1. Excessive mental stress is beyond the reach of five year olds
Now it's clear to everyone that yesterday's first class is today's kindergarten. For the last 35 years, officials have been focused on improving their academic performance. This happens by increasing the flow of information and writing endless tests, which control what the child has learned.
The older generation still remembers the kindergarten, which had games, free time and a full quiet hour. Today, children must learn the alphabet, be able to count to at least a hundred, know many words. 80% of teachers expect that all children will read without any hesitation when it comes time to go to the first grade.
Experts in the field of child development warn that the whole day of study - it is too much and hard for children of preschool age. The American research organization Alliance for Childhood in its article "Reading at Five: Why?" gives the following argument: the fact that a child can study more does not mean that it is useful for him/her.
Moreover, any benefits derived from early development and learning are extremely short-lived. Studies show that these same extra skills will be lost in the third grade.
2. At this age, the attitude towards school is laid down
The main task of the kindergarten and preparatory classes is to build a strong bridge to love school. Instead, we rock it, increasing the academic load. Patty Hartigan, an American writer and author of textbooks, warns educators and teachers against evaluating the academic potential of a child at an age when he or she is very different from day to day.
Labeling children who are unable to cope with a certain workload can have a negative impact on their success in school and reduce the overall enjoyment of learning. "If a child is already five years old and feels like a loser, it can have very bad and sometimes irreversible consequences," writes Hartigan.
3. The high burden is incorrect from a medical point of view
Increasingly, teachers are faced with the fact that children do not know how to behave in class. Social interaction, attentiveness, emotional control, and decision-making are becoming a big problem for students. Almost all of them arise because of increased pressure on children. The consequences are generally far from encouraging and require the intervention of health workers.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that diagnoses related to depression and anxiety have doubled since the 2000s. Cases of attention deficit and hyperactivity syndrome, which start in childhood, have increased dramatically.
4. Children do not have time for games
American experts in the field of preschool education argue that play activities are essential for the normal development of the child and education at the level of kindergarten. According to psychologist Eric Eric Ericson, if children miss the stage of games and immediately move on to classical classes, further study will be limp. Many kindergartens are afraid to maintain a balance between games and academic work. However, the word "game" usually means something academic or intellectual. In recent decades, children, in general, have fewer opportunities to play freely and choose for themselves than to do, regardless of the tutor or teacher.
Researchers do not stand aside and warn that a strict curriculum with clear planning kills the child's enthusiasm for new knowledge or discovery. This is very important for him/her to learn more: "Kindergartens are told what to do and how to do it all day long. They play less, learn more. Many times more than 20 years ago, and that's bad.
5. Educators are not ready for such a burden
Many teachers and educators in America doubt they are ready to teach in the face of increased academic demands on students. They are faced with the choice of either raising the level or quitting the game. A 25-year-old teacher, Susan Slater, writes, "Today my work does not fit my own ideas about what a teacher should do to maintain a safe, healthy academic environment for every child.