By Edmon de Haro

The New Preschool Is Crushing Kids1

如今，“讓孩子們贏在起跑線上”這句話越來越為人所詬病，看看現(xiàn)在幼兒園和學(xué)前班里的孩子們，小小年紀(jì)就背負(fù)沉重的學(xué)業(yè)負(fù)擔(dān)，恨不得十八般武藝樣樣精通。在父母、老師拉著孩子們往前跑時(shí)，他們也許都忽略了——人的一生是長跑，計(jì)較了起跑線上的分秒，殊不知“欲速則不達(dá)”，跑得快，不等于跑得贏。

Step into an American preschool classroom today and you are likely to be bombarded with what we educators call a print-rich environment， every surface festooned with alphabet charts， bar graphs， word walls， instructional posters， classroom rules， calendars， schedules， and motivational platitudes—few of which a 4-year-old can “decode，” the contemporary word for what used to be known as reading.2

Because so few adults can remember the pertinent details of their own preschool or kindergarten years， it can be hard to appreciate just how much the early-education landscape has been transformed over the past two decades.3 The changes are not restricted to the confusing pastiche4 on classroom walls. Pedagogy and curricula have changed too， most recently in response to the Common Core State Standards Initiatives kindergarten guidelines.5 Much greater portions of the day are now spent on whats called “seatwork” and a form of tightly scripted teaching known as direct instruction， formerly used mainly in the older grades， in which a teacher carefully controls the content and pacing of what a child is supposed to learn.6

One study， titled “Is Kindergarten the New First Grade？”， compared kindergarten teachers attitudes nationwide in 1998 and 2010 and found that the percentage of teachers expecting children to know how to read by the end of the year had risen from 30 to 80 percent.7 The researchers also reported more time spent with workbooks and worksheets， and less time devoted to music and art.8 Kindergarten is indeed the new first grade， the authors concluded glumly9. In turn， children who would once have used the kindergarten year as a gentle transition into school are in some cases being held back before theyve had a chance to start.10

Until recently， school-readiness skills werent high on anyones agenda， nor was the idea that the youngest learners might be disqualified from moving on to a subsequent stage.11 But now that kindergarten serves as a gatekeeper， not a welcome mat， to elementary school， concerns about school preparedness kick in earlier and earlier.12 A child whos supposed to read by the end of kindergarten had better be getting ready in preschool. As a result， expectations that may arguably have been reasonable for 5- and 6-year-olds， such as being able to sit at a desk and complete a task using pencil and paper， are now directed at even younger children， who lack the motor skills and attention span to be successful.13

Preschool classrooms have become increasingly fraught spaces， with teachers cajoling their charges to finish their “work” before they can go play.14 And yet， even as preschoolers are learning more pre-academic skills at earlier ages， Ive heard many teachers say that they seem somehow less inquisitive and less engaged than the kids of earlier generations.15 More children today seem to lack the language skills needed to retell a simple story or to use basic connecting words and prepositions16. They cant make a conceptual analogy between， say， the veins on a leaf and the veins in their own hands.17

New research found that although children who had attended preschool initially exhibited more “school readiness” skills when they entered kindergarten than did their non-preschool-attending peers， by the time they were in first grade their attitudes toward school were deteriorating.18

Media attention to the cognitive potential of early childhood has a way of exacerbating such a trend， but the actual academic consensus on the components of high-quality early education tells another story.19 According to experts， the best preschool programs share several features： They provide ample opportunities for young children to use and hear complex， interactive language； their curriculum supports a wide range of school-readiness goals that include social and emotional skills and active learning； they encourage meaningful family involvement； and they have knowledgeable and well-qualified teachers.20

In a high-quality program， adults are building relationships with the children and paying close attention to their thought processes and， by extension21， their communication. Theyre finding ways to make the children think out loud22.

