Of course, they should be home with their mothers, learning how to be civilized before entering school. Our scores were higher in the 50s and 60s before kindergarten became the vogue. Some children were seven before they began first grade, and that was especially beneficial for boys.
Now, school is used as a baby sitting service so that mothers can go to work so the government can get more tax money to buy votes from those who don’t work.
True.
At this point, I think most kids would be better off if they skipped it altogether.
The bottom line is that children are coming school unprepared in larger and larger numbers.
I don’t know that the age is the the biggest factor, I started Kindergarten at close to age six in 1962, my grandson started at close to age six this year. My Mother was a full time Mom in 1962 so school wasn’t a baby sitting service and I seem to recall going to school for more hours a day when I was a Child.
I think the biggest issue is the load we put on our children now. We force them to grow up to fast, jam sexuality in their faces, scare them with global warming and eco fascism. But the worst most debilitating thing they do in school is crush their imagination and individuality.
I was 4 when I started kindergarten in 1965. Granted, I turned 5 only 3 weeks later and was 5 when I started 1st grade. 2 years later, my brother also started kindergarten at 4 and didn't turn 5 until 3 months later and also started 1st grade at 5. We both turned out just fine.
We didn’t even have kindergarten when I went to school. My mom owned a small women’s clothing store and I went to work with her every day. Learned to count to 10 by the time I was three as I had to count and stack 10 wire hangers in a pile. I could read all the brand labels by the age of five and learned my colors by sorting garments in piles. Then at night while she was cooking dinner my dad drilled me in spelling and multiplication tables or I helped my mom in the kitchen and assembled ingredients which is a great way for kids to learn fractions. Seems like I have always known that one-sixth of a pie was 16.7%. On weekends we sat down with the crossword puzzle from the newspaper and worked it together.
It doesn’t have anything to do with whether mother’s work or not - it has to do with parents caring about their children, carving out time with them and turning everyday tasks into part of the learning process.
Kids also need time to play, dream and pretend. I don’t remember the last time I saw boys playing Kick the Can, build a road in the dirt for their trucks or little girls having a tea party or playing with a doll house. Parents rush out to buy the latest and greatest video or other game. Just sad.
Absolutely - and to develop a sense of self as an individual. then, fortified with these things, they are less suseptible to brain washing and becoming a compliant herd animal, not an individual with indivdual thoughts or rights.
Many years ago, I was a speaker on a panel with our state's Dept. of Ed. at their yearly conference. (I was on the oppositions side.)
During a break, I found one of the 'educators' portfolios for the conference that they had inadvertanly left behind.
Into my bag it went and it came home with me.
One of the things they were pushing for was to get kids into Head Start by age 2. Their rationale, not stated publically, of course, was: "WE must get the children by age 2, before their parents have instilled THEIR values in them." (This conference was 30 years ago.)
That’s a pretty good summation.