SOLSC #13: What about readiness?

I am participating in the
March 2018 Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC).
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day, every day for thirty-one days.

A big thank you to Two Writing Teachers for providing this unique opportunity

for teacher-writers to share and reflect.

I had another one of those strange collaborative conversations today, where I could feel the "pushing" of children. The meeting included a cross-section of teachers and administrators, to discuss an issue:

Our school has a significant increase in students requiring occupational therapy for writing in first grade.

The question was asked -

What can we do in kindergarten, pre-K4, and pre-K3 that would decrease the referrals?

Readiness. 

Ugh.

This is such a minefield of a word for me, as a preschool teacher.

I was told that there is a very big gap between what is expected in first grade and our developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood.

I was told that after kindergarten, 60% of a student's day is spent writing.

Wow.

I wonder -

how do we know that first grade expectations are reasonable?

why is it that the early childhood curricula should change? should be modified to meet this need?

how do we know this is the right thing to do?

Please don't get me wrong - there are a lot of developmentally appropriate ways to encourage pre-literacy...ways to build fine motor muscles, ways to encourage letter recognition, ways to nurture both reading and writing. There are great ways to do all of this in the midst of a play-based, exploratory curriculum. I am game to think this through, to consider ways to enhance our curriculum.

I simply wonder,

how is it that the increased need for occupational therapy reflects on the early childhood years?

shouldn't we be questioning what is being expected of our elementary students?

I saw this declaration on a sign advertising a local private preschool, 

"Where childhood is cherished, children flourish."

Many days, public school seems far removed from this dreamy description.