The real focus in the preschool years should be not just on vocabulary and reading， but on talking and listening. We forget how vital spontaneous， unstructured conversation is to young childrens understanding.23 By talking with adults， and one another， they pick up information. They learn how things work. They solve puzzles that trouble them. Sometimes， to be fair， what children take away from a conversation is wrong. They might conclude24 that pigs produce ham， just as chickens produce eggs and cows produce milk. But these understandings are worked over， refined， and adapted—as when a brutal older sibling explains a ham sandwichs grisly origins.25

Unfortunately， much of the conversation in todays preschool classrooms is one-directional and simplistic， as teachers steer students through a highly structured schedule， herding them from one activity to another and signaling approval with a quick “good job！”26

Consider the difference between a teachers use of a closed statement versus an open-ended question.27 Imagine that a teacher approaches a child drawing a picture and exclaims28， “Oh， what a pretty house！” If the child is not actually drawing a house， she might feel exposed， and even if she is drawing a house， the teachers remark shuts down further discussion：29 She has labeled the thing and said she likes it. What more is there to add？ A much more helpful approach would be to say， “Tell me about your drawing，” inviting the child to be reflective30. Its never possible to anticipate everything a small person needs to learn， so open-ended inquiry can reveal what is known and unknown.31 Such a small pedagogic difference can be an important catalyst for a basic， but unbounded，32 cognitive habit—the act of thinking out loud.

Its become almost a cliché to look to Finlands educational system for inspiration.33 As has been widely reported， the country began to radically professionalize its workforce in the 1970s and abandoned most of the performance standards endemic to American schooling.34 Today， Finlands schools are consistently ranked among the worlds very best. This “Finnish miracle” sounds almost too good to be true. Surely the country must have a few dud teachers and slacker kids！35

And yet， when Ive visited Finland， Ive found it impossible to remain unmoved by the example of preschools where the learning environment is assessed，36 rather than the children in it. Having rejected many of the pseudo-academic benchmarks that can， and do， fit on a scorecard，37 preschool teachers in Finland are free to focus on whats really essential： their relationship with the growing child.

Heres what the Finns， who dont begin formal reading instruction until around age seven， have to say about preparing preschoolers to read： “The basis for the beginnings of literacy38 is that children have heard and listened… They have spoken and been spoken to， people have discussed （things） with them… They have asked questions and received answers.”

For our littlest learners， what could be more important than that？

1. preschool： 在美國，preschool是3至5歲兒童上的，相當(dāng)于中國的幼兒園，而kindergarten是小學(xué)的一部分，相當(dāng)于國內(nèi)的學(xué)前班，故本文將preschool譯作幼兒園，kindergarten譯作學(xué)前班，以示區(qū)別；crush： 壓傷，壓壞。

2. 如今，走進(jìn)一間美國幼兒園的教室，你很有可能會(huì)遭到印刷品的狂轟濫炸，我們教育者稱這種環(huán)境為印刷品密集環(huán)境，即每個(gè)墻面都飾以字母表、條形統(tǒng)計(jì)圖、單詞墻、教學(xué)海報(bào)、教室規(guī)章、日歷、日程表，還有激勵(lì)話語——四歲大的孩子很少能“解讀”這些。這是如今的說法，過去我們則稱之為“閱讀”。bombard with： 用……轟炸；festoon with： 飾以……；instructional： 教學(xué)的；motivational： 激發(fā)性的，勵(lì)志的；platitude： 陳詞濫調(diào)；decode： 解碼，這里指解讀；contemporary： 當(dāng)代的。

3. pertinent： 相關(guān)的；appreciate： 理解； landscape： 形勢，情形。

4. pastiche： 混雜品，東拼西湊的東西。

5. pedagogy： 教學(xué)法，下文中pedagogic意為“教學(xué)的”；curricula： curriculum的復(fù)數(shù)，課程體系；in response to： 響應(yīng)；the Common Core State Standards Initiative： 公共核心課程國家標(biāo)準(zhǔn)倡議；guideline： 指導(dǎo)方針。

6. 如今一天中大部分時(shí)間都花在被稱為“課堂作業(yè)”和嚴(yán)格按照講義的“直接教學(xué)法”上面，這在之前主要用于高年級(jí)教學(xué)上。通過這種教學(xué)方法，老師可以小心控制孩子應(yīng)該學(xué)習(xí)的內(nèi)容和節(jié)奏。portion： 部分；scripted： 照本宣科的；pacing： 節(jié)奏。

7. 有項(xiàng)題為《學(xué)前班成了新的一年級(jí)？》的研究，對(duì)比了1998年和2010年學(xué)前班老師的態(tài)度，發(fā)現(xiàn)老師對(duì)孩子們?cè)趯W(xué)年結(jié)束時(shí)學(xué)會(huì)閱讀的期待值從30%上升到了80%。

