Submitted by Maureen Grimm (not verified) on January 28, 2008 - 17:53.
When is it too early? Researchers have done studies which have found that children living in poverty are more "at risk" than those in middle/upper class families. They have then implied that the solution to this problem is to provide "programs" to "fix" these students. I am guessing that their parents don't believe they are broken. None-the-less, the programs are put into place and the children are expected to report. But, how early is too early? Half day kindergarten used to be the norm. Then all day kindergarten took its place, only to be replaced by all day K4, and now we have 3 year olds attending Head Start programs. Where do we stop??? My fear is a future where the government mandates parents to begin sending their babies to school. At what point do we say enough is enough? As a mother I remember sending my son off to kindergarten and realizing that I was giving up my child's upbringing. Someone else would now be with him more hours during the day than I qwould be. Someone else would be having a major influence on his life. This terrified me. I can only imagine how parents feel when they turn their 3 year olds over to the school system. Maybe it's the mother in me, but 3 is just too early for formal education.
Preschool?
Submitted by Maureen Grimm (not verified) on January 28, 2008 - 17:53.
When is it too early? Researchers have done studies which have found that children living in poverty are more "at risk" than those in middle/upper class families. They have then implied that the solution to this problem is to provide "programs" to "fix" these students. I am guessing that their parents don't believe they are broken. None-the-less, the programs are put into place and the children are expected to report. But, how early is too early? Half day kindergarten used to be the norm. Then all day kindergarten took its place, only to be replaced by all day K4, and now we have 3 year olds attending Head Start programs. Where do we stop??? My fear is a future where the government mandates parents to begin sending their babies to school. At what point do we say enough is enough? As a mother I remember sending my son off to kindergarten and realizing that I was giving up my child's upbringing. Someone else would now be with him more hours during the day than I qwould be. Someone else would be having a major influence on his life. This terrified me. I can only imagine how parents feel when they turn their 3 year olds over to the school system. Maybe it's the mother in me, but 3 is just too early for formal education.