Deb Turner, blogging for Gena Suarez at Home Where They Belong, brought out an article from the Observer-Dispatch of Utica, NY that is meant to show a kinder kindergarten approach to the dreaded first day of school. Kids are introduced to the classroom with their parents, given a cupcake (anyone for the chorus of A Spoonful of Sugar?), and set down with their new family--er, classmates and told to draw a picture of themselves. It's all a calculated move to warm children up to kindergarten, which of course was created to warm children up to grade school.

Mom, there's a perfectly good reason they're doing this. Some--or even most--kids are not ready for school at age 5. My empirical observation is that they are not ready for the separation from home, even for half a day. They are not ready to relate to Mrs. Whatever-her-name-is in the same way they relate to you as a feminine authority figure. For example, one of the tasks we had to learn was tying our shoes. I had to sit down with a pair of sneakers nailed to a board and tie them right. The assistant teacher told me that if I didn't learn it, she would fail me. I never did learn it, although I did learn that assistant teachers don't call the shots and that it's practically impossible to flunk out of kindergarten. I was also just in time for Velcro. As you can see, my own experience was not all that grand and I believe children today are in a similar if not worse situation.

Let your kids stay home. Resist sending them off to some strange, cold classroom and let your children learn the same way they've been doing for five years already. You can keep going. We did. Keep them home where they belong.

• Send to a Friend!