Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76Plough Quarterly • Winter 2015 27 I once heard a wise professor of education remark to his class that behind every educational approach stands a picture of the human being. “But many of you,” he said, “will teach for thirty years or more, and no one will ever ask you what image you hold – what picture of the human being shapes your education.” What image stands behind American edu- cation today? Is it a mechanistic picture or a human picture? The Common Core State Standards are rolling out in state after state, redefining much of American education. Designed to help students prepare for college and the workplace, they are also purported to cultivate creative and critical thinking and problem solving. While these are important goals, it is unlikely that the standards will advance them. Kindergartners Are Human Beings And Other Facts Often Forgotten in the Age of Common Core J O A N A L M O N The very concept of standards is better suited to the world of machines and factories than to children and schools. When the phrase Common Core standards first started to circulate in educational circles, I did a web search for the term. The only entries I found were for building materials. Standards are necessary when we want uniform products. But children are not meant to fit a single mold. While they have much in common, each is a unique individual, and education needs to build on both their com- monality and their individuality. We have fallen into the trap of treating children as if they are small machines that can be calibrated accord- ing to our sense of timing. If a child today fails to develop at the pace prescribed by the standards, there are apt to be serious conse- quences – the child may repeat a grade, or enter Joan Almon, a Waldorf early-childhood educator for over thirty years, is cofounder of the Alliance for Child- hood, which seeks to give all children a healthy and creative childhood. With Ed Miller, she wrote the 2009 report Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School. www.allianceforchildhood.org