BILL: Keep kindergarten

Early childhood education is what builds a good foundation for any child's educational success!

What is wrong with the legislators in the state of Idaho? A few days ago I read that Representative Steve Thayn proposes to get rid of kindergarten. What a stupid idea that is! What does this bloke know about education? How many children does he have? Does he know that education starts at an early age? It is proven that children who are taught at an early age do much better in their learning as they get older.

I have experienced what kindergarten age children can learn. I had never taught young children in a classroom situation until I volunteered in two different schools where there were kindergarten classes. I taught these children to sing and converse a little in foreign languages. These children, all of them, were able to sing in the various languages I used, such as French, German, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese. And they retained what they learned! The brains of these children are like sponges, they learn what is taught to them at that early age and the children retain what they learn. To deny the kindergarten children of this learning is atrocious! Whoever wants to deny the children the possibility of learning is totally crazy and ignorant.

I think that Mr. Thayn and his supporters read about education of very young children, children of kindergarten age and younger. It is well known and proven that young children who are introduced to reading, music and numbers do very well in school as they grow up. Maybe Mr. Thayn has not read anything about the kindergarten experience for a child. If this is the case, I suggest he starts reading about early childhood education... and all his supporters should do the same. A person has to be inane to think that early childhood education in kindergarten and before kindergarten even should be discarded because it would release funds that can be used somewhere else.

Mr. Luna must be happy to see Mr. Thayn's proposal! They are two of a kind, and I think that at least 95 percent of the representatives in both houses as well as our governor are against education. Why? Personally I think that most of the representatives in both houses and several other elected officials do not want people to be too educated, because if that were the case, voters would realize what these politicos do and they would vote them out of their cushy seat, regardless of the so-called party affiliation! That's the way I feel.

G. LeROY

Post Falls