Have you been hanging out with four or five year olds lately?

They vary in size, maturity, literacy and numeracy skills; US schools assign kids to grades by age, some children just turned four and other are almost five, some kids don’t speak a word of English, some haven’t been a few feet away from their mother, others live in shelters, some mothers are teenagers, other caregivers are grandparents. Their vocabulary varies widely, their experiences vary widely. Pre-kindergarten teachers have a daunting task.

The 68 page New York State Foundation Standards for the Common Core gets off to a good start, a long list of what the standards should NOT be used for –

* an assessment tool
* a curriculum
* mandate specific teaching practices,

However, when you click on the ELA pre-k standards you find a checklist. See a section of the ELA pre-k standards below:

* With…