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SALT LAKE CITY -- Kindergarten used to be about learning social skills, creativity and curiosity. But now some educators say it's become way too academic.
Deseret News;
At the University of Utah's Child and Family Learning Center, some kids are attending a summer session of school. One boy told his mom that school is fun now and that shocked his new teacher.
"We're talking about kids who just finished kindergarten, and they are just realizing that school is fun. What was it like for the past year?" says Rachel Casper, kindergarten supervising teacher at the Child and Family Learning Center.
Casper says public school kindergarten has become too academic
"It isn't about learning. It's about knowing the right answer to the test," she says.
Kindergarten has become the new first grade, it appears. Casper says it should have more focus on play, curiosity and creativity.
The state's core curriculum talks about learning curiosity in kindergarten, but Casper says that's not happening.
"You're told how to hold your pencil. You're told how to make the letter, how to do it correctly. You're even told in art time -- and very few classes have art time -- how to make the snowman," Casper says.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
