Supernanny Rules

What Should a 5-Year-Old Child Know?

by Gayla on September 6th, 2007

I may not remember many things about my childhood, but I remember much of what happened during my first year of school. I remember learning colors, numbers, the alphabet and the Hokey Pokey.

I remember learning that it was icky to watch Frankie eat glue and that my mother making me wear ruffled panties to school was a complete humiliation that was cured by kicking a boy in the shin.

I remember that standing against the school wall at recess was much better than being sent to the principals office for a paddling, but that the wall only served as a three strikes and your out policy until you were asked to bend over, grab your ankles and feel the crack of splintering wood across your rear.

I remember that charging the boys a quarter in exchange for my services of holding the bathroom door open so they could peek inside the girls restroom might have been a profitable enterprise, but the price that had to be paid was much to steap.

I remember that playing kissing tag was fun and not the form of sexual harassment as it is today. No one ever got sued for their kid having a crush in Kindergarden that resulted in a smooch here and there.

I remember the days in elementary school when a kid would call you a name or make fun of you, you really could take the eye for an eye approach and solve the problem Johnnie on the spot!

Times have changed so drastically though. When I took my own kids to school for their pre-kindergarten testing - I had no idea that for our little country school, kids had to know how to do things like:

Tie their shoes
Count to 20
Know all primary colors
Know full name and how to write it
Know full address
Know full phone number
Know age and birthday

The list goes on and on - Check out the standard list for yourself.

Doesn’t it seem so sad that kids have only 4 years to be kids and not worry about everything being a lesson to be learned?

The site linked above offers a complete list of expectations for each year of school to give you some idea of what your child should know and skills they should have mastered by that particular age.

Am I wrong in thinking things have gotten so much more complex and that kids are being forced into learning too much too soon?

Tags: parenting, children, education

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POSTED IN: Parenting