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|  Leading academic backs later school start ageto read the Nursery World article CLICK HEREALSO Primary review: 'start formal lessons at six' Children should start formal education at the age of six, according to the biggest review of primary schools for 40 years By Graeme Paton, Education Editor Published: 6:00AM BST 16 Oct 2009 READ MORE Are Children Pressured to Learn Too Much Too Soon? READ MORE Is five too soon to start school? By Sean Coughlan BBC News education reporter READ MORE Start school at six, key schools report recommends• Education 'narrower than in Victorian era' Polly Curtis, education editor The Guardian, Friday 16 October 2009 • Labour accused of 'Stalinist' approach • Scrap Sats and league tables says biggest study. READ MORE The Times October 16, 2009 Too much too soon or a crucial chance to interact? READ MORE Single Funding Formula changes force cut in nursery hours By Melanie Defries, Nursery World, 7 October 2009 Maintained nursery schools in at least two parts of England have been told that their budgets will be slashed from next September because of the introduction of the single funding formula and the extension to the free entitlement. READ MORE 'Starting school too young can be bad for children's education' By Richard Garner Education Editor Friday, 8 November 2002. READ MORE 1998:AGE OF STARTING SCHOOL AND THE EARLY YEARS CURRICULUM READ MORE  Excerpt from Early Intelligence by Dr. Lise Eliot (U.S.A.)Six years:The Dawn of Reason!'...six years marks another notable point, when most young children, regardless of their cultural experience, reach a new level of intellectual functioning. The change extends both to specific skills - drawing, memorization and language comprehension - and to the more general powers of attention, control and self awareness. None of these advances takes place overnigh....but there does seem to be something special about six years, when all the individual pieces of cognition come together and children canstart applying themselves towards true, directed learning. The period around six years does indeed mark a turning point for the cerebal cortex. Neurologists know this period in another way: as the age when children first master tasks involving the frontal lobe, particularly those requiring attention and inhibition....inhibition is critial to even the simplest of cognitive tasks, and the fact that it improves so dramatically during the later preschool years (U.S. Kindergarten/U.K. Reception) accounts in large measure for the new level of discipline and mental control children achieve by age six. ....One note of caution to sound about Early Childhood Education. This is not a time for heavy academic instruction. Although parent (and staf) may think they're giving their child a head start by enrolling them in an academically focused preschool (school starts age 6 in the U.S.) there is no evidence that children benefit in the long run from early formal instruction in school subjects. In fact, it may even do some harm. In one study, researchers compared kindergarteners who had attended strongly academic and less academically oriented preschools, and they found no diference in their cognitive ability or school performance. They did, however, fid that the children from the more academic preschools tended to have greater anxiety about testing and to view school less positively than those from less academic preschools. In other words, there may be a real danger in pushing academic achievement too early. You don't want kids to burn out on school before they've entered the real thing, or stifle their imagination and creativity while these are still at their peak. Preschool should be an enticement - a way to ease children into a school setting and foster a deep love for learning. It is a time for exploration to exploit children's natural curiosity and to build their sense of initiative and self esteem. It is not the time to emphasize achievement, to compare different children's performances, or to insist they get things 'right'. Activities should be 'child centered', meaning that children are largely free to choose how they spend their time and to persue their chosen activity as long as they like. Teachers should play the role of facilitator rather than instructor - helping each child find interesting and challenging projects, answering questions, suggesting new approaches, and fostering a sense of mastery. Children by this age learn by doing, using all five senses and their evolving motor skills, not by being regimented or lectured to in large groups. There's a reason why education at this age is still refered to as preschool. Children five and unders simply aren't ready, either emotionally or cognitively, for a heavy dose of formal instruction. Recall that it is not until about six years of age that the frontal lobes really kick into gear, when children can follow an adult's reasoning, use their memory in a deliberate fashion, begin to grasp abstract concepts, and have the self control to sit still and really absorb what's being taught. This isn't to say younger children can't learn to read, subtract or recognize the planets. Preschoolers should certainly have the opportunity to flex every one of their mental muscles. But they also need to climb, paint, build, sing, plant, pretend, hammer, pour, clap, laugh and socialize. Academic subjects should be broached only if the child (as opposed to the parent(or teacher)) is motivated, and if they are presented in a very concrete, 'hands-on' fashion. Phychologists describe this type of preschool experience as 'developmentally appropriate', and not only is it better for the kids than lectures and workbooks, it's a lot more fun.' |
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