For some time now we’ve seen the school work that used to be done by first and even second graders now given to kindergartners — and even preschoolers are doing academic work instead of learning through play. One of the reasons given by school reformers who have pushed down the curriculum in this way for some 15 years or so is that adults consistently underestimate the abilities of young children. Young kids could do a lot more if only adults would ask them to, the thinking goes.