Costa Mesa : Schools’ Chief Stresses Role of Kindergartens

Writing and language skills can be, and should be, learned at the kindergarten level, state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig told a state education panel meeting in Costa Mesa Thursday.

Speaking before the state Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission, Honig said he believes public kindergartens play a very important role in the fabric of education. He said that kindergarten-age youngsters have abilities to start skills, such as writing, that they’ll need to develop in later years.

“Kindergarten should be in the whole spectrum (of education),” Honig said.

“If we’re going to have the kind of broad-based high schools that we envision (in California), that has implications for junior high. Junior high has implications for elementary school, and elementary school has some implications for kindergarten.”

The education chief said that he thinks many academic skills can be taught to kindergarten children through storytelling by teachers and other adults.

“Oral language--reading to students--is a very rich program of language development,” said Honig. “To me it’s a key: one objective of kindergarten. This is especially important where we’re trying to develop English in bilingual students.”

In other comments to the curriculum commission, Honig said that California will need to hire 100,000 new teachers within the next five years. He said that he wants to make sure that those new teachers “have a good, broad background” in general education and have specific backgrounds in subjects they must teach.

The curriculum commission that Honig spoke to has been meeting since Wednesday at the headquarters of the Orange County Department of Education in Costa Mesa. The commission concludes its monthly meeting there today.