Preschool Distortions

Posted on August 22, 2008 
Filed Under Life, Media, Parenting, Social Issues

Today’s Wall Street Journal opinion section has a very interesting look at government mandated preschool. Money quote:

“Advocates and supporters of universal preschool often use existing research for purely political purposes,” says James Heckman, a University of Chicago Noble laureate in economics whose work…preschool activists routinely cite. “But the solid evidence for the effectiveness of early interventions is limited to those conducted on disadvantaged populations.”

You may need to subscribe to read the article it in its entirety. Otherwise, check out this op-ed piece by Lisa Snell with similar evidence and concerns about government funded education.

I’m convinced we’re trying too hard with education. Longer school hours and earlier starts don’t seem to be providing any real benefit.  In our own school district, kindergarten is now an all-day affair. Of our six kids, I don’t believe any of them would have thrived in that kind of situation. I’m glad that we’re been given the option to delay kindergarten, though — Colorado doesn’t mandate that children begin schooling until age seven. At least there’s a little common sense being practiced!

I’m not slamming teachers here, just the approach that seems to assume “more is better” - or worse, distorts the facts about preschool effectiveness.

Comments

One Response to “Preschool Distortions”

  1. Judy Ford on August 24th, 2008 6:49 pm

    As the director of a Christian preschool, kindergarten, and all day childcare program, I must say that I too agree that young children should not be pushed into formal academics. Early childhood programs should focus on social skills; learning how to get along and developing self regulation within a play-based environment. We must educate our families that this is how young children learn, and not thru the repetitive drilling of information and the use of worksheets.

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