Sept. 26, 2025 9:24 AM PT
To the editor: I actually want this text went into extra element about the entire level of why kindergarten attendance is so vital (“Kindergarten is important, but illness, tears make chronic absenteeism a challenge,” Sept. 22). It’s definitely a heck of much more than “Play-Doh and coloring.”
I used to be privileged to have the ability to volunteer in three of my grandchildren’s (ages 11, 9 and seven) public faculty kindergarten lecture rooms. I spent three hours in the future every week for a yr seeing first-hand what these younger kids have been studying. Positive, there was some coloring, however they discovered all their letters, numbers and punctuation marks. They discovered how you can add and subtract. They discovered about completely different animals and well-known individuals. By the top of the yr, most of those youngsters have been writing multi-sentence essays (positive, the spelling wasn’t good, but it surely was a begin), studying books and answering complicated questions. That’s to not point out the event of their socialization expertise and studying to comply with instructions. That is why it’s vital for younger kids to go to kindergarten. Those that don’t are woefully unprepared for first grade and past.
I can’t assure that each one faculties provide this degree of instruction, however I’m keen to guess that almost all do. This was not a non-public or constitution faculty. It was an ordinary elementary faculty within the Chino Valley Unified College District. I hope future reporting on this subject explains additional how helpful kindergarten is for a kid’s academic progress.
Elaine Regus, San Dimas
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To the editor: Like so many articles concerning public training currently, many of the blame is positioned on the colleges. The primary half of the article referenced a couple of parent-focus teams and their complaints. In brief, faculties must do a greater job of defining continual absences, lecturers yell, faculty is boring, and many others. The second half of the article highlighted a couple of methods faculties can implement to enhance attendance.
Perhaps I’m misguided, however isn’t it a mum or dad’s duty to get their youngsters to high school? Why are we afraid to carry individuals accountable for his or her conduct, particularly when it immediately impacts the way forward for their kids? Academics have plenty of duties, however getting youngsters off the bed and on their method to faculty isn’t considered one of them. There’s solely a lot faculties can do. They can’t repair society’s ills.
It’s OK to carry individuals accountable. My dad and mom did it to me. I do it to my college students day-after-day. And I did it to my very own kids all through the years. We rise to the extent of expectations put upon us. Proper now, we don’t appear to count on a lot from dad and mom, and we’re seeing the results.
Ray Herrera, Rancho Cucamonga
