School is beginning again... and my thoughts are on education

WHERE TO START…

Putting off talking about the Common Core Curriculum has been for me primarily a matter of knowing where to begin the conversation… and why… and when.  If we start at the very beginning of mandatory schooling, that will mean kindergarten in some places… but not in California. Contrary to popular notions about when formal classroom schooling is required for a child, kindergarten is not required in California; and the beginning of school experience for a child must begin at age six, and that can be either kindergarten or first grade.  Kindergarten is optional, and it can begin for the child at age five or six, and kindergarten can be skipped altogether.  A child who has not been in kindergarten may begin first grade at age six along with the approximately ninety percent of the children who have been in school already for a year, or parents may choose to have a child begin kindergarten at age six and then progress up through grades.  

Personally, I like the school program for five year old children… all five year old children.  I like the state’s Common Core Standards guidelines for kindergarten teachers:  “In Kindergarten, instructional time should focus on two critical areas: (1) representing and comparing whole numbers, initially with sets of objects; (2) describing shapes and space.  More learning time in Kindergarten should be devoted to number than to other topics.”  Of course, some children come to kindergarten at age five able to use numbers, including written numerals, with ability and ease. Making sure all children are comfortable with numbers and with describing shapes by the end of the kindergarten experience doesn’t mean the children who know it already and “get it” quickly and easily are left to be bored while children who need more time catch up. Obviously, establishing grade-level standards doesn’t mean holding any child back to some lowest common denominator.  

Emphasis through the Common Core standards seems always to be on getting the student ready for living in the real world.  The phrase “leads to college and career readiness” as a guideline for defining school programs makes good sense. College education for everybody doesn’t make sense, but getting absolutely everybody ready to step out into a career in which she/he can be successful is important. Recognizing that some citizens are ready to begin a career at eighteen is vitally important, and getting everybody ready for college for whom college is the right next step after high school is equally important.  

In California we are in the middle of a discussion about what should be required of all parents and all students.  Last year Governor Brown declined to sign a bill that would have required kindergarten for all children.  I don’t agree with his veto, and I don’t agree with his brief statement explaining why he did not take the recommendation of the California Teachers’ Association. He said he preferred “to let parents determine what is best for their children.”  If only the world were as simple and parents were as universally good as the Governor’s statement implies.  

I’ll have more to say about setting standards in subsequent BLOG posts.