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<\/p>\nIn modern day America, there is an unfortunate emphasis on development as a culture, as a society, as a collective group, and as a country. To outsiders, this emphasis can be depicted as practical and necessary, yet there is an unjust dismissal of individuals at all ages. How, I might ask, is it beneficial to raise our own expectations of young children, who remain under the power of their fathers, who are not born with the capability of adult reasoning, to be responsible for a range of subjects and ideas that they may not be capable of understanding at a very young age? Now, I am not suggesting that all children are unable to master basic reading and counting, but it should be fairly evident that not all children\u2019s minds develop at a similar rate as some may succeed at one subject while they struggle with others. I hope to bring into conversation the impact of curriculum based pre-school as a result of standardized testing and the possibility of straying from that in an attempt to strengthen both civil society and the common child.<\/p>\n
As the country ages, the expectations for young children are raised and their childish nature is replaced with logic and although these beliefs are usually put into practice, I consider it to be a threat to man\u2019s state of nature. For over fifty years, standardized testing has dominated US education as a means to assess knowledge from students as young as elementary school age. The idea that eight-year old children are expected to be examined at a standard national scale is understandable in order to monitor the nation\u2019s progress as a whole, yet individualized growth is seen as unimportant. Childhood educator and author Erika Christakis advocates for unscripted pre-school as she states, \u201c\u2026 teachers need to take the time to listen to children\u2019s stories, to laugh with them\u2026 this kind of respectful observation of what children can (and can\u2019t) do is rare in early childhood settings, where instead too many children receive calibrated doses of highly scripted, one-size-fits-all instruction on boring themes\u2026\u201d One-on-one contact, along with freedom to explore their own cognitive and creative abilities will keep children interested in school and lead to motivation that will push them to pursue higher education and contribute positively to civil society.<\/p>\n
I have made the point that a child\u2019s natural state of imagination and creativity is disregarded in the favor of logic, but this change can be combated if less structured play in the classroom was favored over usual class curriculums. The practice of pre-school play as opposed to a scripted curriculum encourages autonomy and acknowledges the obvious truth that we, as humans under God, are not created with equal abilities nor are we developmentally able to distinguish the letter \u2018C\u2019 from the letter \u2018O\u2019 at age four.<\/p>\n
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It is evident that pre-school education is an element of public discourse as an educated child grows and contributes to civil society as a future landowner, yet legislation concerning early childhood education fails to consider the negative and personal repercussions of such a high-stress environment on a young, impressionable mind. Education Expert Alfie Kohn states, \u201cImposing our will on them (on the basis of their immaturity) makes it less likely they\u2019ll acquire the very social and moral dispositions whose absence we\u2019ve used to justify such treatment.\u201d At this moment in time, this nation\u2019s early schooling prepares children for the obscene amount of exams they will endure in their near future, yet they are not taught and allowed to explore life skills. Through unscripted play, or exploration and skill mastery, a developing child in the state of nature will not only discover the power to reason and rationalize like the father before him, but he will also grow and contribute to the civil society he was brought into at birth.<\/p>\n
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Sources:<\/p>\n
http:\/\/news.yale.edu\/2016\/02\/09\/preschoolers-need-more-play-and-fewer-scripted-lessons-says-early-childhood-educator-erik<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/alfie-kohn\/do-our-expectations-of-kids-aim-too-high-or-too-low_b_11874868.html<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In modern day America, there is an unfortunate emphasis on development as a culture, as a society, as a collective group, and as a country. To outsiders, this emphasis can be depicted as practical and necessary, yet there is an … Continue reading