Birth to 4yr old into structured education,why?

Question

Todays governments and businesses and rich people are all pushing for children to be in school. There are studies for it and against it, but most just look at the for. Looking for a better future for our business world...more robots. Aren't we just stealing our childrens playful youth? So from Birth to Forever you never get to just play, be a child.

Answer 1

I don't think that idea is necessarily formalized education as much as it is stimulating the child.  Obviously, they can be left to play all day and turn out perfectly normal, but wouldn't you prefer to increase your childs chances for success as an adult by offering them semi-structure (as if rigid structure would actually work with a small child!) educational activities?  These activities don't necessarily need to take place in a school setting, but the reality is that parents don't always have the time (or make the time) to do them at home.  It's not about creating robots, but enhancing the natural abilities of our own kids.

Answer 2

There is a lot to be said for letting kids just be kids.  Ideally, if you can manage to be a stay-at-home parent (either mom or dad) in your's child's earliest years, that would be the best.  Kids are natural learners;  what they need is a loving caregiver to give them stimulation and opportunity to learn.  Especially in those early years, a loving home environment can provide the very best opportunities for learning.

I am a public school teacher, and I hate what early childhood education has largely become.  Kindergarten used to be a place to learn your colors, letters, and numbers, to learn how to interact with other people, to paint & sing and play games & have fun, and to get used to the whole idea of being separate from your family.  Now kids had better know their colors before they even get into kindergarten, and God help them if they don't know not only the alphabet but early reading by the end of the year.  Yet many normal children -especially boys - do not have the neurological development at age 5 (or even age 6) to learn reading skills.  This creates a large number of children, and parents, who begin to feel like failures at an early age, simply because the child cannot do something that his brain is not ready for.  Give the kid another 6 months or a year, and the wiring will be there!

On the other hand, for kids who do not have the advantage of having a caregiver who has the time and ability to provide a rich and stimulating home environment, very early education can be just what they need.  

On the whole, though, I agree with you.  I was a stay-at-home mom while my kids were little, and it was a wonderful experience for all of us.  We sent each child to preschool when he or she wanted to go (age 3 for the dynamo, age 4 and 1/2 for the shy and sensitive one.)  They are both successful young adults now, and I am very glad - for myself and for them - that I had the time to spend at home with them when they were very young.

Answer 3

If you start out in school, you won't have to struggle to learn to "be in school."  Also, most people who I know that have gone to schooling at an early age, have turned out pretty well.  It doesn't hurt.

Answer 4

Just more opportunities for the state or 'liberal minded' people to expose children to their values instead of the parents /  families values. Do you know kids are taught that same-s*x households are a typical family now in government sponsered PRESCHOOL.  Imagine spending your early years all day hearing this lifestyle is normal and OK, then your parents say different (cause you have been taught that thought is an intolerant view). Hmmm..... what is the real agenda of an early push for school.

Answer 5

i agree with the last person.

Answer 6

It's social engineering at its worst. It has nothing to do with creating furure business leaders. The earlier they get them, the sooner they can condition them to worship the state, rather than hold dear the values instilled in them by the parents. Children should be home with their MOTHERS during those first critical years. The public "education" system gets to brainwash them from K-12. I say, keep them home until Kindergarten.

Answer 7

Well, you could look to the mayan calendar, and that it's a lot more accurate than ours.  It says that the world is going to be destroyed on December 21, 2012, so, if you really want your kid to be a kid, might as well let him do his own thing for the next five years and.... Home school him or something.