Kicked out of kindy
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Child Development on 22 Jun 2005.
Take a look at this news report from the Baltimore Sun about the first nationwide research conducted by Yale University’s Child Study Center on preschool expulsion:
After surveying 52 state-financed prekindergarten programs in 40 states, the study found that about 10 percent of teachers had expelled at least one child in the previous year and a handful of those teachers had expelled as many as four children. The estimated total of students kicked out of preschool was 5,117 out of a total estimated enrollment of 766,907. In Maryland, about 38 of approximately 6,390 state-subsidized preschoolers were kicked out, for an expulsion rate that was below the national average.
The study also found that the likelihood of being expelled increased with age, as 4-year-olds were 50 percent more likely to be kicked out than 2- and 3-year-olds, and 5-year-olds were twice as likely to be expelled as 4-year-olds. Black children were twice as likely to be expelled as white or Latino children and five times more likely than Asian-Americans. Boys were expelled at more than four times the rate of girls. The researchers reported that children were expelled most frequently because of antisocial behavior, particularly aggression toward other children, such as kicking or biting.
Preschool/Pre-Kindergarten expulsion is not as uncommon as you think – even in Malaysia – and I know of parents who have had similar experiences and who finally decided to homeschool. One case involved a preschooler who was ADHD who obviously demanded more out of his Kindy than the teachers were prepared to provide. He was expelled from 3 other schools. Another was a mother (who’s now an unschooler) who couldn’t get her daughter’s Kindy to ease up on the academic in favour of a simpler curriculum.
In any case, I have my reservations about kindy anyway. My views are that children at the ages of 3 – 5 years are best nurtured at home. Why the hurry for pre-K and Kindy anyway? Expulsions are all about keeping pre-K and Kindys in the good books of parents and prospective students, which as a business proposition seems the way to do things. But for the child who is expelled, there is nothing but trauma, and possibly a long-term disdain for formal education or learning in general.
Whether early childhood education or kindergarten is necessary or not has been debated for years. Sheri Oden has published a book called, Into Adulthood: A Study on the Effects of Head Start which cites encouraging findings on a 17-year follow-up study on 622 adults who did or did not attend Head Start (using the HighScope Curriculum). Since I haven’t read the book, I can’t say much except that the study suggests effective outcomes involving children at risk and those from low-income homes.
I am not saying there is no place for pre-K or Kindys, because extenuating circumstances and a host of other factors do require specific attention. But I’d like to think they must be the exception and never the norm. Parents need to know that just because “everyone’s sending their kids to Kindy” does not make a done thing the better deal.
Meanwhile, the controversy rages.
Comments