The Kindergarten Movement was interesting to me because the chapter says that it’s sole purpose was to get children off the streets and provide education for the child as well as the parents. I agree with this section that school should be implemented on children when they’re young because it will be the only way to instill a great foundation for latter learning. I work with young children and I can tell that the parents are highly influenced by their children’s education. I also work at a program that is geared towards immigrant families, and in order for them to assimilate into the U.S, they have to learn English and the American culture. The parents often do so but talking and learning from their children. Since the children I work with are in kindergarten and first grade, their literacy level is often times higher than that of their parents. The children will also teach their parents how to speak English and help them learn as well. But I would imagine that any parents, immigrants or not, will try to help their children succeed academically as much as possible. And to do so, similar to what the book exemplified, is to just provide a better learning environment at home and to set good examples for them. However, I find that implementing such a rigid system on younger children is not the best way for them to learn. Children should be able to incorporate play with learning to make it better for them. However, as a result of budget cuts, recess and other outdoor activities are being under-funded, so children are beginning to go to school without any sort of break time to ease their stress.
I also thought the establishment of summer schools was interesting. When summer schools first began, parents were fighting for their children to admitted into the programs. But I think there is a bad connotation to summer school in contemporary society. When I was younger, my friends and I all knew that summer school only meant you failed regular school and you need extra time and practice to show that you could graduate to the next grade. However, when summer schools were first implemented, it’s primary purpose is to prolong the school year so that children would be idle for a good two months. And in that time, crime would increase, children would be unproductive, so it seemed to be a great idea to extended school to help get kids off the streets. According to the book, “idleness is an opportunity for evil0-doing” (214). I have to disagree with this point because I feel that the only thing children seem to look forward to when they’re in school is summer time. It is the only time they get to take a break from mental stress and just relax. Just as adults often need to take a vacation to relieve stress and have a mental break, children need the same. Now parents and politicians want to prolong school days and the amount of days spent in school. Increasing the days will just make children resent school even more. Referring back to video we saw in the beginning of the semester, school does not have to same meaning for children in the 21st century compared to the 19th century. So how can we revamp the school system so that it will benefit children’s style of learning better? and how will elongating the school year help?
