Sign of the Times

Amid the zeitgeist favoring ever more intense and aggressive academics comes this story in the Washington Post about a public school kindergarten canceling the annual spring class show in favor of more academic time so that the students can be more "college and career ready." It would be tempting to see this as an example of public school standards run amuck, but we hear lower elementary parents in focus groups fret almost weekly about whether their children are working hard enough.Zeitgeist or not, it is time for schools (and parents) to regain perspective. Makes me happy to be heading to Marin County this weekend for Marin Primary and Middle School, where the mission is all about "treasuring childhood."