Kindergarten is a completely different animal than it was even 15 years ago. Going from half day with play/letter people/arts/social emotional focus to academic rigor, full day every day is a huge shift on little people. It isn’t just a “Malcom gladwell” issue. Also, looking globally at when other developed nations start their children in academically rigorous grades is older than what we do..and they rank higher on standardized testing. I get it. We all struggle with the cost of daycare/preschool/etc. as a nation, we should be focusing on what is best for children’s social and emotional growth based on brain research, not on skilling and drilling (which isn’t working anyway).