Question: “In the United States, how do the learning goals and curriculum for kindergarten classrooms differ from it’s adoption in the early 1900s to today? And why have they changed?
Thesis:
- In the early 1900s kindergarten’s curriculum encouraged play and natural development
- Reason: kids need a year to prepare for school, not ready for academic pressures
- Today, kindergarten’s curriculum encourages academic learning
- Reasons for the change: preschool has adopted the play-like curriculum, and because of the pressures from standardize testing and parents, kindergarten’s role has shifted to being academic-based instead
Sources:
Jen Scott Curwood: What Happened To Kindergarten
- why original model was implemented
- how kindergarten has changed
- why kindergarten has changed
- Interesting fact: a decade ago, only 15% of kindergartens could read. today in a county in Maryland, 90% of kindergartens could read
Brigit, as a reader, I would like to know more about the key factors that are driving key factors behind your thesis. During your Q&A after your presentation, for example, you mentioned that two-income families and economic pressures may be an influential factor here. Do your best to incorporate these deeper ideas into the thesis of your final essay.