Teacher wonders if kindergarten has become too much: ‘Let them be kids’

Sending a child to kindergarten is one of the biggest milestones a parent faces. But should it be a huge milestone for the child themselves, or more of a gentle step? That’s the question one teacher is asking in a viral TikTok video where she notes that kindergarten has gotten a lot harder than it used to be and wonders if it needs to be that way.

“So I’ve just got to ask: As a 20-year kindergarten teacher myself, who remembers when we went to kindergarten that we just had to be potty trained and not eat the glue?” Ms. Kelli, who posts to the platform as @the_wondermint, says at the start of her video. “That’s pretty much the only prerequisite for going to kindergarten. My heart breaks when I see all these videos of what you need to do to prepare your child for kindergarten, and things your child must know before going to kindergarten, and these lists of things parents need to be working on. Human development hasn’t changed.” 

Ms. Kelli continues, “What a five- and six-year-old child is physically, mentally, and developmentally able to do hasn’t changed in all these years. But for some reason, our expectations of them—our standards of them — societally and what we expect from them when they go to school has changed.”

Does she have a point? I remember going to kindergarten and needing to do a bit more—like be able to tie my own shoes, use scissors safely, count to 100, and quite a few other things—30 years ago. But maybe Ms. Kelli is exaggerating for comedic effect, and kindergarten has gotten a lot tougher. If anyone would know, it would be a kindergarten teacher.

She continues with a plea for both parents and educators.

“I am just encouraging everybody: Take a deep breath, love those little babies who are being separated from their parents, some of them for the first time,” she says. “The learning will come. The development will come. The ABCs, the 1-2-3s, the writing — all of it — it will come. But let them be kids. Let them play. Let them socialize with each other. Let them learn to be away from their mommy and daddy and be sad for a little bit and be comforted. Let them find friendships that are going to make them laugh so hard that their bellies ache. Let them create something that they never thought they could. Let them do an art project where they turn a box into a robot and they’re so excited to show their parents.”

Now this, we can get behind. Ms. Kelli’s final words are a great reminder for us all: “Curriculum—it will happen. The learning—it will happen. Just let our kids be kids. Let those five- and six-year-olds be developmentally what they’re supposed to be—and that’s a kid. That’s my PSA for the day.”

Do you think kindergarten has gotten harder for kids?