During the first four years, the child makes many mistakes as he or she learns to speak and walk. The parents love the child unconditionally, and the faltering progress of their offspring is met with praise, not criticism. At age 10, frontal-lobe maturation begins. Brain activity shifts from the back of the brain, where factual information is located, to the frontal lobes, which are the center of reflective thought and critical thinking skills. All hell breaks loose.
Progress is again awkward, but instead of encouragement and acceptance, kids get hassled.
What they need is the same opportunity they had in the first four years of life to do things over and over again until they get it right, he said. Most of the learning in both stages of the human developmental trajectory takes place during play, Sylwester added. There is only one place where learning becomes work, and that is school. Sylwester received his undergraduate degree in biology in 1949. His research focuses on the educational implications of new developments in science and technology.