Forget about toilet training, or foregoing the sippy-cup, or ridding your child of a pacifier. There are many other concerns once your child starts walking and talking!
Should a child be reading fluently by the age of 4 years? Should a kindergartener have homework? Will your 6 year old enter first grade, or be moved into 2nd? Should your 5 year old be able to consider fairly complex mathematics, let alone spell their own name? And what about tests for the youngest grades? Better yet, will any of it really matter in the long term?
Whether home schooling, or public/private schooling, these ideas are a concern in the education of our youngsters. There are many parents who would say YES, it does make a difference and helps the child excel later. Others say that 'Slow Schooling' is the way to go - that good ol' fashioned method of letting children basically be children until they just can't any more. And, does a child get more development out of testing, reading, writing, etc at a young age - or moreso from being allowed to play and pretend and create?
There's an interesting article in this last Weekend's NY Times that I'd like to share with you. It is written by Peggy Orenstein. For those of you out there who believe that the idea of progressiveness lays in urging kids to learn the basics (and more), then this might not be for you. But, if you believe, like I do a bit, that 'Slow Schooling' might be more considerate in the long term, then you will find it interesting. Either way, I'm sure we'll hear comments on both sides....
what do you think?
