Do Not Rush Your Child Into Early Formal Schooling (this includes preschool programs)
The formal education of young children is still a major concern today. Too many parents, bowing to cultural and peer pressure, try to force their 3 - 8- year-old children into formal schooling before they are developmentally ready. For years, research (largely ignored by the educational establishment) has shown how detrimental this is be for developing brains. Read The Hurried Child by David Elkind or Better Late Than Early by Raymond and Dorothy Moore if you are interested in really helping your young child grow wisely and well! The Moores, especially, championed home education as a means of rescuing the young child from the terribly bad idea of too-early formal education in traditional schools. Their goal was to educate and support parents through their seminars, books and countless articles. Read The Moore Formula for more information on giving your young child the best start. The following article by David Elkind will also provide a good foundation.
Much Too Early by David Elkind
"...Why, when we know what is good for young children, do we persist in miseducating them, in putting them at risk for no purpose? The short answer is that the movement toward academic training of the young is not about education. It is about parents anxious to give their children an edge in what they regard as an increasingly competitive and global economy."~ David Elkind (from this article)
Children must master the language of things before they master the language of words. Friedrich Froebel, Pedagogics of the Kindergarten, 1895
In one sentence, Froebel, father of the kindergarten, expressed the essence of early-childhood education. Children are not born knowing the difference between red and green, sweet and sour, rough and smooth, cold and hot, or any number of physical sensations. The natural world is the infant's and young child's first curriculum, and it can only be learned by direct interaction with things. There is no way a young child can learn the difference between sweet and sour, rough and smooth, hot and cold without tasting, touching, or feeling something. Learning about the world of things, and their various properties, is a time-consuming and intense process that cannot be hurried. Read more...
In one sentence, Froebel, father of the kindergarten, expressed the essence of early-childhood education. Children are not born knowing the difference between red and green, sweet and sour, rough and smooth, cold and hot, or any number of physical sensations. The natural world is the infant's and young child's first curriculum, and it can only be learned by direct interaction with things. There is no way a young child can learn the difference between sweet and sour, rough and smooth, hot and cold without tasting, touching, or feeling something. Learning about the world of things, and their various properties, is a time-consuming and intense process that cannot be hurried. Read more...
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