This post is inspired by OUMEKWE1’s post “Am I smarter than a fifth grader”. I had a comment to write but it was getting long so I decided to make it a blog post.

In OUMEKWE1’s post they talk about being smart in kindergarten and always getting As because it was “easy as hell”. I could somewhat relate to their post but when I reflect back on kindergarten it wasn’t necessarily easy as hell for everyone. The way I see it, kindergarten was all about knowing how to follow instructions and “behave”. When I was in kindergarten I would always get good grades and progress reports with a few caveats. I would always get an “R” for rarely in the listening comprehension category and one other category related to behavior. I was known in kindergarten for being a “smart kid who doesn’t listen”. I was known to be in my own world and doing my own thing instead of engaging with what the teacher was saying. I think part of it was that I was bored and I wasn’t used to school. At home you do whatever you want but at school it was all about following rules. Because I never really listened, I guess they assumed that I didn’t speak English very well?? I was placed in ESOL in kindergarten and was pretty much stuck in ESOL until I complained enough about it and I tested out of it. Seriously, it sounds kind of unbelievable but I was there for I don’t know what reason. I always had a high reading level and my mom tells me that when I was in kindergarten I was reading bigger words than most of the other students. English is my first and only language, I never spoke my native language. I believe I was placed there because I didn’t follow directions. When I was in ESOL I never felt like I was supposed to be there and it felt like a big waste of resources. There are a lot of reasons why a student may have a hard time paying attention, especially at such a young age, but the system always wants to label a child with something and tell them they’re doing something wrong. My parents are relieved that I turned out ok because they said my kindergarten teacher complained about me all the time and they were worried I would be bad in school. I think it’s pretty trash to start policing and labeling students at that age. There’s nothing wrong with having high energy, or being quiet and introspective, or being extremely curious and wandering sometimes. We all come in with these differences but get taught by school to conform. I find that in itself to be disabling.