May 27, 2011 10:11 AM
$500 million to help kids "sit still" in kindergarten
I don't know, but it seems to me that if the Nanny State finds 50% of 5 year olds "not ready for kindergarten" then it's their education template that is at fault.Why is the Democrat answer to every problem in the US to throw more money at it? It's not more money that's needed, it's a different understanding of the child and his or her educational needs.
$500 Million Obama Administration Program Will Help Kids 'Sit Still' in Kindergarten
$500 Million Obama Administration Program Will Help Kids 'Sit Still' in KindergartenWednesday, May 25, 2011
(CNSNews.com) - Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told CNSNews.com on Wednesday that the administration's new $500 million early learning initiative is designed to deal with children from birth onward to prevent such problems as 5-year olds who "can't sit still" in a kindergarten classroom.
"You really need to look at the range of issues, because if a 5-year-old can't sit still, it is unlikely that they can do well in a kindergarten class, and it has to be the whole range of issues that go into healthy child development," Sebelius said during a telephone news conference on Wednesday to announce the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge.
Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan jointly announced the $500-million program, which will provide competitive grants to states to address issues affecting educational outcomes for children from birth to age 5.
On the conference call, CNSNews.com asked: "What were the current problems that were found with the health, social and emotional development for children ages birth to 5?"
Sebelius, adding on to comments from Asst. Education Secretary Joan Lombardi, pointed to studies done in her home state of Kansas, where she served as governor. "When we looked at 5-year olds--and we tested about half the 5-year-olds in a relatively homogeneous state like Kansas -- and found that about half of them were not ready for kindergarten at age 5," Sebelius said.
Read more at CNS News.
Posted in Government Waste, Public schools | Permalink
Comments
has it occurred to any of them that the requirements they place on kindergarten children have changed. When I went to kindergarten the only thing I had to know was how to write my name. Now kindergarten is the equivalent of what 1st grade was when I went to school. Is it any wonder that half of the five year olds can't do what we adults were asked to do at six? Now we need to spend millions of dollars to find out why and then we as a nation wonder why we have no money.
Posted by: Diane | May 27, 2011 1:25 PM
This makes me want to barf...kids need to be kids! I'm so thankful we are homeschooling for now, I don't know how much longer we'll do this but with government intrusion such as this makes me want to homeschool for the whole 12 years!
Posted by: Addie | May 27, 2011 2:25 PM
Another reason why I'm going to homeschool my child at least until 1st grade. By the way, just from my mom reading to me every night, I was able to read most simple books by the time I hit kindergarten. I think if everyone just read to their kids more, maybe we wouldn't need so much time in kindergarten to teach kids what they could have learned in just 15 minutes a night every night.
Posted by: Sarah | May 27, 2011 5:58 PM
They did some studies on early reading and what those studies found was that when children learned to read was strongly realated to biological factors. Teachers and their skill level, or their teaching style had little impact on when children learned to read. I think a lot of it has to do with brain development and what parts of the brain develop when for each individual child. I know reading to kids helps and most likely it helps stimulate parts of the brain which helps in that development. Some kids seem to learn to read with almost no effort (I've heard them called linen closet kids since they would still learn to read early even if you locked them in a linen closet) while other kids struggle and it takes well into the elementary school years.
Posted by: Diane | May 28, 2011 5:39 PM
