Kindergarten Teachers’ Dilemma: Get Students Academically Ready or Allow for More Play?

Since the past two decades, kindergarten students have been required to meet higher academic demands than before, and teachers have had to come up with various ways to support students in meeting those demands including reducing playtime. In order to understand what things may work best for students, this capstone paper examines the question of how teachers can get kindergarten students academically ready in a way that is most developmentally appropriate for them. This paper examines the changes that kindergarten has undergone, the different standards that students are required to meet, and how play benefits children in different developmental areas including academic learning. Furthermore, this paper presents a case study analysis of the perspectives of kindergarten teachers and students. It recommends teachers to encourage more guided play in their classrooms, provide more shared reading, and develop an integrated curriculum