http://www.kansascity.com/2011/02/17...schoolers.html
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Where we live I am sure this goes on for some of the top private schools in the city. Public school is just not the same inside city limits and when you have numbers like those mentioned in this article, your child does not stand a chance if you do not prep them.
My kids are subjected first to an IQ test done by a child psychologist and then have testing like they describe in the article, one on one for kindergarten. It's just part of the process.
It is very overwhelming to go through it as a parent. My kids are oblivious and we do spend extra time from 3-5 years old with letters, numbers, beginning reading, certainly not how this article makes it out to be with continents. I know what she means about understanding concepts though. They asked y kids what animal ham is, hamburger, where lettuce comes from...they have them do tasks with their hands to see how they think spatially, there is a lot to it.
I have seen parents on TV that are part of a lottery system to get their kids into a decent public school. It is devastating when their number is not called. It means a life of exposure to poor conditions and a sub-par education in some areas.
The thing with the private schools that I didn't understand before my kids were in it as an outsider is it's bit the control over the KIDS that the school has- kids are kids. There's good kids and not great kids in private. It is the control over the PARENTS that the school has. If they tell you your kid did something or that you need to take action about something to correct something, you do it. There is no blaming a teacher for happenings at the school, none of the "not my baby" stuff I have seen and every single parent cares about their kids education and they expect that.
My sister teaches in a lower school and it's not even a bad area but out of 20 kids, 4 parent came to conferences. 4. The 4 that came were the best behaved students in the class. She has a girl in her class that hits kids on a daily basis. The parents refuse to put her on meds and she is a nightmare. There is nothing the school can do about it. She would have been kicked out of a private school a long tie ago
So, as long as the teachers do not have control and the public school systems in SOME areas continues to function at a subpar level, tutoring 3 and 4 year olds will continue. I'm sure in NY it starts much younger than that!
I really feel for the parents tutoring their kids. Sure it sounds nuts but... They must be so scared- heck- I'm scared what lays ahead. I really really believe in public school. I am a product of great public school, but when something like what NBP's sister describes is happening... well, that's just the tip of the iceberg- they say peers influence children much more than parents once school starts, and I honestly don't want my children placed in situations where kids who aren't looked after properly at home are compromising my child's ability to learn, or worse- exposing them to things that aren't appropriate. I know somebody who works in the department of child and family services, and it's very common for young children to go to school and exhibit majorly inappropriate sexual behaviour- most of the time there isn't evidence that child is being abused by an adult, but rather that porn is so accessible in the home that maybe an older sibling shows it to a younger...they bring it into school...they act it out in school... or GUNS? I'm sorry that scares me. I don't want that. I would rather risk messing my child up by making them talk about the relationship between a hardware store and a hammer before they are really ready to than messing them up by putting them in a situation where they will be exposed to thing I really find damaging. That is a sorry comment on the state of schools and parenting these days.
I think that is scary as hell, frankly. We go on and on about the gap between rich and poor and stuff like this is only going to perpetuate it and make it larger. I am all for putting kids in advanced and gifted programs if they warrant it, but it seems to me that this is not really catering to the intelligent kids as much as it is catering to the rich families who can afford to put their kids in academic preschools or hire someone to cram their heads full of information, much of it useless to a child that age (continents? really?)
Meanwhile the plebians who can't afford that or don't have time to privately tutor their child because they are working have to feel like losers because their kids were "too dumb" for the good schools.
Honestly though the kids are getting the worst end of the deal. How many studies do the experts have to do proving that kids are best served by just letting them play and be kids for the first 3 or 4 (or even 5 or 6) years of their lives? What are the psychological and emotional ramifications for kids who have been pressured and pushed in this manner?
It seriously makes me want to homeschool. :p