Does Common Core ask too much of kindergarten readers? The answer to that question posed in an article I read recently by Katrina Schwartz is Yes and No. It’s not unusual for some children to meet the kindergarten Common Core standard that they “read emergent texts with purpose and understanding.” Some even do it in preschool. It’s also not unusual for kindergarten kids to NOT read emergent texts with purpose and understanding before their kindergarten year is over. To make this a standard that all kindergarten children are expected to achieve is to doom a big chunk of typically developing, age-appropriately achieving 5 and 6-year olds to failure. Believe me, kindergartners want to learn how to read. And tie their shoes. And snap their fingers. And blow bubbles with gum. And ride a 2-wheeler. And with the right foundational experiences they will. Preschool and kindergarten (and, of course, home) is where that foundation is laid. Let’s not take the “early” out of “early childhood education” and substitute it with “rushed.”
