Let Them Be Little!

 

     I began working on progress reports ( I refuse to call the report cards) for my preschoolers today. Our progress reports are "standards-based," meaning that they address the most important skills a child should be learning at their particular grade level.  The purpose of such grading is to give a clearer picture of a student's learning progress.  Students are graded by goals, not their assignments. Got the picture? Good!

     Now. curiosity got the better of me, as I was entering the marks for my 19 students, and I decided to count the number of standards I am asked to quarterly assess my students on. Bad idea...  Read the above quote from Heather Shumaker again regarding preschool. I'll wait.  Guess how many standards there are on the preschool, four-year old progress report. Go ahead.  Keep in mind, they're four years old.  FIFTY FOUR! There are Fifty four standards my little people *should* be proficient at before entering kindergarten!  

     From the above quote:  "Don't foist academics on him... When children gain social and emotional skills and confidence in the preschool years, academic learning naturally follows."  Friends and followers, I can't even!

     On top of the quarterly progress reports, we are also asked to assess these young learners on a standards-based assessment called My IGDIs. This stands for Individual Growth and Development Indicators.  There are four assessments in math and five in literacy. Each of these assessments needs to be assessed on an individual basis.  Time-consuming. Right? Plus, in the picture naming assessment, what kid knows what an eggplant looks like? Good grief!

     Oh, and let's not forget the monthly math and literacy assessments required by the district. Assess. Assess.  Assess.  They are not little machines! They are children! We need to allow them to be children!  "A four-year old will only be a four-year old once."