Early Childhood Education

While you may think the problem isn't with children needing to enter school earlier, it most certainly is. Children entering school earlier allow for their minds to absorb information and be exposed to a setting besides their home. In preschool they are now learning the basics in order to stay ahead in Kindergarden. According to Wade F. Horn, assistant secretary for children and families in the Department of Health and Human Services, the rationale is simple: from kindergarten on, literacy and numeracy are the essence of what school is about, so it's vital to focus on letters and numbers in preschool (New York Times, "All My Children"). In addition, a Head Start utilizes the Creative Curriculum, an innovative approach that focuses on a child's interests leading the class, this is also supported in the New York Times article, "All My Children" in the following excerpt: "...small children learn mainly from interacting and not passive listening, understanding and not memorizing, reading for fun and not simply decoding. "The good news," says Deborah Stipek, dean of the School of Education at Stanford University, "is that children can be taught basic academic skills - fundamentals of reading, writing and mathematics - in a way that uses, rather than destroys, their natural desire to learn. Vocabulary can be taught by conversation, awareness of print developed through reading and talking about books and mathematics learned with games like a pretend restaurant." This article did not mention the creative curriculum, however demonstrated that a child learns through their interests, which is what an early childhood education program like Head Start utilizes in their forming of a curriculum. Your argument that the quality of education is at stake makes a great point, but this isn't the focus of the debate, the point is that early education exposure to children is beneficial and is a better alternative to child care (daycare). Your argument for conformity lacks any real substance. Parents teaching their children at home manners and rules are teaching their children to conform as well if you really want to use that argument. The growing concern of parents that children are being over diagnosed (ie. ADHD, ODD, etc.) and over-prescribed is a valid and serious point in a child participating in early education, however it is not easy to diagnose. A program such as Head Start has a protocol in ensuring a child is diagnosed correctly which includes an observation by a teacher, which then alerts a health coordinator. The health coordinator then writes a refferal for a third party to observe the child and assess them via tests to see where the child is at developmentally. In order for a child to recieve any type of diagnosis the parents must be informed and consent to actually going to a doctor if there is an actual problem found. At the end of all of this, a parent has the final decision. If a parent suspects foul play or over diagnosis, they have all the rights to demand the process to be done again. While your point is well taken, the parents have the most important role in their consent to these services. Your point also makes me reinforce my previous point that a program such as Head Start is so useful in a child's development because there are protocols in assessing if a child has developmental problems and can save a child from dealing with having a label in Kindergarten when there not two adults in the classroom or a small setting to observe children in.