I use Google a lot. It’s rare a day goes by that I don’t take advantage of my buddy Google’s acumen to get answers. There are people who debate me about this, but I think Google offers the greatest advancement in research ever. What used to require a trip to the library, infinite levels of patience, and sometimes weeks to secure a simple answer can now often be found in seconds. Like the other day when a friend told me about an early education center anchored with the phrase: college begins in kindergarten. Finding that hard to believe, I turned to my other friend to find out. It took Google 0 . 44 seconds to find 18,400,000 references. I hate a show off!

I get asked that question quite often. It appears kindergarten is a popular time to start. I’ve thought about asking Google if there are any references to be found from the phrase “college begins in the delivery room,” but I can’t bring myself to do it. In truth, I believe that by teaching kids how to play together, share, and make stuff that mom will attach to the refrigerator, kindergarten is preparing them for college…even if we don’t talk with them about it.

One of the articles Google shared with me was a story about an elementary school where a university president spoke to the students about college. What’s next? Perhaps kids can skip trick-or-treating and little league so they can join their pre-greek letter societies. After school programs can start preparing kids for college life by chugging kool-aid in red solo cups.  Study abroad in the third grade anyone?

I believe we’re seeing the results of this approach and it’s not all good. Students are showing up to college having scored 1500 on the SAT but they don’t know how to talk to their roommates. They have read Chaucer but missed their first class of the morning because their phone was on silent and they missed Mom’s wake-up call. For many years almost every residential college required freshman to have roommates. This wasn’t by chance. Evidence consistently demonstrates that students who live with a roommate during their first year in college tend to achieve higher grades and are less likely to report feeling lonely and/or socially isolated.

Conversely, first-year students who don’t have roommates tend to get lower grades, are more likely to drop out, and report higher levels of depression and social isolation.  Despite clear evidence that having roommates is a good idea, colleges are under intense pressure to offer more singles to freshman students. At the same time, these institutions keep having to increase their funding for mental health counselors.  Sometimes their childhood sets them up to be highly successful academically but they may be lacking when it comes to playing with others.

I have never read Chaucer but I do know how to correctly set the alarm on my phone. Perhaps if I had some college prep in kindergarten it would have also helped me to become better at sharing.  Despite years of patient effort by my wife, I’m still not good at it. In my defense, I grew up with three older brothers. I learned I had to get to the dinner table first and protect my food or I would be walking away hungry. I may have failed at sharing, but those times were great college prep even though none of us knew it at the time. I learned I had to plan ahead, persevere, and overcome challenges so I could eat dinner.

When my parents weren’t around my oldest brother was often tasked with caring for me. There were times when he would get mad at me, grab me by my ankles, turn me upside down and bang my head against the kitchen floor. From that I can confidently state both literally and figuratively, I learned that being hard headed has its limitations. I had to adapt, think of new approaches, and generally stay at least four feet away from my oldest brother at all times. I learned what brought me success and what created risk for my future. I just didn’t realize that was all part of my college prep, and except for the sharing aspect, I did OK.

Oh, by the way, I loved my childhood. It was the greatest gift my parents could have given me.

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