8. workbook： 練習(xí)簿；worksheet： （學(xué)生的）作業(yè)單，活頁練習(xí)題；devote to： 用于。

9. glumly： 憂郁地，悶悶不樂地。

10. in turn： 反過來；gentle transition： 平緩過渡；hold back： 阻礙，阻止。

11. high on sb.s agenda： 是……的重點(diǎn)； disqualify from： 使不合格；subsequent： 隨后的。

12. gatekeeper： 看門人；welcome mat： （通常擺在門口的）擦鞋墊，這里比喻為歡迎；elementary school： 小學(xué)；kick in： 開始生效。

13. 結(jié)果，原本可能是對(duì)五六歲大的孩子們的合理期望，比如能端坐在桌子前、用鉛筆和紙完成作業(yè)等，現(xiàn)在則轉(zhuǎn)移到了更小的孩子身上，但這些孩子缺少行動(dòng)技能和持久的注意力來完成這些任務(wù)。arguably： 大概；motor skill： 動(dòng)作技能；attention span： 注意力的持續(xù)時(shí)間。

14. fraught： 令人憂慮的，不好對(duì)付的；cajole： 以甜言蜜語哄騙；charge： 被托管的人，這里指幼兒園小孩。

15. pre-academic： 早期認(rèn)知的；inquisitive： 好學(xué)的，好奇的；engaged： 積極參與的，感興趣的。

16. preposition： 介詞。

17. conceptual： 概念性的；analogy： 類比；vein： 前一指“葉脈”，后一指“血管”。

18. 新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，比起那些沒有上過幼兒園的小伙伴們，上過幼兒園的孩子雖然在剛進(jìn)學(xué)前班時(shí)顯示出了更多“入學(xué)準(zhǔn)備”技能，但到了一年級(jí)時(shí)，他們對(duì)學(xué)校的態(tài)度就開始惡化。initially： 開頭，最初；peer： 同伴，同輩；deteriorate： 退化，惡化。

19. cognitive： 認(rèn)知的；exacerbate： 使惡化，使加劇；consensus： 共識(shí)；component： 成分，要素。

20. 據(jù)專家稱，最好的幼兒園教育都有以下幾個(gè)特點(diǎn)：為小孩子提供充足的機(jī)會(huì)去使用和聆聽復(fù)雜、互動(dòng)的語言；課程設(shè)置支持多種入學(xué)準(zhǔn)備目標(biāo)，包括社交技能、情緒技能和主動(dòng)學(xué)習(xí)；鼓勵(lì)有意義的家庭參與；擁有知識(shí)淵博、資質(zhì)合格的老師等等。ample： 豐富的，充足的； well-qualified： 合格的，有資格的。

21. by extension： 引申開來。

22. think out loud： 把想的說出來。

23. vital： 至關(guān)重要的；spontaneous： 自發(fā)的；unstructured： 非結(jié)構(gòu)化的。

24. conclude： 推斷。

25. work over： 徹底改變；refine： 提煉，使 （語言文字等）更準(zhǔn)確；adapt： 使……適應(yīng)；brutal： 不講情面的，不顧他人感情的；sibling： 兄弟姐妹；grisly： 可怕的。

26. one-directional： 單方向的；simplistic： 過分簡單化的；steer sb. through： 指導(dǎo)某人通過；herd： 把……集中在一起；signal： 表示。

27. closed statement： 封閉式陳述；versus： 與……相對(duì)；open-ended question： 開放式問題。

28. exclaim： 驚嘆，大聲喊出。

29. exposed： 暴露的，無保護(hù)的；remark： 言辭，評(píng)論；shut down： （使）停止。

30. reflective： 反思的。

31. anticipate： 預(yù)期，期望；inquiry： 詢問； reveal： 透露，揭露。

32. catalyst： 催化劑；unbounded： 無限的。

33. cliché： 陳詞濫調(diào)；inspiration： 靈感，啟發(fā)。

34. radically： 徹底地；professionalize： （使）職業(yè)化；workforce： 勞動(dòng)力；performance standards： 業(yè)績標(biāo)準(zhǔn)；endemic to： ……特有的；schooling： 學(xué)校教育。

35. dud： 無用的；slacker： 偷懶的人。

36. unmoved： 無動(dòng)于衷的；assess： 評(píng)估，評(píng)定。

37. pseudo-academic： 偽學(xué)術(shù)的； benchmark： 基準(zhǔn)測試；scorecard： 記分卡。

38. literacy： 讀寫能力。