Questions: Ask Dr. Katz

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Question

The parents in our preschool program are highly educated and involved in their children's lives. This is a good thing. However, sometimes they want to push their children to succeed in ways that we think are not appropriate. One parent wanted us to teach her preschooler to read and do multiplication tables before starting kindergarten! How can we help parents see that their children learn a great deal when they play with blocks, mess around with water, dictate stories to us about class trips, and engage in pretend play?

Dr. Katz
Many parents are unaware of the kinds of diverse activities provided in high-quality preschool programs. They may not know how these activities contribute to children’s early development and learning. Good preschool programs help introduce children to participation in large and small group experiences with other children through experiences directed by adults whom they gradually get to know and come to trust. High-quality programs provide a variety of experiences, including spontaneous play with a rich assortment of appropriate materials and equipment, story reading and music activities, outdoor and indoor physical activities, experiences with various art materials, books, as well as ample rest times. Although the range of experiences provided is based on long experience with preschool programming, many parents need help to appreciate its potential benefits. Here are some ideas to help parents understand the goals of preschool programs.

Take opportunities to get a clear picture of exactly what the parents mean when they ask for more emphasis on academic instruction.

The terms “reading” or “math” when applied to the preschool level may mean different things to different parents. Many eager parents may be unaware of the usual early stages of literacy and mathematical development. Taking advantage of opportunities to share your insights about these complex developments can be helpful.

Keep in mind that your goal is not to be defensive or prove you are right in the face of parental pressure, but to be understanding and appreciative of parents’ wishes, help them grasp the developmental steps involved in mastering these complex skills, and deepen their awareness of the wide range of readiness in any group of preschoolers.

Many preschoolers can learn to recognize and read their own names and other common signs such as “stop” and “exit” quite easily. Some preschoolers are ready to read even more complex words and phrases, and you can make it clear that children’s attempts to do so are supported and encouraged. Suggesting simple ways that parents can encourage children’s early stages in acquiring these important skills at home often helps reassure the parents that their children are well on their way to adapting to school life.

Share carefully documented observations with parents who are especially concerned about their children’s academic development.

It can help to make careful observations of children’s responses to reading- and math-related activities and instructions and document what you have observed. This documentation can be shared with the eager parent in the context of meetings that are focused on arriving at agreement on what kinds of experiences and challenges the child is most likely to benefit from at a particular point in time.

Discuss with parents aspects of school readiness beyond academic mastery.

Several studies have shown that kindergarten teachers are far more concerned about social and emotional development rather than academic mastery of entering kindergartners. Surveys of kindergarten teachers indicate that children are most likely to adapt to formal school in their first year if they have mastered a range of basic social and emotional competences, such as interacting well with classmates, being able to sit quietly for short periods, being able to take turns, working cooperatively with others, and so forth (Lewit & Baker, 1995).

Share with parents some of the recent research that supports your view that the long-term effects of heavy academic pressure in the preschool years are not favorable even if they appear to be all right in the short term.

Parents who continue to insist on intense formal instruction even though your observations of their child indicate that the time is not quite right for him to receive this kind of instruction might benefit from learning about the long-term follow-up studies that indicate that early formal instruction appears to be effective only in the short term (Marcon, 2002; Blair, 2002; Golbeck, 2001; Schweinhart, 1997).

Encourage parents to engage their children in rich interactive experiences at home.

Evidence continues to grow that the informal experiences preschool children have with parents and others—including conversations, reading together, and exploring interesting events and objects around them—all contribute to successful adaptation and achievement in school. Bringing parents together to share ideas about what kinds of local and homemade experiences are beneficial can reassure them that they are helping their preschoolers get a good start.

Resources and Links

• Table 49. Percentage of kindergarten teachers and parents indicating the importance of various factors for kindergarten readiness, by school type: Fall 1998
  http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d01/dt049.asp
• Readiness for Kindergarten: Parent and Teacher Beliefs
  Two surveys sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics and conducted in the spring of 1993 collected information on parent and teacher beliefs about characteristics important to a child's readiness for kindergarten. http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=93257
• Early Math Strategy
  The Report of the Expert Panel on Early Math in Ontario, 2003
  http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/reports/math/teaching.html

References

Blair, C. (2002). School readiness. Integrating cognition and emotion in a neurobiological conceptualization of children’s functioning at school entry. American Psychologist, 57(2), 111–127.

Golbeck, S. L. (2001). Instructional models for early childhood: In search of a child-regulated/teacher-guided pedagogy. In S. L. Golbeck (Ed.), Psychological perspectives on early childhood education. Reframing dilemmas in research and practice. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Lewit, E. M., & Baker, L. S. (1995). School readiness. Future of Children, 5(2), 128-139.

Marcon, R. A. (2002). Moving up the grades: Relationship between preschool model and later school success. Early Childhood Research & Practice [Online], 4(1). Available: http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v4n1/marcon.html.

Schweinhart, L. J. (1997). Child-initiated learning activities for young children living in poverty. ERIC Digest [Online]. Available: http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/eecearchive/digests/1997/schwei97.html.