Friday, March 5, 2010
Early Education
There has talk about the idea of mandating early education for all children in our country. Today my discussion group talked about this. While I don't believe that they should be mandated for all children, it would be great if there were more support for lower income families who would like to send their kids to preschool. (I realize that there is not an unlimited supply of funds in this country, but I feel this is something important.) There are programs like Head Start and some schools that provide aid for those who can't afford it, but unfortunately there are long waiting lists and not enough aid for everyone. I believe these years of early education are very important for children. I would hope that parents are raising their kids from the very beginning, teaching them their values and general behaviors of our society, but I would incorrect if I thought this happened everywhere. Early education is an opportunity for these kids who are missing out on these lessons from their parents to learn them somewhere else. As for the kids already receiving nurturing in their home lives: Early education provides kids with something they can't learn at home - interacting with others (besides siblings,) sharing, and other life skills that one must learn through interacting with others who don't the same attitudes or viewpoints. I don't believe learning to read or extensive academic subject should be started yet at this young age, but there are many other lessons that will positively impact the children's lives.
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I fully agree! While I am supportive of the idea that parents should have high involvement in early childhood education, I must point out that parents cannot teach their children everything. Like you said, there are values taught through practice, like sharing and interacting with others of the same age, that parents alone cannot provide. I will also say that the relationship between some children and their parents do not foster learning well. I feel like some children become too comfortable with their parents to actually learn from them. I have seen it happen where the three year old gets his/her way time and time again because the parent gives in. This means that the child is not learning the value the parent is trying to instill, but however he/she has learned how to get parents to stop pushing for things. I hope that made sense, but my point is that I agree with you whole-heartedly. :)
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