"TWENTY years ago, kids in preschool, kindergarten and even
first and second grade spent much of their time playing: building with blocks,
drawing or creating imaginary worlds, in their own heads or with classmates.
But increasingly, these activities are being abandoned for the teacher-led,
didactic instruction typically used in higher grades. In many schools, formal
education now starts at age 4 or 5. Without this early start, the thinking
goes, kids risk falling behind in crucial subjects such as reading and math,
and may never catch up.
The idea seems obvious:
Starting sooner means learning more; the early bird catches the worm.
But
a growing group of scientists, education researchers and educators say there is
little evidence that this approach improves long-term achievement; in fact, it
may have the opposite effect, potentially slowing emotional and cognitive
development, causing unnecessary stress and perhaps even souring kids’ desire
to learn."
No comments:
Post a Comment