and that programs need to identify children who may be at risk for school failure in later years and begin providing them with the services needed.  Their position statement on school readiness states, "School readiness must be flexible and broadly defined." (naeyc.org, Position Statements, Where We Stand, School Readiness)  The NAEYC also strongly believes that all children should begin kindergartn at the age their state has deemed appropriate.  There is no proof that holding children back from entering school until an older age provides them any gains in academic or social development.

The journal entry from Wiley online library that really caught my attention is one on Head Start and School Readiness.  Since I currently work in a Head Start program I am very interested as to how Head Start stacks up against other preschool settings when getting young children ready for kindergarten.  In this journal entry, Behavioral and Cognitive Readiness for School: Cross-Domain associations for Children Attending Head Start, they looked at how a child's social and emotional maturity effected the status of their cognitive and academic abilities.  It is stated in this journal article,  "Classroom participation and prosocial behavior each accounted for unique variance in cognitive readiness. Aggressive behavior, in contrast, was not correlated with academic knowledge, and was associated with low levels of executive function skills. In multiple regressions, aggressive behavior paradoxically enhanced the prediction of child cognitive readiness."  As a student looking to obtain professional status in the early childhood setting, and particularly with Head Start, I find this very interesing.  This information brings up the question, so public pre-K programs fare the same?  This is somethign I will look into for future information.

Kindergarten Readiness and the Average Person

When I ask the question, "What do you think about kindergarten readiness?" the response I get most is, "What does that mean?"  Until your child is getting close to entering kindergarten or you hear it in a preschool setting, your average person is not even aware of this topic.  Parents are the ones asking all of the questions and teachers, administrators and even some pediatricians are providing what they believe to be the best answers. 

For parents, the biggest question about kindergarten readiness did not seem to involve academic readiness at all.  Most of the paretns question the age of their child when entering kindergarten.  Evidentally there are many parents out there who feel that it is best to hold their child back (from entering kindergaten) if they have what is determined to be a "late" birthday.  That is,  the child is turning five years old in the months of July, August or September.  In Ohio there are schools, such as the schools in Brown County Ohio, that have a kindergarten cut off date of September 30.  This means that some children are entering kindergarten prior to their 5th birthday.  In the Brown County Press there was an article about teachers of one school district wanting to change this due to high retention rates of those who started kindergarten at age four.  With all of this said, alot of the websites I looked at said age should not be a determining factor in kindergarten readiness.  The facts still remain, most children are ready to enter kindergarten at the age of five years old.  Some may be ready at age four, and some may fair better if they wait a year and enter closer to or after their 6th birthday. 

The bottom line on kindergarten readiness and the average person is that many do not know what to think.  Even parents are all over the board on whether to send their children to school early or later.  Every one is looking for the best advantage for their child.  This is not a bad thing, but parents do need to be sure they are looking at the right reasons.

There are many, many websites that parents can go to for information on what kindergarten readiness is and tips on how to tell if your child is ready for school.  A few of my favorites are:  onetoughjob.org, kindergartenreadiness.net, and babycenter.com.  All of these sites give some great information on how to tell if your child is ready for kindergarten or how to help prepare your child, as well as connecting you to blogs or other ways to communicate with other parents.  Babycenter.com has one of the most active blogs I have found on kindergarten readiness and guides you to a few different articles on the subject.