Gan Yeladim Early Childhood  Jewish Education in Skokie     

 

Dear Gan Parents,
 
I thought you would be interested in exerts from an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal regarding the virtues of developmental, placed based early childhood programs and the pitfalls of the more academic programs. The article appeared in the "Work and Family" section and is written by Sue Shellenbarger.
 
What's Gotten Into Kids These Days?
January 17, 2008; Page D1
 
Glennette Scott was horrified when her daughter Brianna, 3 years old, started picking fights, throwing chairs and having emotional meltdowns in preschool. Anxious and upset, Ms. Scott searched the Internet and asked school officials for help with her daughter; she sometimes seemed like "a ticking time bomb," Ms. Scott says, because her outbursts were so sudden and unpredictable.

With more individual guidance and one-on-one time from teachers, Brianna is learning to control herself, and she's progressing well now in her Falls Church, Va., kindergarten. But Ms. Scott still worries about her.
 
Behavior problems among preschoolers are emerging as a national issue. In several studies released in the past month, researchers at Yale, Rutgers and Cornell universities, among others, are treating preschoolers' conduct as a challenge that calls for changes in school programs and classroom management. The problem has reached the point where researchers are recommending preschool teachers have access to mental-health consultants, like the psychologists who help out in higher grades.
 
All 3- through 5-year-olds are sometimes stubborn and irrational, of course. Some of what's regarded as bad behavior may actually be normal. But some experts say they are increasingly seeing behavior that is out of synch with expected development, such as kindergartners who engage in frequent fighting, aggression, tantrums or a persistent inability to cooperate with others.
 
The causes aren't clear. Some experts blame a government drive for accountability in schools that is intensifying emphasis on early skill-building in reading and math, frustrating kids who aren't ready. Others cite a variety of other factors, including parents' early use of child-care centers, family instability, poor prenatal care or an increased incidence of such learning difficulties as attention-deficit disorder.
 
Whatever the cause, the pattern suggests children entering preschool need social and emotional skills now more than ever, not only to keep their own act together, but to deal with other kids. Indeed, the academic achievement that parents covet, and that schools are so avidly seeking, can't be attained without good social and emotional skills as a foundation.
 
There are no long-term data to measure the problem. A 1998 study of 17,219 kindergarteners found 13% lacked the social and emotional skills needed to succeed in class. Separately, in a survey of 3,595 kindergarten teachers conducted around the same time, 20% to 30% said at least half their students lacked social skills or the ability to work in groups. Echoing a widely held view, Sara Rimm-Kaufman, an associate professor of education at the University of Virginia and lead author of the second study, says she believes behavior problems among children entering kindergarten have risen since then.
Lisa McCabe, associate director of Cornell University's early childhood program, says she increasingly sees kids refuse teachers' and classmates' requests, bully others and behave destructively.
 
Experts' recommendations contain wisdom for parents:
 
Avoid pushing your children to read, write and do math too soon, at the expense of social and emotional skills. Learning isn't a race; each child's developmental path is unique.
 
Research shows children who are in over their heads in class act out their frustrations. Emily Clark, New York, was dismayed when her normally amiable toddler started biting other kids in child care. "I was beside myself," Ms. Clark says. "She's not bad, she's not malicious, she's not from an aggressive household." She soon realized that because her daughter was younger than her classmates, she lacked verbal skills to express frustration, so she acted it out. Now that her language has caught up, she's doing fine.

In the classroom, preschoolers usually shouldn't be expected to sit for more than 10 to 15 minutes at a time listening to teacher-directed, structured activities, says Ellen Frede, co-director of Rutgers University's National Institute for Early Education Research, which issued a policy brief last month on solving behavior problems. Scripted, rigidly paced curriculum and drills also may frustrate preschoolers.
 
Find classrooms well-equipped to handle behavior problems. Student-teacher ratios for 3- to 4-year-old children should be no more than 10 children per teacher. While large-group care is linked to behavior problems, it also can be a cure. Preschool is an excellent place to socialize children and teach them to control their behavior, Ms. Frede says. San Francisco attorney Rebecca Eisenberg, whose daughter, 4, and son, 2, have attended high-quality child-care centers, believes the experience has taught them to be cooperative and compassionate. When her daughter noticed at a party that a two-year-old child was sniffling alone in a corner, feeling left out, she hugged and comforted her, saying, 'It's OK,' Ms. Eisenberg says.
 



 

 
Registration for summer and fall, 2008, has begun. We hope that all non-graduating students will be returning. We know there will be many siblings who are turning two and will be joining us in the fall. It is exciting to see these children right after they are born, to watch them grow and to have them become part of our school. If you should have questions or issues to discuss about registration or placement please come and talk with me.
 
Wishing you a peaceful, restful Shabbat,
Betsy Rotberg, Director,
Gan Yeladim