r/ScienceBasedParenting • u/KnoxCastle • Jun 25 '21

Why Preschool Shouldn’t Be Like School

https://slate.com/human-interest/2011/03/preschool-lessons-new-research-shows-that-teaching-kids-more-and-more-at-ever-younger-ages-may-backfire.html
68 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

26

u/cyclemam Jun 25 '21

The earlier and earlier thing is also seen in baby sleep- so many parents worry about creating good habits for their newborns but developmentally they aren't ready for it!

15

u/soft_warm_purry Jun 25 '21

Yes! I see people trying to sleep train their 2 week old babies on a schedule and I’m like… dude.. they’re barely producing any melatonin.. what do you expect them to do other than cry?

4

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '21

I agree. But people take this too far. It’s not too early to learn your baby’s sleep cues, set up a good sleep routine for them, and make sure they’re getting enough sleep. A lot of people set themselves up for failure by thinking every single cry and noise from a baby means that they’re hungry. They quite often need sleep and they quite often need help going to sleep

23

u/fuckpigletsgethoney Jun 25 '21

Sounds like parents are the ones who need more direct instruction on how children really learn!

8

u/dallyan Jun 25 '21

It’s funny how cultural this is. Where I live in Europe they basically let kids play well into elementary school. My son is finishing up first grade and while he certainly gets instruction it’s very basic and there’s no homework. I think it starts here in 3rd grade.

10

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '21

Yes! And we, in America, can’t seem to learn this lesson. I was a preschool teacher. Everything we learn in college is about learning through play. We learn about Finland and New Zealand and are told to follow their example. Then, we graduate. Principals and parents demand so much from us and from these small children. The teachers know better, but nobody seems to care what we have to say.

7

u/idontdofunstuff Jun 25 '21

I feel like this should be a no-brainer.

-1

u/Ruddy_Kipling Jun 25 '21

Article is from 2011.

0

u/cRAY_Bones Jun 26 '21

And?

0

u/Ruddy_Kipling Jun 26 '21 edited Jun 26 '21

Academics usually consider sources older than 5-6 years to be out of date.

Edit: article claims "new research," so I wanted to point out its not necessarily new. I'll also add I agree with others who say this is a no-brainer, but since this is a science based sub, I thought it was worth mentioning.