What's Up, Doc? This is Kindergarten in 2015

By Randall Freeman, PhD

Education has evolved considerably in the past four decades. I graduated high school in 1973. Because of my father’s Air Force duties, we traveled all over the United States before settling in Southern California in 1961. I had a total of three months of kindergarten, half in the beginning and half at the end. I have often told my friends and colleagues that my first full year of kindergarten came when I was 37 years old, when I first began to teach it.

Not taking kindergarten seriously today will create a major educational stumbling block for a young child. The kindergarten of 2014-2015 bears very little resemblance to my kindergarten experience of 1960-61. A child with as little kindergarten experience as I had as a child would be so far behind the pack that even remediation will have little impact on academic success.

I printed a blank copy of what I am grading my current kindergarten students on in my classroom. (Don’t blame Common Core; the effects of CCSS are small in kindergarten – mostly for what was removed from the curriculum.)

In Reading, students are graded on: 1) identifying capital and lowercase letters; 2) correctly producing all letter sounds; 3) distinguishing between sounds in words; 4) blending sounds to make words; 5) segmenting sounds to create words; 6) substituting and adding phonemic sounds to create new words; 7) reading high-frequency words (currently the list is 100 strong); 8) reading short and long vowel word patterns; 9) reading emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding; 10) retelling stories and informational text including key details such as characters, setting, major events or ideas; and 11) asks and answers questions about unknown words in texts.

Writing: 1) Uses a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts, opinion pieces, and narratives; and 2) write a letter or letters for consonants and short vowel sounds. Language: 1) Demonstrates command of the conventions of Standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing; and 2) acquires and uses grade-appropriate vocabulary and produces and expands complete sentences in shared language activities. Speaking & Listening: 1) Describes familiar people, places, things, and events; and 2) engages in discussions, speaks audibly and expresses thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.

On to Mathematics: 1) Knows number names; 2) write numbers from 0-20; 3) counts to 100 by 1’s & 10’s; 4) count forward from a given number not 1; 5) count, represent, and compare number to 20; 6) add & subtract fluently and solve addition & subtraction problems; 7) demonstrate place value in numbers 11-19; 8) describe measurable attributes of objects, such as length or weight; 9) identify plane and solid shapes; and 10) describe and compare 2D & 3D shapes.

We’re not done yet. Students earn grades in science, social science, and physical education. They are assessed on 1) Working independently; 2) staying on task; 3) completing classwork & homework; 4) paying attention during instruction; 5) demonstrating respect with peers & adults; 6) organizing self and materials; 7) working cooperatively in a group: and following rules, procedures and directions.

This is 21st century kindergarten.

Randy Freeman and his family have lived in Menifee since 1993. Randy teaches kindergarten in Perris and his lovely wife Karen teaches first grade here in Menifee at Freedom Crest Elementary School. They are the proud parents of four beautiful daughters: Daniela, 18, and 14-year-old triplets Sarah, Holly, and Megan. Other family members include dogs Scruffy, Mikko, & Max, 17-year-old cat Hunter, and turtle Tuttles. Randy earned his PhD in early childhood education in 2011 and has served on the Menifee Union School Board since 2008. Randy has wisely decided to delete the bit about being Karen's boss in order to continue living in his happy home. His column will appear here every other Tuesday.