Is Kindergarten Really
Necessary?
Amy Clyde
Elizabeth Garrabrandt
Shulamith Webster
Child Development
5 - 6 Years (Cognitive)
Begin to think logically & organize
concepts symbolically.
 Start towards Piaget’s logic of
conservation.
 Learn best through make-believe play.
 Also learn through active involvement
with peers & hands-on activities.
 Teaching through cognitive curriculum.
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Child Development
5-6 Years (Social)
Eager to work with peers, but can have
trouble working out problems.
 Want their own way, learning to share.
 Learn social skills through modeling.
 Teachers help to develop social skills
through group work.

Child Development
5-6 Years (Physical)
Always moving.
 Gross motor skills.
 Fine motor skills.
 Teachers need to allow children to
move and play.
 Children learning to sit down and listen.
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Utah Core Curriculum
Addresses multiple areas of learning.
 Core Link
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History of Kindergarten

Infant Schools
– Introduced from England in mid 1820’s
– 18 mo- 4 year old attended
– Believed kids could read and write at a
very early age.
– Main goal of these schools was to teach
silence, obedience, and conformity
– Focused more on teaching the immigrants
and the poor to aid social reform
History of Kindergarten

Amariah Brigham (1840)
– “Keeping kids under that age of 8 in school
for longer than an hour is dangerous
because it could lead to precocity which is
a morbid condition of the brain that might
lead to epilepsy, insanity, or imbecility”
History of Kindergarten

Friedrich Froebel
– Founder of the Kindergarten
– Started in Germany, introduced to America
by German immigrants
– Kindergarten will “save” the urban poor
from un-American values, morals, and
behaviors
– Introduced into Public Schools in 1890
Liberal view of
Kindergarten
Education is a right.
 Should be taught at schools.
 Begins at kindergarten (if not before).
 It leads to higher educational
achievement.
 Increased graduation rates.
 Decreased juvenile delinquency.

Conservative view of
Kindergarten
Should be taught at home by the family.
 Deprives children of freedom and
parental affection.
 Morals should be taught at young age.

Radical View of
Kindergarten
Change entire structure of education.
 Education should start before
kindergarten.
 Educate the parents and children at the
same time.
 Parents are encouraged to assess their
children.
 Guadalupe school is a current example.

Current Issues

Last Year’s Legislation – Margaret Dayton


Proposed a tax credit for keeping kids at home.
“This bill makes me very sad. I cry when school starts.”
"This whole issue is about school readiness. At what
point do we vote against confidence in the family and
trust our children to government schools? Childhood is
important. We don't need to get them into school at
younger and younger ages, just because we think they
may not be ready for school."
-Margaret Dayton
Current Issues

“Nearly 70 percent of all mothers with children ages six & under
work outside of the home.”

“The Sutherland Institute proposal to offer a $500 tax credit to
parents that keep their kindergarten-age child at home, rather
than place her in public kindergarten, adheres to both
components. It recognizes that a majority of parents work
outside of the home and it would encourage more parents who
are able to care for their own little children in those vital
formative years. On the one hand, the Sutherland proposal
would provide modest encouragement for those parents and, on
the other hand, it would leave more money in the hands of
public schools for early, formal schooling where needed.”
-The
Sutherland Institute
Current Issues

This Year’s Legislation
– Jon Huntsman Jr.


Supports full-day kindergarten in Title 1 schools
Bill #107 failed in Senate
Full-Day Kindergarten




Able to cover more material and curriculum.
More one-on-one work with teacher and
students.
Able to teach more than just the core (social,
cognitive, etc.)
"I taught first grade in the '60s, and that
entire curriculum has been pushed down into
kindergarten now, yet I had five hours to
teach it, and now I only have two-and-a-half
hours."
-Carol Lee Smith (Kindergarten teacher at Canyon Crest
Elementary in Provo.)
Full-Day Kindergarten
Children become tired and restless.
 Parents don’t get to spend more time
with their children.
 At this age they may not be mature
enough to handle a full-day.
 Money cost.

Our Opinion
Kindergarten is essential to learning &
should be taught by trained
professionals.
 We support Jon Huntsman’s position.
 Pre-Kindergarten assessment should
determine who requires additional
instruction.
 All children should be allowed the
option.
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Bibliography
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