Test preparation has long been a big business catering to students taking SATs and admissions exams for law, medical and other graduate schools. But the new clientele is quite a bit younger: 3- and 4-year-olds whose parents hope that a little assistance — costing upward of $1,000 for several sessions — will help them win coveted spots in the city’s gifted and talented public kindergarten classes.
In Manhattan, Preparing for Kindergarten Admission Test – NYTimes.com
“‘It’s quite pricey, but compared to private school, which averages about $20,000 for kindergarten, the price is right,’ she said of the tutoring. ‘I just want the opportunity to have a choice.'”
My brother and his wife have gone the other insane route in NY – paying for my niece to go to the “right” preschool when she was 18 months old, so that now, at 5, she can go to the “right” kindergarten. It’s insane. There was even an interview to get into preschool, ffs. At 18 months! Her schooling thus far has topped the outlay for my college education. (By the way, both my brother and I went to NYC public schools, without the benefit of the gifted and talented programs, and we turned out fine. I think it has less to do with results and more to do with being competitive).
People have lost their freaking minds. It would be amusing as hell if not for all the little victims.
I’m so grateful I’m not a kid in today’s world.
I’m not sure what I think about this — I do post stuff to see if there is a conversation to be had — but why Lucky and Elise is your reaction negative?
Are over-achievers any more stressed than under-achievers?
And where exactly is the “happy medium”?
I address my questions to all.
Gabriel, our soon to be 12 year old, was in APS for two years. (Moved here from Chicago and did great in those public schools.) He had a D average and was picked on mercilessly (He’s little for his age and the principal did little to nothing to stop it despite our involvements.)
We took him out of APS and put him in (cringes ’cause I went to one, too) Catholic school. He is now on the honor roll, is playing basketball, and is relatively happy. (As much as an immature, 12 year old can be…)
The “right” schools is, in my opinion, subjective to what works considering smaller classrooms, attention to detail, and an encouraging learning environment.
APS did not have that for us although we still have our youngest in APS but that’s because he’s in special education and the Catholic school doesn’t offer a program.
Just my four cents. I do, however, believe people are paying for both keeping up with the Joneses and the prestige of getting into the elite schools/programs. Eh. I guess if that’s how you want to spend your money… go for it. Not my cuppa.
I have mixed feelings about this issue. When I was in kindergarten, eons ago, I took the “put a ring around the thing you think” test, and my retelling of the experience as a 5-year-old may have coined that particular expression–in our family, at least. I still remember feeling a certain amount of stress while taking the test (my first, I believe), hoping I wasn’t circling any wrong answers. I felt that stress of my own accord, even without anyone trying to get me into a special class or school. Imagine if my parents were putting pressure on me to perform at that tender age.
So, I wonder, can today’s striving parents prepare their children for these pre-schooler exams without putting undo pressure and stress upon their children? I know that some of this movement is intended for the betterment of the child, but I also believe there are parents who are more concerned with keeping up (or even with out-doing) the Jones’ kid, which means it is for the sake of their own egos. In the latter case, I believe it’s wrong.
Naturally, we hear many testimonials about how “I went to public school, and I turned out alright.” However, for the most part, public school simply ain’t what it used to be. (Sister Mary Ann Catherine, please forgive my use of ain’t–it was merely an attempt at colloquialism.) While there are many public schools that are excelling today, there are many more that are deplorable at best, and contributing mightily to the dumbing down of America. (As someone who has visited about 200 American schools from one end of the country to the other, I do have some basis for this analysis beyond statistics.)
A good school matters today, possibly more than ever, because the bad schools have fallen so far below the standard of education they should be offering. Hopefully, though, parents and tutors/testing coaches can be sensitive enough to the children involved to make it fun, and not a stressful experience. Either way will set the stage for that child’s attitudes toward, and expectations of, their educational pursuits for the rest of their lives.
Maybe the public schools should just let parents pay extra and pick their school, to compete directly with the privates. The backdoor versions of this now include G&T and other special programs, PTA donations targeted to improve only your school, etc. Doing this through a manipulated measure of toddler “ability” – to justify it based on merit – seems a shame. Just a thought, over at Family Inequality.
I find it strange that so many of your readers seem to think the main or only reason parents would buy special tutoring for their children is to prove something to the neighbors.
Putting in a three-car garage or buying a fancy car – sure. But test prep for your kid? This isn’t about the neighbors. Maybe the parents are actually doing it because – gasp – they want the best possible future for the child.
You can argue that it is too much pressure for small children (I would probably agree, depending on what the tutoring/prep is actually like), but how do you just dismiss people that way – simply because the way they choose to help their child is not the way you would help yours?
I’ll add that in big cities, the competition for good schools and good programs – like the competition for real estate and jobs and everything else – is intense enough that I can see why people with money to burn will spend it to try to give their child a better chance. (And regardless of public or private, if you don’t think the kind and quality of schooling you get matters, you are flat out wrong.)
I don’t know about the rest of the readers/commenters here, but I would like to reiterate that I, for one, wasn’t saying that I think “the main or only reason parents would buy special tutoring… is to prove something to the neighbors.” I did, however, say that I recognize that there are SOME parents who are motivated by the competition to have their child out-do all the others in their circle of friends/neighbors/school/community, etc. I have certainly known people like that.
As for the rest, I applaud their efforts, as long as they don’t stress out their kid in the process, and/or squelch the child’s natural desire to learn. Children who are under too much pressure sometimes wind up going to the opposite extreme when they get older, just to rebel, and it isn’t pretty. It can ruin their life, in fact.
It’s a fine line we walk as parents, and every child is a unique being who needs his or her individual nature to be nurtured, even if their nature isn’t geared toward excellence–not everyone’s is.
Money won’t buy happiness. But you can’t buy happiness with food stamps either.
I didn’t say anything about keeping up with the Jones’, either. I don’t think that’s what this is about. And I agree that a good education is VITAL. Furthermore, I don’t have anything against private schools–I went to a couple (I attended public/magnet schools, as well).
However. Thousands (and tens of thousands) for preschool? Testing and competing for a place in KINDERGARTEN? Come on. That’s not about the child, and if it is, it’s a seriously perverted idea of what a small child needs.
Education is vital, but it’s only one part of life, especially when one is talking about a five year old. There is a time for bearing down. Preschool is not that time.
Why would anyone put that much stress on a small child? It’s not necessary. That kind of track is required by a TINY handful of schools, and they are NOT the only ones offering an excellent education.
One can have balance. Even in today’s world. Children deserve to be children.
I alluded to keeping up with Jones’, because I know my brother. It is purely competitive. In NYC, you do have to compete to get into the good schools, but not if you live in the district. My brother lives in the same house we grew up in. The kid is “zoned” for the same schools that still get great reviews. There is no reason to spend $15k a year except that he can.
In general, I think that you can try to get your child into the gifted/talented kindergarten program by throwing money at it, but there is no guarantee that they’ll stay there. I had a kid in my Special Ed class last year who was gifted & talented through the 4th grade, then he was weeded out. I just don’t think you can determine, at 18 months or at 4 years old, who is gifted and who is not. The only thing that is determined is who has money.
Of course parents want the best future for their children. Of course they want to see them go on to college and grad school. And maybe there are statistics out there that prove that this is the way to do it. The stats I’ve seen seem to indicate that success or failure in school is at least partially determined way before the first day of kindergarten or preschool, and depends a great deal upon literacy in the home.