My blog sis Bou has written a lovely diatribe about pushing kids to learn things at far too young an age. I completely agree with her. My kids are now out of school, but this was already the norm when they were young. It's been going on for quite a long time.

In Palm Beach County, in particular in the private school sector, there is this BIG PUSH, to get kids reading younger and younger. By age four, parents EXPECT their kids should be reading. I can’t figure out if the schools are just answering to the parent’s demands or if in fact the school’s push this because ‘it is private school, and we are better, look your kids read at age 4'’. I do not know.

Yes, this happens everywhere. There seems to be this huge ongoing competition... your kid must learn and do certain things by certain ages.... or they will never ever do them!!! What a bunch of hogwash.

The real problem is one of "perception" it seems that there are so many parents who want people to think that their kids are "exceptionally brilliant", when the kids really fall into the "nicely intelligent" category. But perception is everything. Now days there is no such thing as tracking in school. All kids of all ability levels are smooshed together in the same classroom. This is (so the "educators" tell us) to ensure that all kids learn to deal with each other. In reality, this slows down the truly bright kids because they are always waiting for the others to catch up. And it totally frustrates the kids who are slower because they feel stupid for not getting stuff right away.

The slower learning kids are better accommodated than the fast learners. There are huge swaths of time and money devoted to the ADD kid or the special needs child. The ones truly hurt by the system are those for whom learning comes easily. Unless they are very easy going, they are simply going to tune out by the time they get to the high school level.

What does the really bright child have to look forward to in their school career? Well, there are the "accelerated classes" most of which consist of extra homework (now there's incentive to excel if I ever saw it). Also, you will be co-oped (read hijacked) into being a teacher's aid - grading papers and helping slow students (even if you absolutely HATE trying to teach things to other kids). And long periods of time where you are completely and totally bored out of your skull.

There are some places where kids with a high IQ can get good educations - if you happen to live near one of those places, you're lucky. Most of the schools just can't handle any kid that falls out of the norm. The really brilliant kids... they mostly end up being home schooled if their parents have the means.

Nope, having a nice average to high average kid is a real blessing when sending them through the school system. And even though so many parents have this competitive thing going - their kids really don't fall outside the norm. I wish parents would just relax! Unless your kid is getting into trouble, they will learn things in their own time. Pushing them to do things at too young an age will turn a love of learning into a loathing - and you won't be able to put that genie back in the bottle.

So what if they don't learn to read at 4 years old! If they learn at 6 they will catch right up to those who were pushed to learn at an age that was too young. (yes they have studies showing this to be true). The brain must mature to a certain level before it can learn certain things - once it does, the learning is fast and much much easier. Kids who actually learn to read early, on their own, because they CAN - have a brain that is ready for it! (what a concept)

I know, I was there at one time. But I still say that parents who are so tied up with anxiety about how early their kid learns... please take a deep breath and quit pushing. Your kid will be the better for it!

(On a side note - I know exactly what Bou means when she says she had trouble with plain geometry... I had the exact same problem myself)

Posted by: Teresa in Education at 02:54 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 756 words, total size 4 kb.

1 Thank you for the link!

You know... it is good to hear it is not just Palm Beach County... I think. I really did think it was just us. I have this saying,

"Every child in Palm Beach County is beautiful, brilliant and athletically inclined. There are no ugly, stupid or clumsy children."

GRRR. My kids are just smart, not brilliant. Thankfully.

Posted by: Boudicca at March 17, 2005 03:04 PM (z7nbM)

2 The "bright kids" were even more under-served when I was in school...

I was bored every day I was in school from kindergarten through college. It wasn't until graduate school that I began to be challenged.

Posted by: Jack at March 17, 2005 08:47 PM (7GUn3)

3 I have a good answer for "those" people...

"My four year old can read at a first grade level!"

"Mine can field strip an AR-15 blindfolded"

"What?!?"

"Oh, don't have a fit. I don't give them live ammo, and I filed the point and edge off the bayonet..."

Hehehe

Posted by: Graumagus at March 19, 2005 03:57 PM (P1vXY)

Hide Comments | Add Comment