In a constantly developing world, it is necessary that kindergarten students should get familiar with the academic environment as soon as possible, mainly because their brains have the ability to do so, and researches have shown the great impacts of such transformation not just to the development of children but to the economy of the country.

It should be noted that throughout history, the education system has never stayed consistent. In fact, a K-12 education system is still fairly a new invention of humanity. Education used to be for the prestigious, who many people thought were the only ones with the ability to receive knowledge, and they definitely were not young and naive kids. But this all changed in the 1800s when a German philosopher and school teacher Friedrich Froebel came up with a revolutionary invention of a "child's garden" to nurture children's curiosity, and he has proven to the world that such a wild idea is actually appropriate and possible (Source A). His invention was the exemplar of a great transformation at the time: more and more people wanted access to education, regardless of age or gender. People never thought of the fact that many young people were actually intellligent in many ways, and they did not have to come from a prestigious background. And history has proven that even people from a very young age are still able to receive education and perform in an academically excellent way; today, the statistics are even better. 2007 statistics from a United States-based nonprofit research center highlight how how the readiness skills of children ages 3 to 6 has increased oven a span of 14 years (Source D). This improvement proves that children from a young age have the ability to perform well in academic settings, and they are improving over the years. The claim that children's ability to perform skills in a well-rounded way is getting better over the years is supported when in Maryland's Montgomery County, "90 percent of kindergarteners passed an nd-of-years reading test" (Source C). Clearly, kindergartens have the ability to perform just like the kids in first grade, because their natural ability allows them to. So if history proves that children want to learn and have the ability to learn, while statistics prove that children are not facing harsh obstacles with the academic skills, in fact they are performing better and better, then really there should not be any reason to concern about the development of a child in a more academic environment that many school districts are aiming for in the recent years. 

After understanding that the more-academic environment is actually not a challenge that compromises the kindergarten experience, people should also understand the benefits that come along with kindergarteners developing essential skills. Just like how it is easier for a child to learn a different language than an adult because the child would have the chance to "grow up" with what they learn, and in return being proficient, same thing applies to other skills such as math or literacy. Studies have been done to prove that "early learning is beneficial" and that the age of 3 to 6 "is the right time to learn how to read" because, as efforts pay off in the end, they will know "crucial math and literacy skills for the testing the counts in fourth grade" (Source C). And why is this necessary?  It is not about creating the "gifted children" in elementary schools, but rather to prepare them for the challenges they might encounter as they proceed in the academic pathway. People say learning math is not just about working with numbers, but also about developing the problem-solving skills that will help them in the future, same thing applies with preparing children with necessary skills from a young age. And this approach has proven itself to be working well, as "children who attend quality preschools score higher on kindergarten readiness screening tests" and "school performance continues to remain higher for those students who attended preschool" (Source C). So, children who get exposed to academic coursework since a young age perform better later in their school life, and naturally, having a strong school performance prepares them for a better life in college and later in life. That is the benefit for a child that any parent would want their child to have. Another benefit is that in the 21st century, a high quality education system, starting from a young age, in necessary for the United States "to get ahead in the global economy" (Source E). The United States is a best developed country, that is certain, and they can provide every kid with an electronic device such as an iPad. So the thing is, instead of allowing them be "entertain by media," by "television, movies, and video games," parents and teachers should aim their kids to "real imaginative play" that would "lay the critical groundwork for understanding words and numbers" (Source E). It is not like children do not have time or the opportunity to access education. They do, and they can do it at any time and anywhere, that is the privilege of kids in developed country. If they have the ability to open YouTube and search for contents they want, that means their cognitive skills are good enough, and what parents and teachers should do, is to guide them the right way. Let the kids be exposed more to the academic settings that are necessary to them rather than wasting their time and ability to unnecessary things.

To conclude, letting kindergarteners experiencing the "challenging" academic setting is proven to be, firstly, not really challenging for the kids, and, secondly, beneficial to the development of children and, to a greater extent, to the development of a nation.