When did we (did we?) decide children could no longer be children and take their time growing up? When did we decide (who is we?) that time to play, socialize and explore the world wasn't ok for pre-K and kindergartners? The article is long so grab a cup of coffee or tea or your favorite beverage and take a few minutes to read and ponder. Today we bring you as story worth reading. Coming to you from NPR and written by Anya Kamenetz. Dale Farran has been studying early childhood education for half a century. Yet her most recent scientific publication has made her question everything she thought she knew. "It really has required a lot of soul-searching, a lot of reading of the … [Read more...]
Numbers show no benefit from pre-K education: Rosemond
As summer begins to wind down parents of young children are getting ready to take their toddler(s) to pre-school. Early education initiatives have been pushed by states as a way to better prepare children for later school. These programs are also the equivalent of daycare paid for by the public. We've run articles questioning the value and potential harm to young children from such programs. We cited data that is collected and goes into the permanent record of the child that can affect their educational choices and opportunities (not for the good). In today's shared article written by John Rosemond (and originally published in the Reno Gazette Journal) he shares some dark secrets that you … [Read more...]
Negative Effects of Early Learning on Student Education and Performance – White Paper
School Districts have adopted Early Learning or Pre-K programs as solutions to their perception of preparing children for school. They believe that the investment makes sense and that children benefit for the rest of their lives. There are several “meta analysis” (reviews of a bunch of studies and then coming up with an interpretation) that they claim are definitive. So, we decided to gather studies that suggest negative impacts. This is our form of “meta analysis”. It’s critical that parents and the community understand the implications (mental and financial) of such programs. Psychology Today … [Read more...]
Another Study Reveals Pre-K May Hurt Kids Over Time
Recently we prepared a White Paper gathering studies that suggest Early Learning (Pre-K) may actually produce negative results with children. School districts around the nation support Pre-K because it brings them additional revenue, requires more employees, expands control...and for a host of other reasons. Shortly after we produced our White Paper (which we will share soon) we came across the following article that touches on the same topic. So, without further ado...from Intellectual Takeout (Annie Holmquist)... Sending young children to school at the age of three or four is increasingly becoming the norm for American parents. The fact is, everyone wants to see their child succeed, … [Read more...]
Is NPR Pushing Propaganda about the Benefits of Preschool?
If you've been following our blog you've seen the materials we've shared about the costs and impact of pre-K programs. We've told you about the cost, how it's a way to start gathering data on your child, how they begin pushing learning too early, how children are not allowed to be children, how by 3rd grade it's almost impossible to tell who went to pre-K and who didn't...all of this and how some additional information. Today we bring you a story from Intellectual Takeout (Annie Holmquist) where she shares some information about NPR's apparent attempt to convince parents pre-K is good by leaving out information. You be the judge. The other day, NPR published an article on … [Read more...]
Head Start Programs Are Setting Kids Up for Failure?
Are early school prep programs helping or hurting? Are they worth the cost? Do the benefits exceed the costs? Are they just a glorified baby sitting arrangement? We went looking for articles and studies because, based on our experiences and research, there is cause for concern. In today's blog report we share several different links so you can read for yourself. We'll summarize each article. According to Annie Holquist at Fee.org the answer is yes. Here's the link to her article: https://fee.org/articles/head-start-programs-are-setting-kids-up-for-failure/ What's the takeaway after reading the article? "Enthusiasm for Pre-K dampened a bit with the release of two … [Read more...]
The Common Core can’t speed up child development
From the Baltimore Sun - writer is Joseph Ganem Recent evaluations of the state's preschoolers have determined that only 47 percent are ready for kindergarten, compared to 83 percent judged ready last year. This drastic drop isn't the result of an abrupt, catastrophic decline in the cognitive abilities of our children. Instead it results from a re-definition of kindergarten readiness, which now means being able to succeed academically at a level far beyond anything expected in the past. For example, a child entering kindergarten is now expected to know the difference between informative/explanatory writing and opinion writing. The concern is that preschoolers without that knowledge … [Read more...]
Sending Government Agents Into People’s Homes Won’t Fix Preschool’s Failures
From a piece at The Federalist - author is Karen R. Effrem Government programs to fix home failures have never been successful, and they create the opposite kind of ecosystem than the one our country truly needs. First, the good news: even think tanks generally aligned with the education establishment in supporting federal involvement in education, particularly early childhood education, are starting to admit the stark truth of the longstanding and stunning lack of evidence for preschool as an effective means to close racial and economic achievement gaps and improve life outcomes. Dale Farran is one of the co-authors of the 2015 Vanderbilt University study showing … [Read more...]
Pre-K: Destroying children and teachers – A True Story
For those of you who know of or read articles by Diane Ravitch at her blog you will enjoy...bad choice of words...lament this story... This is the story of a teacher in New York who taught pre-K for 16 years at the same school. The teacher tells their story about how the educational system has changed so much it has become such a chore and so inflexible they gave up and retired. This is a letter Diane received. I have been following you for the last 10 years and am in awe of your continued efforts to turn public education in the right direction. I read your article this morning about a teacher who had had enough. It could have been my story. I am a retired NYC … [Read more...]
How ‘twisted’ early childhood education has become — from a child development expert
From an article at The Washington Post Nancy Carlsson-Paige is an early childhood development expert who has been at the forefront of the debate on how best to educate — and not educate — the youngest students. She is a professor emerita of education at Lesley University in Cambridge, Ma., where she taught teachers for more than 30 years and was a founder of the university’s Center for Peaceable Schools. She is also a founding member of a nonprofit called Defending the Early Years, which commissions research about early childhood education and advocates for sane policies for young children. Carlsson-Paige is author of “Taking Back Childhood.” The mother of two artist sons, Matt and … [Read more...]